For all the build-up Kube-McDowell created in the first two books, he sure sent everything into a tailspin for the final book. He concludes it, probably in the best way he knew how, but all of the tension evaporated under the heat of the battle scenes. The antagonists went from being despicable but understandable to mustache-twisting, evil-for-the-sake-of-evil, how-atrocious-can-they-be villains, and it was too easy to lose all interest in what they were doing. Add in two subplots that feature across all three books but have zero bearing on the main plot (the series is, after all, called "The Black Fleet Crisis", and anything not relating to that is just superfluous if it doesn't add to that plot), and you get a crushing disappointment of a book. It makes me want to go back and adjust my ratings of the first two books, because I wouldn't want someone to get the idea that this series pays off in any way.