This novel spends a lot of time speeding through events that it seems to not care much about. I wanted to delve more deeply into the setting and explore the experiences of the characters within academia, as they uncovered the dark mystery underneath everything, but everything is glossed over. The events that are focussed on seem not to move the plot forward, and the whole flow comes off as stilted. There is very little build-up or rising tension. Things just seem to happen, and I have never been more aware of a writer's hand steering the outcomes for the characters as I was in this book. It is all just a vehicle for the anti-colonial message, which I sympathise with. It just doesn't make for a good or interesting read. I really wish it was, because the concept is there.