After a slow, rough start, I really got into this book and I am actually planning on reading the next in the series because of the fun plot and likable characters.
I got this as an eBook from Tor, but I am not sure an eBook is a good vehicle for this particular book. At least, not on a Blackberry (where I read all my eBooks). It took me a hundred pages or so to really get into the story enough to know what was going on and who was who and where the story was going. It would have been nice to be able to flip back and forth between where I was currently reading and past chapters so that I could remind myself of important names and information.
That said, I think the book was fun and easy to understand (conceptually).
Setting: This is set on earth after the aliens have invaded and taken over. So, all kinds of coolness, especially in figuring out where they are (the names have been mangled a bit over the years) and how these aliens figure in to typical mythology.
Characters: Most of the aliens are a bit bland and cardboard. But, the bottom feeders and those who are discontent with their situation are highly interesting. I'd have liked to see stronger antagonists for this story, but they were generally pretty good. The Ocular king was a good study in complexity. I was amazed at how easily the author seems able to kill off characters (there were some that I was truly sad to see die). But, these are not pointless killings, and they do drive the plot rather well.
Plot: This is quite unclear at first, but becomes gradually revealed throughout this first book. I wonder if the story is started out in the correct spot for this kind of story, but it does get us into the heads of major characters fairly quickly. The plot seems to be that something is wrong with the planet, and it is not just the alien races fighting each other. There are subplots and twists with each of the races and some interesting connections between them.
Conflict: Yeah, it's got that. Although, like I said, it seems to mainly be limited to a select group of individuals. I am also not very fond of the idea behind why the hotstars are failing, but I hope it is simple misdirection and there is something more to it than what it is stated to be (that stretches credibility too far for me).
Text: The conceit of using a chapter per race was confusing and annoying at first. I didn't feel like I knew who anyone was until well over half-way through the whole thing. Like I said, it may be a problem with the eBook format than the story in general.