Radford, unfortunately has a tendancy to jump all over the place. The charters are not really developed and there are consistancy problems with how magic works. You really get the feeling that Radford created the story as she went instead of planing things out. You also get the feeling that about 3/4rths into the book Radford was rushing to end the story. This book will probably be great for those who like the Ann McCaffery series.