This was a fun read. Lots of great technical detail, but it doesn't overshadow the story, which is an entertaining story of interstellar culture. It reminded me in some ways of H. Beam Piper (though I'm not exactly sure why).

I don't think Diann Thornley is another Arthur C. Clarke, but she can write a good story--enough so that I was moved to read the other two entries in this series.

I was not familiar with Diann Thornley and bought this book on a whim, but I really liked it. By no means is it perfect. I agree with the previous viewer that the worlds are not well defined and I had a lot of trouble keeping the characters straight. A chart would have helped. I also did not understand the rift between the human factions and thought more exploration of the relationship between the main characters would have been helpful.

The ending was okay, but I wanted to read a little more about what happened next. Too few books have satisfying endings, its as if you are being forced to read the next book. The epilogue cleaned up some loose ends about the bad guys, but what about the good guys.

The good news is that the book was fast and exciting. Even though we know what will happen in the end we have a lot of thrills on the way there. I recommend this book for anyone who likes action and adventure over technology. Not a lot of advanced technology here, this boy meets worlds story could take place in the wild, wild, west. I also recommend this book for teen readers and anyone new to sci-fi who wants to start out slowly.

Although this is a solid tale of a boy raised in an alien culture both rejoining mankind and becoming a soldier, the book is in need of some scutwork.

First of all, the worlds developed by the author remain (to me) vaguely defined. The overarching tension between the two manipulative characters (Tristan's father and the Sector General) is explained in a rudimentary fashion; I never 'felt' the relationship existed. The governments were a bit hard to keep track of, and in general I had little confidence in any image I had of the world that wasn't explicitly described.

Second, I'm not really sure what the author is trying to say. I came away with a tale told, but no message received. I realize this may not be important for everyone.

I rated the book a 7 because the storytelling is quite good; the pacing and reach of the narrative is pleasing. I will seriously consider purchasing the next volume.