originally published at www.csdaley.com

Book three of the Milkweed Triptych (Bitter Seed and The Coldest War being book one and two) starts off with a bang. Takes a sharp left turn and then drives a spike right through your brain. This may be one of my favorite trilogies I have read in the last decade. If you haven't read the first two you are missing out on a treat. I like alternate history books and this series mixed horror, magic, and science like few I have ever seen.

I am going to have to do a clever dance around the plot to keep this spoiler free. At the end of The Coldest War the British Warlocks unleashed the Eidoloens (the best way I can describe them is a nasty Cthulhu like creature) on Nazi Germany and their battery powered super soldiers. The results were truly horrific and devastating. It leads Raybould Marsh, British super spy, to catapult himself back in time to hit the reset button.

What happens next is a thrilling roller coaster ride as Marsh tries to stay one step ahead of both the Germans and the British in a desperate attempt to rewrite history (including his own). Every time I thought I knew where this book was going it would swerve in a different direction. It was a completely satisfying ending to the story (although, I still think The Coldest War was the best book of the trio).

It is a testament to Tregillis' plotting that he was often able to weave the multiple timelines and stories into this final book. I don't think I have had more fun with a time travel story ever. I also loved seeing the older Marsh deal with his younger self and his wife. The older Marsh was a ruthless bastard who would do anything to save his family and country. The younger Marsh was a hero who had not quite become the jaded monster that his alternate timeline persona had become.

This series was a genre bending, alternate history, mash up. It was action packed, thrilling, often horrific and ultimately brilliant. A lot of times when authors throw in everything including the kitchen sink the story can often get bogged down. This one left me stuffed to the brim with goodness. I can't wait to see where Tregillis goes next with his career. ( )

Absolutely outstanding finale to an absolutely outstanding trilogy. Definitely looking forward to more from Tregillis. ( )

This one is just unrelentingly depressing. I gave up ( )

Upon finishing the trilogy, I'm caught between a rock and a hard place, because I'd grown to really enjoy Gretel's company, and she's been relegated to a fate worse than death. Humanity, that is. Am I so wrong to want a demi-god to remain a demi-god?
On the other hand, Raybold has been a pleasure to follow, in all of his incarnations, despite the pudgy and worthless husband incarnation from the second book. He's learned to redeem himself several times over.
The main question is: did I like the complicated plot? I had no problems following it, and it gets very interesting because of the bleedthrough of alternate time-lines.
The darkness of the books remains fairly steady, but it drops slightly for the third one. Perhaps it's because the author is wrapping up the series and allowing just a little bit of a happy ending to occur, and perhaps he just felt that it was the right time to kill-off some of the more interesting characters. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

I'm forced to consider these books along the current trend in fiction to go for the deep dark feel that never likes to let up, a-la Game of Thrones style. Enjoyable, for all of that, and there's not such a huge build-up of characters to see die, but the feel of omnipresent danger is quite good.

I think I'll be recommending these books to anyone who enjoys alternate history, magic, and the SS. ( )

I'm going to copy the same review into each of the editions. Ultimately while the books each are separate--the whole series needs to be read for any sort of real understanding and closure.

First of all, and I cannot express this more strongly, this is one of the most depressing book series that I could even imagine enjoying. Take the already depressing WWII and make it even more depressing. To be more specific would introduce spoilers, but consistently throughout the story characters have to make choices with no good options. People will kill and die and each one has more of an emotional impact than you'll expect.

Well worth the read, but maybe not if you are already feeling blue.