The Poison Master

This is two stories told in interleaved fashion to conclude as one story. It doesn't really do that well. The one story, about the twin sister trying to save her twin from a life of degradation and mutiliation, has no real connection to the second story, about a man in 16th century England trying to fnd a new home for his cult. All this comes toghether, more or less, at the end of the work.

The reader can, and probably should, skip over the 16th century story passages as they serve only to interrupt an otherwise interesting tale of oppression, revolt, filial devotion, space travel, alchemy, trust and betrayal. Once at the last chapter of the main story about the alchemist (who is not the Poison Master) the reader can go back and read all the 16th century passages before the final conclusion of the story.

The worlds are well crafted and detailed, the characters finely tuned for the most part, but the ending has serious faults and fails to live up to the rest of the story.