But the plot of this novel, as intricate and dexterously spun as it is (its hanging threads knitting together pleasingly, seamlessly), is not what makes this debut such a dazzler.
He employs an interesting mix of fable, epic, news headline and anecdotage, steering dexterously between tones both grave and casual, to ask these questions.
As with the other two in the series, the logic of time travel is dexterously played with but never taken too seriously like so many others in the genre.