Love the series,have read and read the books many times. The last several books have needed a serious editor! The gist of a great story is in there and could be told simply, cleanly, directly. Strip all the tangents and minutia away. Plus referring to characters or story lines from previous books without giving them context in the current book is frustrating. The ending of "Echo" is a serious disappointment! If this book had been the first book I would have had no reason to love the characters and to stick with the series.