The first 200 or so pages have this book aimed straight at a five star rating, but then it all goes downhill. The stupid fascination with Thulahn and the attitude that being a backward third world country is somehow admirable and good is sickening, and that's not even the worst of it. The plot goes nowhere after a very promising setup in the first half of the book, and Kate's final decision makes me so mad that it's frustrating. To quote Kate herself, it's "just another example of the same old sad self-sacrificial martyrdom crap".