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Richard Swan, Gollancz (UK); Tor Books (US)

In The Infinite State by Richard Swan, the vast Decurion Empire is governed by Pater Aeternus. It鈥檚 a political system that feels like a mash-up of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Rome under its most oppressive emperors 鈥� except that this state has spaceships and runs a chunk of the galaxy. The author also throws in a hard-drinking cop and some murder mysteries for good measure. While that might sound like a mess, the novel is anything but.

In the capital city of Kada Gamar, Pater Aeternus, aka the Party, rules without pity. Women are second-class citizens, prized only for their fertility, and the suppressed masses are kept happy with a futuristic version of the Roman circus, involving a racing sport called 鈥渉ypersledding鈥�.

Katherine Fuller is the first of our three main protagonists. When her extremely wealthy husband dies in mysterious circumstances, Katherine is left with a great deal of money but also a growing unease about the way her home planet is ruled. She decides to spend her billions on the purchase of a far-flung planet where she intends to establish a democracy. But why would the Party ever let her do such a thing?

Our second protagonist is the aforementioned cop. Inspektor Cyprian Reis is a good guy, albeit capable of serious violence, but he is on his last legs. In a world where murder is often the most convenient solution to bureaucratic problems, at least as far as the Party is concerned, Cyprian keeps going because the state holds his children hostage. Now he is dealing with a dead body that has the hallmarks of a political killing, but with some worrying oddities, and things are about to get very complicated.

The suppressed masses are kept happy with a futuristic Roman Circus sport called hypersledding

Thirdly, we have Julian Yashego. He鈥檚 from outside the Decurion Empire but has been brought in from the distant planet of Trillia to win races for the Party鈥� for reasons that are not at all clear. Julian appears to be the focus of a great deal of machination, but why are the Party鈥檚 big bads so concerned with a dim-witted hypersled driver?

One of the great joys of this book is how wonderful its villains are. My favourite is Jaroslav Droor, the minister of information, who reminds me of the wonderful torturer, Sand dan Glokta, in Joe Abercrombie鈥檚 The Blade Itself. What is clear from the start is that these high-ups in the Party, each viler than the last, aren鈥檛 exactly rowing in the same direction.

I won鈥檛 ruin the book by revealing more, but I can say it is thoroughly enjoyable, with plots nesting within plots, and machinations within machinations. It鈥檚 well designed and well thought through; no loose threads here.

I do have a few small comments, though. Katherine, the only female lead protagonist, is strangely feeble in a crisis. She鈥檚 also not much more than a pawn, plot-wise, which is irritating.

Second, this book is mainly people talking to each other. You don鈥檛 really get much of a sense of the physicality of the planets the action takes place on. Personally, I don鈥檛 mind, but just a heads-up that this is a very talky book.

Finally, I think the ending is a bit neat and sweet. I worry that people won鈥檛 feel much need to read on in what is intended to be a series. But perhaps I鈥檓 wrong about that.

Niggles aside, this is a clever, inventive and satisfying book, and hats off to its author. I look forward to more of the Decurion Empire鈥檚 revolting offspring.

Emily H. Wilson is the author of the Sumerians series (Inanna, Gilgamesh and Ninshubar, all published by Titan) and she is currently working on her first sci-fi novel. She is a former editor of New 女生小视频 and you can follow her on Instagram @emilyhwilson1

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