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The Coldest War by Ian Tregillis



The Coldest War is the second part of the Milkweed trilogy and it is fantastic.

The Coldest War takes place twenty years after the events of Bitter Seeds the first book in the cycle and this is not a book that can be gotten into without reading the first one.

Whatever tragedy has been setup in the first one comes to fruition. Raybould Marsh, a hero of the war leaves the service only to get nothing in return but more misery. William the warlock begins his own personal vendetta and the military proceeds to carry out more dastardly deeds for the protection of the Great Britain.

Even more than the first book, this part belongs to Gretel who is probably one of the most intimidating villains to grace the page manipulating everyone to her needs and ends and It all comes to head in a wondrous climax which makes perfect sense in hindsight but is difficult to predict whilst reading.

There is odes of well orchestrated action all of which is beautifully setup but the overall atmosphere is one of men doing what needs to be done during the cold war. Bitter seeds had a bit of lightness to it but The Coldest War has none of it. Tregillis tortures his protagonists at every turn and does a damn good job of it and keeps you reading and guessing the entire way. The characters are older, wiser and more attuned to the vagaries of life.

The Coldest War does a great job of setting up Necessary Evil the finale of trilogy which I will be finishing of rapidly and writing about soon enough.

For fans of the World War, Science Fiction and good writing this series is a must read.
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