This book like all of stirlings books sound like a great read.They would be to if you could cut out all the excess descriptive parts.You need some description but he goes way overboard with it to the point that it detracts from the story.That coupled with the extra small print on the page is intimidating.I started reading this book and after 35 pages was getting eye strain.The book has 483 pages filled with very small print and my eyes were hurting after only 35 pages so I gave it up.I could have understood the 483 pages if the print was larger but with all the excess discription and normal size print this book would have been around 600 to 700 pages.Jose Farmer and several other scifi authors could have written this same story in 350 pages of readable size print and the over all story would have been better for it.I was looking forward to reading all stirlings work but now I think I will let them pass.MY LOSS!!!!