There are two Brust books I would say I don't like: _To Reign in Hell_, which was an exercise in clever retconning but which struck me (as an atheist) as somewhat pointless. _Cowboy Feng's Space Bar and Grille_. I've read it once, when it first came out. I don't remember all that much about it, except that halfway through, when one of the characters died, I realized that I had no idea who that character was. This struck me as a failure of characterization. There was also a point where the characters drew a bunch of inferences on really scanty data, and turned out to be absolutely correct on every point. At the end of the book it turned out that there was some excuse for this, but it didn't retroactively redeem my previous annoyance. Just in general there were some good bits but it didn't work for me. On the other hand, every other Brust book I've read, I've really liked, *and* he is one of the few authors I buy on sight in hardcover. -- David Goldfarb <*>|"You realize you're insane, don't you?" goldfarb at ocf.berkeley.edu | "*hahahaha*. Don't change the subject." goldfarb at csua.berkeley.edu | -- _Zot!_ #3