SOJALS rating:

Mediocre (2/5)

I first read this on the 29th December 2004 and most recently on the 3rd January 2006

Dudley Bose, astronomer at small and insignificant college on a distant planet, spots something astounding on his telescope: a star disappears. It is gone very suddenly, leaves no trace and there is no reason for the disappearance.

Thus starts the massively long and involved epic novel of alien attack, of aliens attacking from both the outside - the gruesome, grotesque moties - and from inside the empire - the dastardly Starflyer with its long conspiracies against humanity.

Actually that's not quite how it starts. It really starts with NASA Captain-Pilot Wilson Kime landing the Eagle II on Mars, and finding he's and his crew are not alone on the planet.

I bought and read this book twice. Not because I loved it but because I'd completely forgotten that I'd read it. Bought it both times for a long plane ride.

I didn't love it. There's a lot in there to love, but there's also a lot in there, far too much in there, far too many words (Of course, I went and bought the sequel "Judas Unchained" too).