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The Modern World (Castle novel book 3) by Steph Swainston
01/12/2007 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
pub: Gollancz. 323 page hardback. Price: £14.99 (UK only). ISBN: 978-0-575-07007-3. Buy The Modern World in the USA - or Buy The Modern World in the UK  netic mix making him the fastest flyer in the world. He passes messages to the kings and leaders of each smaller country and district under San's rule. He's also just clean from years of addiction to one of the most powerful drugs, cat. When over-dosing on cat it takes you across the boundaries to other worlds via the Shift, from which the insects first came.
In the opening segment, Jant goes to find Cyan, the young daughter of the Archer, who has run away to the seedy town where Jant got addicted to cat centuries before. He finds her in a similar downward spiral into the drug and Cyan's overdoses leads them both into a perilous chase through the Shift.
After escaping the creepy Gabbleratchet, Jant returns to his own world. The insects are threatening another incursion from the Paperlands. The Engineer has created a huge dam and reservoir in an attempt to drown the insects which goes badly wrong, ending in a huge conflict between winged insects and most of the world's population.
Swainston has created an intriguing world from book one but I felt in this third volume she really made it work. The link between the drugs and the Shift and the many worlds in between is more coherent than ever before. Using the Archer's point of view for the first time fleshed out a previously stereotypical character, complemented by rivalry with his ambitious daughter.
With Jant off the drugs for the first time, the protagonist is more admirable and less passive than before, which also helps. As ever the action is exciting and dynamic although it seemed bloodier than ever and isn't for the weak of stomach!
Steph Swainston is fully immersed in her world now and hitting her stride as one of the best new fantasy writers on my reading list. Her world-building continues to be good but the storytelling has vastly improved and 'The Modern World' is a truly captivating experience.
Tomas L. Martin
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