to match the revs, and their technological advantage does not create a large enough gap to exploit effectively. Both sides also refuse to consider employing weapons of mass destruction upon the other, though it is well within their capabilities. The Coalition cannot ethically support wiping out large numbers of civilians, and the revs will not eliminate such valuable real estate. Social Impact Along with the war itself, Modesitt displays the war's impact upon the two involved societies. Much of the book is spent considering the Coalition perspective and vilifying the revs, though a significant portion near the end grants Trystin and the reader insight into the rev society and what the war has done to them. The Coalition Coalition society demonstrates the least material impact from the war. The Coalition is already very restrained in its consumption, which makes the resource limits upon the people almost negligible for most of the war. It is actually the Coalition military that is often most strained for goods. Translation of excessive mass increases chance of error, meaning goods cannot be ferried in massive amounts to border worlds. Equipment occasionally burns out at perimeter stations and ship techs wait until the last minute to replace failing parts. Rev corpses are even scrounged off the battlefields to be processed into fertilizer and organonutrient, necessary fuel for planet-side Coalition generators since fusion reactors ("fusactors") are forbidden in all but deep space. For food, soldiers are often left consuming Sustain, a nutrient-energy drink made of water and powder mix; algae crackers; and other synthetic materials. Real food is frequently too expensive to translate to border worlds, and a full meal of any quality can easily cost a full week of pay to a soldier. Eventually the war begins to cost the Coalition more, materially, as it presses on. The Coalition economy is very carefully controlled, and Trystin has known the mass transit system of his homeworld to only ever cost two credits to get from the spaceport to home. When he returns home before going off on his intelligence training, he finds the price has climbed sharply, and continues to climb during his short home leave. The social impact upon the Coalition is greater than the economic impact. This is especially notable for Trystin, for he looks very much like a stereotypical rev. This has always drawn the occasional stare, and has left him having to work