^^ For whatever it's worth,
Thrawn, I'd just like to offer this observation:
I seem to consistently find that David Mack's writing is better the second time I look at it than it seems the first time. With
Vanguard: Harbinger,
Destiny, and
Zero Sum Game, I remember reading the books for the first time and thinking them good but not as good as I would expect... and then going back, looking at them again, and realizing how much more there was to those books than I gave them credit for the first time around. Like, to the point where I refrain from coming to a final conclusion about Mack's books until I've read them at least twice -- because they're always smarter and deeper when I look at them again than they are at first.
Just a thought.