I used to work with Mr. Lydon's sometimes-casual editor and friend, who gave me a copy of this book (with the warning that the author had decided to self-publish this title without editorial input).

When it comes to self-published books, I'm generally forgiving on style so long as the substance is good but the poor spelling and grammar proved too much of a distraction to me. What I did glean of the story was garbled by Mr. Lydon's inconsistent use of language, voice and tense.

I stopped reading somewhere around the 150-page mark. It's rare that I have so much to say about a book on my DNF list, but this one was a tragedy.

First off, the primary figure does have a homosexual relationship with one of the other characters, so if you have moral problems with such things, stay away from the book, however, you will be missing out on a good sci-fi story. That being said, I was concerned that there would be a definite "ick factor" when/if there was ever a sex scene between the two, but when it finally happened, I thought it was very tastefully done.

I got hooked on this story thanks to Darker Projects dramatized podcast (see http://www.darkerprojects.com/falconbanner.html) and it came to a point where I had to know what was coming next, so I bought the book. The book was well written (although would have benefited from additional proofreading), the story and characters engaging, and, well everyone loves a hero who takes on a seemingly impossible task and somehow manages to muddle through.

Apparently, this was the first in a series, so now I have to read the rest of the series, and see how things turn out. ( )