Disjointed. Mildly involves reader. ( )

A tale centered on the planet Bakunin, an anarchist hellhole defying the brutal executive forces holding together the surrounding interstellar government. Bakunin has become a pawn in the conflicts between the different factions in the interstellar Confederacy, and in an anarchy, there is no organization to keep large numbers of people from being conquered and slaughtered when someone with the resources of a planetary government decides to interfere.

The group of characters who wind up in a position to resist this are a motley assemblage of outcasts from society, each of whom has an interesting past that they prefer to keep hidden. Their back stories unfold along with the events on Bakunin as well as the interstellar politics and make it a page-turner.

Swann does a fairly good job of showing the weaknesses and public miseries of a world without a government, and reveals in the book the exotic conditions required for maintaining an anarchy. ( )

Solid, fun, action packed! ( )