Good "Despite" not "Because"
Oh, that's how it goes. That makes a bit more sense, now. To be fair, this is a fairly enjoyable read, despite the universe-destroying, supporting-character eliminating events, and as far as cost-value goes, this collection is certainly one of the best so far. You get a lot of content for an MSRP of $30, at least 2x as much as you get from most New 52 TPBs. The whole gang is here (well, not all the supporting characters from the early GLC issues, of course), and it's enjoyable to see all the interactions of the various series, though who knows why everyone dislikes Hal so much (though that comes through more later than here, I admit, as Hal spends most of the time with his buddy Sinestro in the Underworld).
Kyle Rayner finally gets some work to do, though the entire set-up of him being the great solution of the Third Army problem goes absolutely nowhere, as the entire Third Army storyline betrays itself into merely a set-up for what's coming next - I don't know why they wasted such interesting ideas (and so much issue time and character development) without bringing them to a meaningful payoff. The Red Lanterns issues, especially, suffer from this lack of meaningful payoff (setting aside their general yuckiness). I certainly do not expect all series to put their long-term sub-plot, character-developing ideas on hiatus during major crossover events, but if you are going to have big things happen, we should at least get a sense of an ending.
Speaking of which, as enjoyable and grand as this story is, the lack of a real ending does prevent this from being a wholly meaningful and thus thoroughly enjoyable event. Since it is all a set-up for the Next Big Thing, it's hard to retrospect to think as fondly of it as it is in the midst of the experience. Sort of like junior high, I suppose. But still, all together like this, the sheer volume helps elevate the total package to a higher, better experience than it likely should be, given the poor treatment of the parts by the Big Idea people behind it all. Come to think of it, the Creative Teams seem to be treating these characters and series the way the Guardians are treating the characters and series ... excuse me, I think I have stumbled into a meta-narrative wormhole....