What a powerful piece of imaginative fiction. It's really something, the way it generates this kind of fascinating undertow beneath the surface action, and I reckon I've only scratched the surface in understanding it (a couple of relatively discrete things from the internet: Dorcas is the 'Cas' who the old boatman was looking for; the picture of the 'warrior' on the desolate landscape is actually a photo of a man standing on the moon - and no doubt many more layers when you consider how the subsequent books develop).
