Actually, what I enjoyed most about this book was the multiple viewpoints of each side as they advanced their forces according their information. How someone can make the perfectly correct move locally, and how that correct move is completely wrong on a grand over. It was interesting seeing everyone's decision process, agreeing how that makes sense, and then watching it all fall apart.

Granted, the first page mocks the thought of a "short victorious war" and then all but hands Manticore one. Also, it feels that the big bad of the series has been gutted, and be reading the description of the next book, I'm not as eager to read the fourth.