He has an eye for detail which illuminates thepersonalities and political motivations ofthe changing cast ofcharacters involved in haggling over trade barriers.
But here as always, Ms. Herzog uses her well-tuned ear for dialogue to reveal thepersonalitiesof her characters, and it doesn't take long to figure out that for all their glib chitter-chatter, Abby and Zack (even their names are right) are pitifully unequal to the harsh challenges of adulthood.
As well as Lara was humanized and fleshed out, I feel that most ofthe other characters really only got enough to establish their base personalities and not much more than that.