Brust is a master fantasist. In that realm, he is without compare. His work often evokes the sense of awe and whimsy that the best of Zelazny's work does without any overlap in style. Brust is truly a great author.But it doesn't seem that his talents extend to science fiction. I'm really not sure why, but it's true. Every SF short story of his that I've read has fallen on its face and this novel... oh my, this novel... is simply not very good. I wanted to like it, and I tried to like it, but to no avail. Whatever it is within Brust's talents that allow him to give so much life to his fantasies seems to be completely lacking from this work.The only reason I can think of for wanting this book would be if you simply *had* to have a complete collection of Brust's works. Otherwise, I'd recommend passing on it. It's Brust, but it ain't that great.