The Gate To Futures Past

Reunification #2

by Julie E. Czerneda

The second book in the hard science fiction Reunification trilogy, the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning Clan Chronicles   Betrayed and attacked, the Clan fled the Trade Pact for Cersi, believing that world their long-lost home. With them went a lone alien, the Human named Jason Morgan, Chosen of their leader, Sira di Sarc. Tragically, their arrival upset the Balance between Cersi’s three sentient species. And so the Clan, with their newfound kin, must flee again.   Their starship, powered by the M’hir, follows a course set long ago, for Clan abilities came from an experiment their ancestors—the Hoveny—conducted on themselves. But it’s a perilous journey. The Clan must endure more than cramped conditions and inner turmoil.   Their dead are Calling.   Sira must keep her people from answering, for if they do, they die. Morgan searches the ship for answers, afraid the Hoveny’s tech is beyond his grasp. Their only hope? To reach their destination.   Little do Sira and Morgan realize their destination holds the gravest threat of all....

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Paranormal, Canada

410 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2016

About the author

Having written 25 novels (and counting) published by DAW Books, as well as numerous short stories, and editing several anthologies, in 2022, Julie E. Czerneda was inducted in the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame. Her science fiction and fantasy combines her training and love of biology with a boundless curiosity and optimism, winning multiple awards. Julie's recent releases include the standalone novel To Each This World, her first collection Imaginings, and A Shift of Time, part of her Night's Edge fantasy series. For more visit czerneda.com Julie is represented by Sara Megibow of Megibow Literary Agency LLC.

Reviews

[Niki Hawkes - The Obsessive Bookseller · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Gates to Futures Past” is another installment in a long line of books following Sira (a powerful Clan woman in a human-dominated universe) and Morgan (Sira’s human partner in crime with plenty of power of his own). The series began with “A Thousand Words for Stranger” (“The Trade Pact Universe” #1) back in 1997 and has only grown more dynamic and interesting since. I’m very passionate about this author – she is one of my favorite science fiction writers for a couple of reasons: she has well-rounded characters who stick with you long after you finish the books, uses a brilliant infusion of biology to make her flora and fauna more realistic and creative (she was a biologist before becoming a writer, which I think gives her an edge), and her books always have delightful splashes of humor. While this saga in particular isn’t my absolute favorite from this author (averaging only 4 out of 5 stars), I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.

Any day I have a chance to dive into Sira and Morgan’s world is a good day, so it really doesn’t matter what they’re doing for me to enjoy reading about them. That said, from a story-construction perspective, “The Gates to Futures Past” spent a ton of time (about half the book) stagnating in the same setting. Now, I’m not sure how the author could have progressed the plot convincingly without a good portion of the novel committed to the same setting, but as a reader, I eventually hit a point where I was like, “So… when does the real story begin?” But when I finally reached the halfway mark, the story exploded with awesomeness. It was worth the wait.

And actually, the whole saga was kind of worth the wait. It has been slowly building up to the specific story points being explored in this most recent trilogy. At the very back of “A Rift in the Sky” (the final book in her “Stratification” Trilogy), almost as an afterthought, Czerneda conveyed the following in her Author’s Note:


I hope you enjoy the first six books of the Clan Chronicles. Once you have, I hope you paid attention and have questions.

Because I promise…

You ain’t seen nothing yet.

As you can imagine, I was super excited to see what the author had in store next. I also thought those were some risky words on the author’s part to commit in writing – with all the buildup and anticipation she was creating, her readers had no choice but to expect a big payoff. Well, after reading this most recent novel, the story is definitely living up to its potential!

At the risk of sounding overly critical, the only issue I had with this book (and others in the saga) is an occasional lack of clarity. The author has a tendency not to write in complete sentences, especially when she’s trying to be deliberately vague to help build suspense. Her unique sentence construction often gives her a distinct voice, one which is very strong, creative, and immersive, but every once in a while can lead to a bit of confusion. Each book has these “Interludes” where she talks about the M’hir (a place from which the Clan draw their power… I’ve always kind of thought of it as a sub-space type of place) and the entities within it. She writes it as more from a sensory standpoint than a descriptive one, which often left me lost on what was happening, perhaps deliberately so (even when I was studying this series while competing in Czerneda’s beta reader competition, I still wasn’t totally sure I knew what was going on). Anyway, even if eventually these passages made more sense, it can be a little frustrating spending so much time and focus trying to understand them from the get-go. I didn’t have this issue with any of her other stories, which is the only reason why I didn’t rate these quite as high (but like I said, they are still entertaining reads).

