Poorly thought out and badly executed, with a meandering plot that twists here and there but never quite seems to reach its denoument. Towards the end, each chapter begins with some small event that threatens to breathe life into the saga, but by the end of each chapter the momentum inevitably turns to inertia and the main thrust of the plot is never really advanced in any meaningful way. One wonders whether the thing will ever end, and whether the author's true intention is to make her audience lose interest entirely before completing the final chapter and locking the manuscript in a drawer, where it will remain for all time.