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Let's start with the cover. At no point does the cover illustration actually take place. It's thought about, but never happens. I hate it when the graphic artist only reads the first half of the book.

But that's about the only thing I have to complain about this book. I forget, between books, how much I love Orson Scott Card. I really do. He can somehow make political intrigue fascinating and fast-paced, love utterly believable, and still manage not to be predictable. You understand the motives behind each of the many characters, and while able to view them with approval or the opposite, you still fully empathize with their situation - or at least, I did. I don't quite know how he does it. I never quite trust that he won't kill off those characters I care about, and that suspicion leaves open so many possibilities. Oh - wait. I do have another complaint - I never really understood the passage of time in this tome. An issue, I feel vindicated in, as he admited as much in his afterword. This has also restored my faith after Magic Street which I actually didn't finish!

Also, we are SO not done with this. The parallels may have ended, but the story is WIDE open.