A very, very minor effort from Cook. It reads like something dashed off in a weekend for some contractual purpose. There's no character development (not that that's ever been one of Cook's strengths); and the plot is a rehash of earlier and better work from his Black Company and Dread Empire novels (among others).I can't really recommend this even for Cook fans. Unless you can find it in a library or really, really cheap and you like Cook don't waste your time or money on this one.
"Real" rating = 1.5 stars
