I love the way Lalonde has developed this side-story. It has plenty of connections back to the main storyline of Lalonde's Universe but enough uniqueness to keep it wild. He may be one of the most creative writers of the far-future science fiction arean. This book left me wanting more asap and I can't wait for book 4 of the series later this year. Read Lalonde! He's the best space opera writer I've ever read.