Bolinda Publishing, 2024
ISBN: 978-1914613562
Reviewed by Joan Angus
Alanna Penhaligan made a promise to her grandson Finn on her deathbed, that she would come back to him and play wargames on the internet with him.
In doing so, she bound herself to the ‘Between’ in the afterlife. I love this way that Manda has used to provide us with a storyteller all through the book, although she is unable to communicate directly with them. Through her observations, ’Lan’ tells how her family fights to change the world into a better place; “to a future where all that is good and right and beautiful can flourish.”
Having read Manda’s Boudica series, I recognise her techniques mirrored in this book: there are ‘dreamers’ and ‘warriors’ among the characters, and although she writes about a different era – very much now-time, they have the same functions.
I found the story-line compelling, in spite of the fact that I am a slow learner in IT and its jargon. It is a book for the younger generations, or those who work with computers.
This is a fantasy, following Lan through her own experiences in the after-life and the way she supports her family through their dreams. In the land of the living the family has their ups and downs, but the book leaves me with the feeling that anything is possible; that any human power can overcome the evil that is rife in this world.