I may give it another go, I'm focusing on short things to get back into the habit of finishing things (I say for the 3rd or 4th year in a row...)

Part of me wonders whether Ivanova's presence could have salvaged the Byron arc, but probably not. So much of Ivanova's arc is backwards-focused (on her mom's death, her brother's death, her broken relationship with her father), the telepath arc would hopefully have brought it more into the present day, instead we just have sad, dissatisfied Ivanova facing yet another loss during Sleeping in Light and it just makes me sad.