Overall, if you like science fiction of the space opera variety, I highly recommend Julie E. Czerneda. “The Gates to Futures Past” is the 2nd book of the 3rd trilogy in this saga. “The Trade Pact Universe” trilogy is where Sira’s story begins, and “Reap the Wild Wind” is the beginning of the prequel “Stratification” trilogy. Really, you can read them in either order, but I think I would steer you more towards beginning with “The Trade Pact Universe” trilogy. Both trilogies contribute heavily to this “Reunification” trilogy, so I would definitely recommend devouring both of those before starting this one.

Via The Obsessive Bookseller at www.nikihawkes.com

[Costi Gurgu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second book in the Reunification trilogy (a novel of The Clan Chronicles).

The Saga of the Clan people continues. In the first book, "This Gulf of Time and Stars", very few of the Clan escape a terrible fate in the Trade Pact Space (human space), travelling through the M'hir space (and I let you discover what that is, but it's the kind of idea that makes you go-"Oh! Wow! Why didn't I come up with it!) to a distant part of the universe where they discover they were not who they thought they were. And that their species' days are still numbered.

And here comes the second book, "The Gate of Futures Past", where we follow the Clan people traveling further to their final destination. And what an ominous word "final" is. So many meanings, so many possibilities.
The story of Sira, Morgan (the protagonists), and the Clan continues, but in a different part of the universe, different worlds, different civilizations, aliens, different everything and it's the same story with the same beautiful characters. Julie is a master in creating alien beings and civilizations. Alien realities that are quite different than ours yet make perfect sense in the specific context.

You imagine why I appreciate these things. Anyway, there are so many aspects I'd love to discuss here the world building and those incredible ideas Julie plants in our head and then water them with details and glimpses of possibilities, but I wouldn't want to spoil your reading experience.

Anyway, two books into the Clan saga and although at the end of the second book it feels like that's it, there's still that nagging feeling at the back of your head, saying "well… I don't know…" I can't wait to see where Julie takes us for the third book.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good reveals of long standing series mysteries, but I started having some deja-vu. Cataclysmic end-of-your-community events get less dramatic if they happen more than 3-4 times in a series. Death. Doom. Run somewhere else to "safety" that isn't really safe. Rinse and repeat. I feel like this reunification series was re-doing a lot of what happened in the prequel series, but just... not as well.

Also, the pacing of this book felt off to me. So much time was spent on the ship just traveling. I felt a little bit like that LOOOOOONG boring part of Lord of the Rings when they were just walking and walking and walking and it felt like they would never GET anywhere. I think if I wasn't invested in the main characters, this would have been a did not finish book. I put it down for days at a time which is unusual for me. It just didn't hold my attention as well as others in the series did. I did eventually finish it and it certainly ends with a BANG! Don't recommend reading this one without the last of the series handy cause the ending won't sit well otherwise.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had problems with the previous volume in this series, partly because it had been so long between books, I had lost track, and partly because I just didn't think it was as well written as the deaths of Julie's books, which set an extraordinarily high standard. This one, however, was back on track - I could hardly put it down. Admittedly, the plot does get a bit obscure and dark, but that leaves me all the more eager to find out what will happen next.
Pedant Mode: it is not really necessary to use "whom, whomever, whomsoever" at all in modern English except when it comes directly after a preposition, so I don't understand why Julie continues to use it completely wrongly. "Whom" belongs in the same set as "me, him, her, us, them", but this writer keeps using it as if it were in the "I, he, she, we, they" set. Weird!

