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5/18/2017
Some excellent story and world-building advancement, and answers to a few mysteries
I really enjoyed the Trade Pact and Stratification trilogies, which I read in quick succession back in 2013. But when it came time last year to read the most recent installment This Gulf of Time and Stars, the first of the Reunification novels, I wasn't willing to take the time to do a re-read, and so found it a bit of a struggle to remember where the last book had left off (although a lot of details did gradually come back to me as I read). Although I enjoyed it, I thought that my appreciation of the book suffered because of that--and apparently the author got similar feedback from other readers, because this latest entry includes a summary section prior to the start of the book, which really helps.
Fans of the series will enjoy this one; it contains some excellent story and world-building advancement, and answers to a few mysteries--but anyone who hasn't read the prior books will be pretty lost, I think. I do strongly recommend all three trilogies, starting with A Thousand Words For Stranger (which placed 9th on Locus' First Novel list in 1998).