DNF at 192 Pages ( )

Nice sweeping classing SF. ( )

Whaddaya know, I actually liked this more the second time around! I still stand by what I said two years ago, but my stance has changed. I still didn't feel deeply with anyone, but that is to be expected when the timeline consistently jumps multiple generations and so forth. I also really liked the ending this time, but maybe that's affected by the fact that now I'm in possession of the third book and get to keep going with the series.

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Original review 03/2019:
I very much enjoyed this book, but I didn't love it. Let me start with the cons that kept this from being a five star read: 1) the characters, 2) the writing. Which is not to say either was bad! The characters simply didn't make me feel either sympathy or empathy, and the writing was just "good enough". I felt wildly interested in the story, but I wasn't invested in it, if that makes sense. I wanted to know what it was all about, but I didn't really care one way or the other. Also, I saw the twist coming pretty early on, which sort of dampened my enjoyment.

All of the four stars I gave the book were for the concepts of this book, as well as to the plot to a certain extent. I love books that force me to pay attention and aren't afraid to have complex plots. I also love fake science in scifi, so this is definitely a book for me in that regard. If you're someone who wants their scifi to be believable and pertain to the knows laws of physics, you might be a little bit miffed with this.

The ending was a little difficult to make my peace with, because it definitely leaves questions unanswered. I'm not sure if it feels intentional enough for me, or if the author just ran out of steam. Either way, the ending was okay enough to leave me with a good taste in my mouth, so I'm not too mad about it. ( )

This is one hell of a great sequel.

It goes well beyond the fandom who like generational starship stories, delving into high physics, Big Dumb Objects, and very strange aliens.

But more importantly, the stranger aliens are ourselves. Generations of clones growing up and educated in a closed society, fixing the original generational starship problem by going as a fleet of semi-specialized components in one big social whole. That's not so strange, of course, but the emergent AI and the "retirees" of every clone over 65 to become a part of a massive biological computer system as dreamers *is*. :)

But the core story is no slouch, either. The fleet splits in two. One to finish a truly glorious Dyson-sphere-like project and the other devoted to exploration and learning about the aliens who made it. Of course, from there, everything goes to hell. But differently. :) This is not the same kind of novel as the first, but it IS a genuine continuation in both spirit and characters. :)

I especially loved the aliens. I may have a few spoilerly quibbles about the end. One particularly big plot thread that wasn't concluded. But other than these, which could EASILY be addressed in future books, I absolutely adore this book. Or rather, books.

Few modern SF novels are this devoted to ideas anymore. That is: pure ideas drilled down to consequences and snags and complications.

The writing is more than fine, the characters are fascinating, but it's the ideas make this a true inheritor of old-school SF. Everything from psychology to sociology to genetics to high physics is explored here, and that's just the foundation. :)

I'm a fanboy now. :)

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the return to earth of the generational clone ship to a planet that has moved on without them after 10,000 years.