Changes

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In addition to the returning cast from [[Salvation by Peter F Hamilton|the first book]], we're also introduced to a couple of new viewpoint characters, all of whom are based in London. The first of these is Gwendoline, a minor character from the first book, who is torn between fleeing to the stars with her extended family and her desire to stay behind with her ex-husband Horatio on Earth. The two bring an element of humanity to the story. Then we have Ollie and Tronde, a pair of youths who are members of a street gang/domestic terrorist group known as the Southwark Legion, who end up on the run after they attempt to destroy London's shields. While Ollie becomes a little more redeemable and sympathetic over the course of the story, Tronde is almost irredeemably abusive and sociopathic, even committing what is essentially date-rape at one point without even a twinge of conscience. It does kind of kill the pacing and intensity of the book and just seems like an excuse to put in a load of grimy intoxicated sex scenes. Honestly, their entire storyline feels more like the plot of a science fiction novel written by Brett Easton Ellis than anything else.