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It’s been a while since I read the initial Mindtouch/Mindline duology, but I had no problems getting back into this. I think the fact that it is a fairly unique story (on the dream-therapy end) well-done helped keep it fairly solid in my mind.

At any rate, we now tackle a new phase of Jahir and Vasiht’h’s lives: going into practice. They have graduated, have licenses… and now just need somewhere to stay, and set out their shingle. The interesting part is this is both handled, and left unresolved at the start of the book. The tension of this unresolved beginning is the driver of the main conflict of the story, as Vasiht’h struggles with an uncertain future, and a breed of impostor syndrome.

In fact, while we do get a fair amount of time from Jahir’s viewpoint, and he does have his own struggles, plot-wise the scales come down firmly on Vasiht’h’s side. An amusing side-bit that carries through the book is a stunningly awful novel that he reads during the course of the book. Better yet, it’s basically a pastiche/parody of Hogarth’s own teenage writing (her notes on the story at the end are not to be missed).

Overall, it’s a fairly light book (by page count, it’s not as long as either of the first two books, and the main story isn’t even the full book). The plot is decidedly on the slice-of-life side of things, with plenty of getting to know a new location. And that is one of the main attractions of the book (along with a pair of main characters who are well worth getting to know), as the community on Veta station is explored, and well depicted. The back of the book is a few miscellaneous things, mostly a set of ‘case notes’ from their next few years in practice. These are all short, a bit fragmentary, and hugely entertaining.

I don’t think this is as strong as the original duology, so if you haven’t read them, go do so. This is a sequel, and is a bit reliant on the others so I don’t recommend starting here if it can be helped. That said, it’s still a great place to end up.