Anonymous hit it right on the nose. I could understand the vitrol if the changes in the character were a recent thing, but it's been about 4 years. Frustration over wasted time and money should have ended by now. Personally, I haven't read anything by LKH since NIC came out. I bought NIC in hardcover, and could not force myself to finish. My sole exposure to the series is the crossover fiction that it has inspired.