The tumultuous, bloody and almost heedless trek of the Berrybenders continues, albeit much of it spent stalled in a trapper's fort waiting for the spring. Tasmin and Sin Killer's married bliss is interrupted by a bout of domestic abuse. Lord Berrybender deteriorates mentally but remains utterly appalling. Babies are on the way: no less than three are born in the course of the novel. Pity the poor babies. Barely crawling and they are subjected to long treks across deserted wilderness, buffalo stampedes, Indian attacks and encounters with the odd cactus.

Readers of the first volume will not be surprised that some of those alive at the end of Sin Killer will no longer enjoy that happy state by the end of The Wandering Hill. Means of death are varied, but death by buffalo - and no, not the stampede - gets in early for most horribly memorable. The story itself remains fresh and unpredictable, and Tamsin develops nicely as a memorable, scrappy, bad-tempered heroine, maturing in her attitudes as life and death teach her harsh lessons abut themselves. One suspects, with two volumes to go, there are a surfeit of both on the way.