Reading this novel is rather like putting together a complicated jigsaw puzzle made from colourful pieces. Similar fragments fit together, and each section grows slowly as new pieces are revealed.

The development of the main character is of course the central block. Cade starts out as a simple rabbit hunter. The author stays true to the first-person point of view, but manages to slip in enough details to give readers the impression that there is more to this character than his own modesty at first reveals. By the end he has matured to become a believable leader of his people.

Another section involves a slow and rather sweet love affair that develops faster than Cade expects, so it slides gently and naturally into the perception of the reader, and we are as surprised as he is when he realizes that he’s in love.

Another element involves the detailed and vibrant setting descriptions that create the atmosphere of the story and at the same time build a picture of the scientific environment as Cade slowly discovers the history of his people. The scientific realities of the people’s lives are revealed in a complex story arc of their own.

And this is all decorated with a rogue’s gallery of fascinating and fantastical characters, good, evil, feral, and just plain human. The wild Kreigers are an especially imaginative creation.

As the story progresses, the focus shifts from the people and their primitive life to the Sci-Fi part of the picture. And in the end, it all fits together in a suspenseful chase through an ancient hi-tech fortress where our picture of the science is blurred by the primitive experience of the first-person main character who portrays it for us.

Any author who writes in present tense is taking a risk. Readers are pretty well hardwired to read in past tense, and they can handle some fairly complex ideas. When you base a story in present tense, we get used to it fairly quickly, but once in a while a more complex string of verb tenses makes us stop to figure out the meaning.

It’s no big deal, but anything that causes readers to pause and become aware of the author’s technique is a distraction from true emotional connection with the characters and the story.

And then there’s the odd time when the author slips up and puts in “was” instead of “is”…well, perhaps something to be polished up between the advanced review copy and the finished product.

A great story, but at 600+ pages, aimed at the reader with a long attention span.

Five stars.