I had passed over this book several times before finally reading it. Not having read the previous books in the series, my initial impression was that it was all over my head and I was tempted to set it down. I didn't because even if Alan Dean Foster is a flaming liberal, he is one heckuva good author, I'm now glad I read it to the finish. This book is situated in a Earth of "Melds" with enhancements and even total body changes that are rapidly outnumbering normal humans - some of the changes are very starling. A beautiful young doctor and her melded skinny assistant/friend have come into an unknown and mysterious strand of metal which baffles all attempts to discover its purpose. They've traced its origin to a highly secured and dangerous to intruders facility deep in an African desert. On their was there they are followed by an elderly assassin, a greedy local and encounter several surprises from intelligent MerCats to humans who have inhabited the land for thousands of years and have opted to be enhanced into Leopard/humans. Fast paced and hey, even has space aliens - what more could a science fiction fan ask?