[Patrick St-Denis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Gulf of Time and Stars was the first Julie E. Czerneda book I ever read. And though it probably wasn't the best jumping point for someone who had yet to read anything by the author, once the story took off it made for a satisfying reading experience. The ending did pack a good punch and I was looking forward to the second volume. Time would tell if the next two installments would live up to the potential generated by the first one, which brings us to this review.

Sadly, The Gate to Futures Past failed to live up to the expectations I had for this novel. Although it got better toward the end, I'm afraid that this one suffers from the same shortcomings as its predecessor. Trouble is, it doesn't benefit from the facets that made This Gulf of Time and Stars a more compelling read.

Here's the blurb:

Second novel in the hard sci-fi Reunification series, The Gate to Futures Past continues the Clan Chronicles, perfect for space opera readers looking for unique aliens and interstellar civilizations.

Betrayed and attacked, the Clan fled the Trade Pact for Cersi, believing that world their long-lost home. With them went a lone alien, the Human named Jason Morgan, Chosen of their leader, Sira di Sarc. Tragically, their arrival upset the Balance between Cersi’s three sentient species. And so the Clan, with their newfound kin, must flee again.

Their starship, powered by the M’hir, follows a course set long ago, for Clan abilities came from an experiment their ancestors—the Hoveny—conducted on themselves. But it’s a perilous journey. The Clan must endure more than cramped conditions and inner turmoil.

Their dead are Calling.

Sira must keep her people from answering, for if they do, they die. Morgan searches the ship for answers, afraid the Hoveny’s tech is beyond his grasp. Their only hope? To reach their destination.

Little do Sira and Morgan realize their destination holds the gravest threat of all…

Although Julie E. Czerneda is renowned for her complex worldbuilding and for creating original alien species, it wasn't necessarily the case with This Gulf of Time and Stars. The same can be said of this second volume, in which this aspect doesn't play much of a role until the protagonists reach their destination in the last portion of the story. And yet, we have to keep in mind that the author lay the groundwork for this new trilogy in two past series and most of the worldbuilding has already been established. The bulk of the story takes place aboard the sentient ship Sona, on its journey to what could be the birthplace of the Hoveny Concentrix. It's about the drama and the tension engendered by being stuck within the confines of an evasive spaceship on its way to an unknown destination. Czerneda explores the madness and the hopeless desperation associated with refugees forced to live in such miserable conditions. That part of the tale, though slow-moving and at times a bit boring, was particularly well-done.

The references to the mysterious Hoveny Concentrix, the greatest alien civilization the universe has ever known, and how they might be tied to Cersi and its inhabitants were the most fascinating facet of This Gulf of Time and Stars. But I'm afraid that the culmination of this particular plotline, given the important build-up, was a bit lackluster in depth and execution. Which, in the end, was a major disappointment. It felt as though the entire Brightfall/Hoveny Prime storyline was rushed compared to the rest of the novel, which is why the endgame ultimately lacked the punch which allowed the first volume to end on such a high note. The revelation as to why the Hoveny Concentrix disappeared without leaving a trace was enthralling, but the follow-up too rushed to do it justice. The ending itself, however, hits you like a kick in the balls. Shocking and unexpected, it turns the entire Clan Chronicles saga on its head and seemingly brings everything to an abrupt end. It will be interesting to see how Czerneda will bring it back to life in the final installment of the series.

Once again, most of The Gate to Futures Past is told from the perspectives of two main protagonists: Sira di Sarc, former leader of the Clan, and Jason Morgan, her human Chosen. Both are three-dimensional and likeable characters and their different viewpoints make for an interesting narrative. As was the case in the first volume, Czerneda lays it a bit thick when it comes to the romantic side and what they mean to each other, and that can be irritating. The sentient hair has also become an annoying contrivance that is used to often. There are occasional sections offering other points of view, especially once the story shifts to Brightfall and a local frame of reference is required. And even though Sira and Morgan will always take center stage, in This Gulf of Time and Stars I felt that more POVs from the rest of the cast would have added layers to the characterization. Not so in this one. Although additional points of view were necessary to establish the various Brightfall plotlines, those POVs were often confusing and actually bogged down the narrative. Especially at the beginning with all those weird pronouns. Still, what was truly detrimental to the characterization of this novel was that Sira and Morgan are always smarter/stronger/better than everyone else and they're always the ones working out the puzzles and saving everyone from impending doom. I mean, it appears that pretty much all but a few rare souls among the M'hiray and the Om'ray traveling aboard the Sona are fearful and pitiful weaklings in need of constant reassurance from Sira. Talk about a sorry bunch of cowards with which to start a civilization anew. . .

