I had high hopes for this book. Unfortunately, they were quickly dashed. I don't know why Weis didn't team up with Hickman as is her wont. But, the lack of a second author dooms the effort. The book has an interesting premise, but is filled with inconsistencies, triteness, and plain ol' stupidity. If Hickman had been around, they could have bounced the material off each other and corrected most of the bad writing before it hit the shelves. As it is, it's practically un-stomachable. I put the book away about half way through it as not being worth the effort. But, I later picked it up and finished it in the hope it would get better. It didn't. It got worse. I was practically gagging by the end. Stay away from this book and its series.