Holloway is a disbarred lawyer working as a freelance surveyor on a corporate-owned planet when he stumbles across two conflicting discoveries: an enormous mineral vein that could make its owner the richest man in the galaxy; and a previously undiscovered native animal that is unsettlingly intelligent.

I enjoyed seeing the layers peeled back from each of these pillars, as neither is what it seems. And watching our hero put the screws to the villains was fun. But Holloway never seemed to be caught off-guard by almost anything; no obstacle he encountered cause any real sense of urgency or distress.

My favorite character? Carl. Everyone loves Carl.