The only reason I can't give this book five stars is that the deus ex machina ending was disappointing. Perhaps the communications from beings that live in stars and the existence of a hidden ship that just happens to be awaiting the arrival of our hero wouldn't have seemed so left-field if I had known that this was the third book of a series when I began it. I presume that these are plot elements left over from the first two books. Isn't there some way to let the reader know that before he begins reading?

At any rate, I plan to go back and read the prior books before forging ahead. It looks like I still have a lot of great reading ahead of me!