The pace of this book is extremely uneven. Julie E. Czerneda spends nearly half of the novel exploring how the hopelessness and the terror associated with refugees being held captive in a sentient ship flying who knows where affect everyone aboard. Those storylines and that of the dead Calling to the M'hiray and the Om'ray make for an absorbing but slow-moving beginning. I feel that too much focus may have been given to that portion of the tale, which could explain why the endgame felt so rushed afterward. The Brightfall storylines, which were meant to surprise readers and elevate The Gate to Futures Past to another level, would have benefited from more exposure. As things stand, once Sira, Jason, and the refugees meet the local authorities, for some unfathomable reason the author felt the need to hurry through everything that occurs in the wake of that meeting. This robs the endgame of the impact that it should have had and briskly moves the reader toward the ending that suffers from such dashing speed. When it comes, the end is as unexpected as it is startling. All the more so because it appears to bring the entire saga, and not just this second installment, to a sudden ending. Of course, by closing the show in such a dramatic fashion, the author made sure that readers will have no choice but to pick up the final volume. As I mentioned, it will be interesting to see how Czerneda will revive this trilogy in To Guard Against the Dark. We can already surmise that Sira and Jason's undying love will be at the heart of it, but I'm looking forward to discovering what the author has in store for her readers.

Though weaker in basically every aspect than its predecessor, The Gate to Futures Past nevertheless ends in such a way that it will make it impossible for anyone not to pick up the third volume. Still, it is disappointing that subpar execution and characterization ultimately sunk this book and prevented it from being as satisfying as This Gulf of Time and Stars. All the ingredients were there, no doubt about it.

Let us hope that Julie E. Czerneda will raise the bar higher and close the show with style and aplomb in To Guard Against the Dark.

For more reviews, check out www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

[E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grrr....I HATE cliffhangers! Good thing I'm so far behind that the sequel is already out. Better to read the first book in the series and work through the entire trilogy, though, as the complexities of the story can be intimidating. I'm going to have to carve out time to read the other two...maybe I'll appreciate this one more after that. Review to follow.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent addition to this fantastic series, which never ceases to surprise, delight, and entertain.

[MAB LongBeach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Second in Czerneda's Reunification series, this appears to be the end of that sequence and of the Clan Chronicles as a whole. It is a satisfying end.

The remaining Mhiray and Om'ray are on the ship Sona, heading "home", wherever that may be. But Sona is a very strange ship, with no apparent controls and the habit of unexpectedly shutting down unused spaces. And the tattered refugees are beset with bad memories and mental disturbances. When they arrive at their destination, it is nothing that they could have imagined. And their true home is stranger still.

Recommended.

[S.B. (Beauty in Ruins) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things that I love most about the science fiction of Julie E. Czerneda is that it's never predictable, and never the same thing twice. Currently standing at eight books, her Clan Chronicles is one of the deepest, most diverse series in a genre that's best defined by its grasp of ideas.

With The Gate To Futures Past, the series arrives at a major turning point, one that I doubt most readers will see coming. Sira and Jason, along with member of the Mhiray and Om'ray, are trapped in a dangerous flight aboard the sentient ship Sona. With no bridge and no controls, and levels that rearrange themselves, shunting the passengers into an ever-shrinking living space, all they can do is trust that the ship is indeed taking them home - even if they have no idea where that home may be.

This ship's taking us back where this started . . . What makes you think that's as simple as a world?

It's an odd entry in Czerneda's space-faring epic, with half the novel taking place in the claustrophobic confines of the Sona. The drama and the tension here is largely internal, with the refugees beset by bad dreams and the haunting cries of the dead. It's a story of madness, desperation, and rapidly diminishing hope. The ship itself seems content to take care of its passengers, but only communicates with Sira in short, vague bursts. They don't understand it, and aren't sure they can trust it, especially once it begins herding them all into the core.

