It's fun to meet an old classmate in such an unexpected context; it's been a long time since Chemistry 242 -- Dudley Herschbach's masterful course in Quantum Mechanics and the physics of rainbows, glories, and other scattering phenomena.

Asaro is known for getting the science right, but this book doesn't have enough science to make it pay. The central romance is handled nicely, and the books conceit is not without interest: a space-opera monarchy controlled by a weak, young king who takes a dangerous, older wife for protection and finds her an unexpected partner. This was probably the wrong entry-point for me in the Skolian Saga.

The appendix, on the dynamics of the 14 moons of the planet Glory was a nice touch. In a way, Glory's tides deserve a story of their own. "Night Falls", and "The Tide Comes In"?