The only reason this gets 4 instead of 5 stars is because of France. Stupid, stupid, stupid, France. There was a lot of political intrigue, a lot of characters, and a lot of stupid, stupid, stupid people doing stupid, stupid, stupid things. 
 I'm sorry if that doesn't make any sense, but 1) I don't want to give anything away, and 2) I just finished this and my brain is mush. 
 Now on to Voyager!!