"I think we're landing . . . or we're in big trouble and about to die."

The second half of the novel will be more familiar to readers of the series, both in terms of scope and storyline. Once again, the Clan finds that home may not be a home, and that they may not fit with the other races already there. It's clear they're not welcome, and when things begin to go wrong . . . well, they do so in spectacular fashion. I loved the way the world literally explodes around them, forcing past and present, history and mythology to collide.

"I'm not supposed to be here. None of us, the Clan, are."

As it turns out, The Gate To Futures Past is an entirely fitting title for the book, but where that gate leads, and what it will take to pass through, is something of a shock. The final chapters are some of the most sorrowful in a series that previously gone to some dark places. It's appropriately mind blowing, with some really cool revelations about the Clan, but it really leaves me wondering where the story will wrap up. It's not that Czerneda has written herself into a box, but she's cut off a lot of possibilities, and I'm excited by the fact that I can't see the future.


Originally reviewed at Beauty in Ruins

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary ARC of this title from the publisher in exchange for review consideration. This does not in any way affect the honesty or sincerity of my review.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how this series went in an unexpected and fascinating direction, and this book did answer many of my burning questions in a satisfying way, but towards the end the story did get a bit too metaphysical for my taste. I like science fiction that stays grounded in the physical world, and I like fantasy that follows its own rules. What I'm not really a fan of is when either one gets so "out there" that it starts to shade into religion. We are now supposed to understand that the Clan are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. When they die they get to "go back home," to a place called AllThereIs. Oh brother.

It's hard to know what more can be said in this series, but I am looking forward to the final book, as there were hints that some of my favorite characters were coming back. It should be interesting, also, considering the significant change in "circumstance" of Sira, up to now the first person narrator of a large portion of the tale, and now technically dead. I admit I never found her character as appealing or fully fleshed-out as the others, and if she is shuttled more to background now, all the better.

[Blake Walker · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second books in the Clan Reunification Series called, The Gate to Futures Past. Sira and her lover, the human telepath Jason Morgan, find themselves aboard an alien vessel to the planet of Brightfall, the former capital of the Hoveny Concentrix. After dealing with the native Ood and a giant race of birdlike creatures, the Om'ray reunite with their own kind. There's a twist ending I didn't like. But it sets up for the third book, To Guard Against the Dark.

[Joe Slavinsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read, pretty much everything Ms Czernada has written, and enjoyed it all. This particular book has a rather surprising ending, which makes me wonder what she'll do in the third book, of this particular trilogy. I won't go into details, to avoid spoilers, as you really should read it yourself. Suffice to say, that the pace was excellent, and the plot had several significant twists. Highly recommended.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy Fucking Shit! That was sooooooo goooooood! And there is one more in the series to go, like holy shit! Like if the series ended here, I'd be fine, but the fact that there is more story to be told is, well idk how Czerneda is gonna blow my mind more on this one. I planned on reading a book between this and the next, but idk if I'm gonna be able to hold off. Damn this is a good series and this final trilogy is, again, so fucking good!

[Yousuke Spyropoulos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good book. I thought that the twist that the Clan actually came from the M'hir to be very interesting. Them being incorporeal life-forms stuck in physical bodies, and everything else that was revealed was fascinating.

I cannot wait to read the finale when it comes out in October!

[Scott Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really engaging continuation of Sira’s story. I love the exploration of the origins and history of the Clan. The place it ends leaves me wanting much more! I look forward to reading the third book.

[Darceylaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Torn about how to rate this. The story is well told and worth telling, the charachters are great, and it doesn't go where you think it is going to go.
I appreciate that she address the gender spectrum, and integrates gender fluidity (and pronoun issues) into her new characters and story line.
On the other hand, the writing often feels functional- so many explanations of things that happened in other books slows down the narrative and feels clunky. Occasionally there are sentence that just don't make sense. It feels like she was in a hurry or like her editor didn't spend much time with it.
Must read if you are interested in this Author or series, but not a great place to start with either.

