MixedLocusA Marvellous Light unfolds in a controlled, leisurely way, but here it accelerates, and we get all the plot, all at once ... The action, though exciting, becomes harder to follow or care about ... Marske builds a good mystery, but what we want to know about, what keeps the pages turning, is the evolving relationship between Robin and Edwin. The men’s love affair consumes most of the emotional space from the middle of the novel onward ... Outside the romance genre, it’s rare to see this level of attention and sensuous fervor given to a love affair. Though it reduces the impact of the action, it isn’t disappointing, and, in this reader’s opinion, cushions the ending, which, if I didn’t love Robin and Edwin’s love so much, and, if I didn’t know A Marvellous Light was the first in a series, would have let me down ... In this case, to find that the setting, carefully constructed to suggest nothing was as it seemed, actually was, indeed, exactly as it seemed, and was way less important than the couple’s triumph. There’s time to get the back to the action. Bask in their happiness.
