My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Overall, this was a good book. It was very slow at times and I put it down for periods of a couple weeks a few times while reading it. Apparently Baxter is not known for the quality of his characterization or his compelling plots but there were some real gems within the many stories that were contained in the book.
The author clearly states in his closing words that the book is not 100% scientifically accurate. Although it was vetted by some scientists in the field, he chose to make some decisions about the story and characters based on the quality of the story rather than sticking closely to the science. I’m okay with this because, from what I know, the overall picture that it paints is pretty accurate.
The last quarter of the book is quite compelling as the author moves the plot into the future. I won’t give anything away but it was very interesting and contained some interesting twists. For me, this is what saved the book from being a long, mostly boring read.