Among all the dealing with aliens and environmental messages going on in this novel, there is also the story of a teenage female who's having trouble with her gender. The resolution of the problem is rather conventional, especially compared to some of the stuff in Ragged World. I was disappointed when I read it, but at the same time felt the author was speaking from the heart and not just relying on conventional ideas rather than thinking the character's problems through. ( )

In this sequel to the Ragged World Pam Pruitt and Liam O'Hara continue to try and help the Hefn find a way to lead humanity into ecological sanity. We learn more about the Hefn, not all of it good. Like most of her novels this is episodic and a little preachy, but the characters are real and the problems compelling. ( )