And he liked it...except for the ending, which he thinks feels kind of tacked on. It changes pace from the rest of the story, and he says there's a lot of exposition there. He gave me a suggestion for a B plot (involving a reporter) that might tie into the ending better and give their solution a more organic feel to it. I'll have to figure out how to weave that in, but, honestly, I don't think I'll need much tweaking to do so.

Of course, I'll need a way for the bear to not get in trouble for what he does to the monks. *evil laughter* And that might take MORE tweaking. Hm.

I might be able to work out something about a death penalty, justly applied, and saving the State the time, effort, and expense. Border planets and all...