In this novel about gender... It's not human genders, and the characters are *characters*, not Icons For Their Gender. It's not saying what you might expect about the human condition -- but it does have a lot to say about choice, both individual and for one's race; about beauty; about self-worth and where to find it.

Personally, I think that there needs to be a sequel; the end of the book is still torn between the choice of granting *sanity* to an entire third of the population, and dying out as a species. There are several places where this story could go. By the end -- which holds, yes, tragedy -- the the story has changed from being a very unconventional sort of romance/adventure to being a story of a species. Unfortunately for my tastes, that's where it ends, but I hold out hope that the author will wend her way back to What Happens Next. Though... the slightly "unfinished" feel, to me, mitigates much of the sadness; this is not The End. The torch has been passed, not extinguished.

If you're a reader who is looking for a HEA, this book is not really that. If you're a reader who enjoys seeing a different race, a different mindset, a world with no humans at all? Pick up this book. There's adventure, love, witty banter, pieces of a lost civilization, and in the end... There's a new Idea in that universe, that may yet change it. ( )