I bought this book largely on the basis of its ludicrous cover, and it did not disappoint! A bizarre science-fantasy tale featuring telepathic life-force-absorbing space vampires, motifs from Tibetan Buddhism, a religion whose followers believe they are dead souls being tormented in hell, and more.

While the author provides an abundance of vivid imagery and wild ideas, the plot is unfocused and murky. For the first half of the book the narrative follows the protagonist's limited viewpoint as he waffles around doing little of consequence, then he ascends to quasi-godhood and the plot starts to wildly careen between surrealistic scenarios interspersed with exposition dumps, abruptly introducing and then abandoning numerous plot threads, characters, and ideas in rapid succession. The overall effect is like a memorable dream that sounds like complete nonsense when you try to explain it to someone else.

Recommended for fans of weird sci-fi. ( )