(2.5 Stars)

I hate when I read a book that has received so much praise, and I don't love it. I never know if I maybe expected too much out of it, or if it really just didn't connect with me.

With that being said, I didn't love this book. I can't say if it was because it was written so long ago (technologically speaking), or something was lost in the translation, but I honestly don't think that was it.

This was a story that had several different beginnings all coming to a final point (mostly final, if is a series, after all). Unfortunately, for me, most of these missed the mark. While some of the narratives were interesting, most of the characters were flat and two-dimensional. They also didn't really grow organically, but instead had a time-jump where their "growth" was explained away, or even created whole cloth. 

Most of the "science" was theoretical, and a lot of it is seemingly implausible. Disclaimer: I am not a scientist. What I will say is that a lot of this story seems to be like building a Rube Goldberg Machine.

But, my biggest criticism was that ... even though there were some gems in the making ... the overall story was too slow-paced and, well, boring.