The Rings of Haven is the second book of what is going to be a million or so installments of the Frontiers Saga. Apparently the series is supposed to turn amazing at some point, though I'm still very much waiting for the magic to happen. This one felt too much like it was written mostly as a continuation of the previous one and a setup for the next one. Some new characters are introduced, and some incidental plot conveniently unfolds, allowing the introduction of some new characters and foreshadowy elements into the story, all of which will presumably be important in the books to come. Most of it is rather predictable, some of it is terribly contrived, and none of it is very engaging, but for what is basically a romp in space it's just decent enough not to be annoying... yet. If this is the setup I think it is, and the series will turn as good as people say it will, then I'm more than happy to allow for this book being a means to an end.
But my hopes and expectations are that the next few books is for them to be considerably better than this one was.
