An oldie but a goodie. A trial programme to deal with hard convicts kept on four planets, known as the diamond, involved infusing their brain with the meories and personality of a doner. Imagine what it would be like to wake up feeling like yourself and then discover that in fact, you are one of the convicts. The story is told over again in each of the four settings and done well in every part. It's the sort of classic scifi that is worth multiple reads. ( )

I discovered Chalker because of this series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it as a teenager starved for good sci-fi. As an adult, I have come to understand that a strong premise may excite the imagination, but poor execution makes a bad story.

This book is a compilation of all four books in the series, and those are reviewed separately. The purpose of this review is to comment on how the books hold up as a series. Short answer, they don't. Only a cursory effort goes into tying the four books together, with a climax that had no accompanying denouement to give it power. The ending feel tacked on, an afterthought. To put it succinctly, the journey of these books was enjoyable, but not the destination.

I feel I must also comment on the usual Chalker misogyny. It was less in evidence in this series as in Well World or Rings of the Masters, but it's there. No other authors can manage to put so many male main characters into female bodies and have them learn so little about gender equality.

Recommendation: Fans of Chalker have already read this. Otherwise, read it for the premise and forgive its weakness, and you'll find much to enjoy. ( )