Xavier William Lennox is a man who is fascinated by alien customs, societies and traditions. He is the travel writer of Mike Resnick's Birthright Universe. He is more than willing to risk his life for his obsession to experience life on alien worlds.

The length of his obsession is illustrated early in the book when he visits Medina (or Grotamana to the native population - the Fireflies) in order to witness the religious rituals of this race. This is forbidden to outsiders and when captured he is mutilated and nearly dies.

So when Nora Wallace approaches him on behalf of the Department of Alien Affairs, her offer is one that a man like Lennox is simply not going to refuse. Wallace offers to grant him a way of gaining access to Firefly society, a way that will see him physically altered to resemble a Firefly so he will not be so easy for the natives to discover.

They do this for a reason. There is a resource on this planet that the Republic wants - diamonds - and they intend to get them, preferably with the consent of the Fireflies but they will go to any length to ensure they get what they want including Genocide.

Once this task his complete Lennox is offered the chance to move on and assume the form of a Hawkhorn, a native species on another planet that the Republic has issue with, and attempt to begin a dialog with the populous.

This is a book that is remarkably easy to read. It is typical of Mike Resnick's style, it is imaginative, fast paced and totally addictive. I have been a fan of Resnick's writing since the 80's when I found a copy of Stalking the Unicorn. I would read it on the tube train on my way to work each day, and quickly became rivetted to the extent I did the classic of missing my stop.

But Stalking the Unicorn did not truly introduce me to Resnick's writing as it is atypical of his main output. A Miracle of Rare Design is much more typical. This is a Birthright novel, a novel that takes place on Resnick's Galaxy-wide, Millenia-long stage – this time in the time of the Republic.

It is also (as usual for the author), action-based. Don't read a Resnick novel and expect detailed science. If you want fiction of this sort read Stephen Baxter or Charles Sheffield. Mike Resnick writes energetic fiction, yet manages to make it seem considered and not just thrill-seeker fiction. He writes easy to read violence, but in a way that is essential to the story. He writes aliens that are alien. These are not the Star Trek style aliens (bumpy-headed humans with a few odd traits) but unfathomable beings who truly look at things form a totally different perspetive.

But despite this alienness Resnick presents these races and their worlds and traditions to the reader in a readable understandable manner. This is some acomplishment. This is a fine addition to Mike Resnick's excellent body of work.