Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best Books Out There
Review: This book was very intriguing. It was amazing how Jane Emerson was able to maintain several complex cultures at one time without being too cliche or contradicting herself. The charecters' motivations and morals mixed with the politics and various small-scale conspiracies make the plot particularly alluring. The humanness of the charecters in itself would make this book worth reading. The way they react to eachother and the situations around them make them seem real in such a way that it almost forces the reader to care about and identify with them. I especially enjoyed the mysterious personality of the demon, Tal.
Rating:
Summary: space opera to die for
Review: This is the best science fiction novel I've ever read.Other reviewers have alluded disparagingly to the plot(s), but (originality aside) I can't think of any other book that balances so much, so effortlessly. Let's face it, THE PLOTS ROCK. Then there's the characters. I've never felt so fond of or close to characters in a book before. In such a plot-happy book, the amazing thing is that it's the characters that come back to me, day after day. I can't get this book out of my head! I love this book. Did I say that already?
Rating:
Summary: +Very Very Good+
Review: This is the fourth time i have read this book & i'm only 12 years old! In short I loved this book! the plot was intresting ( enjoyed the political aspects ) & the charecters were ppl i'd want for friends. I wish to know more of Tal's background.
Rating:
Summary: +Very Very Good+
Review: This is the fourth time i have read this book & i'm only 12 years old! In short I loved this book! the plot was intresting ( enjoyed the political aspects ) & the charecters were ppl i'd want for friends. I wish to know more of Tal's background.
Rating: 
Summary: Great characters, hard to put the book down...
Review: This was a good book in many ways, the characters were extremely well developed, I felt like I got to know them personnally.. and the setting was great. I think the book should continue. I was only a bit disappointed by the overall "story" with so many great characters it seemed like we were being set up for something great... but i think the story itself could have been further developed. There has to be another novel... we were all left hanging a bit. I hope she does write more... I would say that she is one of the better sci fi writers i have read in a while, (reminds me a bit of Dan Simmons books, a bit like Dune books). I recommend the book!
Rating:
Summary: Space Opera--this is how it should be done
Review: This was one of the best reads I've had recently. Hope very much there is more of the story to come! It takes a lot of skill to create a complex universe of places, people and ideas.
The number of characters in this novel, all fully formed in flesh and blood,
is astonishing. Most impressively, each voice shines through vividly; each with a different story to tell. This book is what every good yarn should be:
a gift-wrapped confectionary of hearty characters and exciting
events; and at the core, a concrete world--believable, tragic and humorous. Thank you Ms. Emerson--write more! (perhaps the only objection: the ending is so cliffhanger-like it is annoying that it is now two years since publication--where is the sequel?)
Rating:
Summary: I don't say this lightly, but . . .
Review: Well, they say the plot is maybe thirty awesome new ideas, tops, and the rest a pastiche of every great science fiction novel you ever read, and that's probably true. The characters though, the characters: there's 5 or 6 of them, and they're drawn like you've never seen before in fiction. Anywhere. Buy this book. Buy 10 copies; no one you ever loan it to is going to give it back.
Rating:
Summary: A fine SF tale, in the old Space Opera tradition.
Review: While I agree with one reviewer that the plot does not quite live up to the drama and complexity of the characterization, this world and these people are so deftly realized that it was still a fun and compelling read. When so many books are forgettable, it's a joy to once again meet characters and situations which leave me with a desire to experience more of their adventures.
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