I lusted after this book for decades. I finally found it in an omnibus with the other two &, of course, after 2 decades of searching, found it as a stand alone shortly after that. I read it. Wished I hadn't. Ruined the rest of the trilogy. Some years later, I read it again in this stand alone book to make sure I wasn't in a bad mood or there had been bad editing. I wasn't, there hadn't, this book just sucks. Seriously, do NOT read this book. Do read the first two. They're great. It's an excellent duology. ( )