[Marinda Misra · Rating 4 out of 5]

😳 yeah, starting book three NOW.

[Metaphorosis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Having finally left the planet Cersi, where Om'ray had been trapped for centures, and M'hiray had only recently come, what's left of the Clan tries to understand and communicate with the highly advanced spaceship they inhabit, and figure out where it's taking them.

Review
This book was always going to have a tough time, because so much was resolved in the first book that it left few options for the story. In the event, I found the bulk of this middle entry to be workmanlike, but not terribly interesting. The end, however does pull out some somewhat unexpected elements, including one very nicely managed twist about the Watchers. However, it feels like it has left the third book even more constrained. As some books have multiple openings, this series has had two endings already, and I worry now about the third.

About half the book is spent in a Hoveny spaceship with technology far beyond what any of the participating cultures has, and I felt Czerneda could have done far more with the “Look! Cool stuff!” aspect. She instead concentrates on the group’s emotions and psychology. Ordinarily, this could be fertile ground, but it frankly felt muddled and never committed to. One healing stratagem using the ship is foiled at the end, but I didn’t really care much, and it never felt like any of the characters expected it to work either.

There’s a little more interest when the ship gets where it’s going, but I was disappointed that it was generally ‘more of the same’ – something like I felt in John C. Wright’s Golden Oecumene trilogy, when the protagonist gets to the bottom of a long and mysterious sky ladder, to an unexplored world that is … just like the one he left, just on the ground. Again, I felt Czerneda could have done much more with the society the ship finds, but that she rushed through it all to get to other things.

The other things, Watchers included, are interesting, but it didn’t feel to me as if they had much grounding in the 7 books that had gone before. Czerneda does tie this in to some events previously described, but it felt like a marriage of convenience rather than organic growth.

Overall, a functional but disappointing middle book with an odd ending.

[Sherry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book! I’m reading along, totally engrossed in the story, couldn’t wait to see what happened next, and then the ending hit like an emotional freight train, leaving me flattened.

I don’t want to give anything away about the plot. Suffice it to say that Jason and Sira do finally lead the remnants of the Clan and the Om’ray to the Hoveny home world, the origin place of Sira’s people—and their true home turns out to be nothing like they expected.

At the end of the story, Jason and Sira are in despair. I’m not ashamed to admit that I was tearing up as I read. But just as I was ready to toss my tablet across the room in disgust at the unhappy ending, the last pages of the book reminded me that there was more story to come, that this is only the second volume in a trilogy. Whew!

This novel is an absolute must-read for fans of the Trade Pact series of novels, although if you love Jason and Sira like I do, the final part of the book is a rough read. I have to believe that there’s a happy ending still to come, but It’s going to be a long hard wait to find out what happens next!

An eARC of this novel was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

So first you kill off characters every 5 minutes while driving everyone else to the brink of insanity. Then you throw us this massive curveball of a plot twist regarding the Clan's origins, which I doubt anyone saw coming and which was, I'll admit, pretty cool. And then ... And then ... I really thought you'd pull it off. I was positive you'd find some way to keep Sira and Morgan as they should be, happy and together forever. But no. The book ends with Sira floating through the MHir with her disembodied brethren while poor Morgan, her Chosen and love for life, is left broken and sobbing with Huido. Why Julie? Why? This can't be the end.

[Tina Connell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have just finished reading this -- got it the minute it came out. Wow! She wraps up a lot of plot strings, and goes out with a bang-up finale. Everything I've read of hers has been first class. Unfortunately, now I have to wait a year to find out what happens next.

[Serena]

You could win a set of all the Clan Chronicle books (yes including this one) by participating in Julie's blog tour: http://www.czerneda.com/events/events...

[Tom · Rating 2 out of 5]

A strange ending to the series, from a book that crammed a lot in at the end but not much in the rest.

[Caroline Ingvaldsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The complex adventures of the Clan, decimated refugees from the Trade Pact, continue.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Moved slowly...felt like an interstitial book, filling space between more interesting stories.

[Macha]

3 and a half stars