This book wasn't as excellent as the first one, but still pretty good. Maybe because it's the second of a trilogy, always a disadvantage since it loses the excitement of an introduction or resolution and there's more moving characters to a destination.

Also, the eBook version had quite a few typography problems. The spacing would go from single to double with no transition, and the font size would change sometimes. It looked unprofessionally produced, which doesn't match what I know of Peter David -- a consummate writer-fo'-life. I hope this was just a blip.

The book continues where it left off, dropping off some characters from the last book and introducing some new ones. The biggest problem is that there are about six storylines going on, and when you've got that many, each one can only develop a little bit before it moves to the next. There's going to be stories that are interesting and ones that aren't, and you've got to wait for those to pass.

Plus it feels like the intrigue and mystery behind the world got explained away in this one, by the simple act of lifting the curtain. And the end didn't really entice me to read on, since it eliminated what seemed to be the primary obstacle. Now I'm not sure what the big goal is.

But I still will read the next one. I still like this universe, I still love the characters. And I want to see what happens next. ( )