** spoiler alert ** 
 This was a book I had been looking forward to reading for a while. The premise sounded intriguing and the story, ambitious. After 600 plus pages, I can only say, it was a disappointment. Too many loose ends, no real resolution and a constant request that the reader go along with whatever contrived devise the author came up with to move the story along. While passeges of the book had their appeal, overall I feel the story as a whole, failed.