Storyline: 3/5 
 Characters: 2/5 
 Writing Style: 3/5 
 World: 1/5 
 Amidst the sentences and paragraphs, this often read like it had all the components for a good and memorable science fiction novel. The components had a habit of sticking out too starkly, unfortunately. I regularly visualized it as a paint-by-numbers project. Let's see here, we need an enigmatic, inexplicable, macro-level event... ahah! diatoms (Fill areas marked with #6 with Burnt Sienna). Throw in some sort of juicy social organization - religious fanaticism! (#1, Primary Red). Next....let's see... intelligent professionals engaged in practices of dubious morality (#9, Titanium White). We're sure to need a quiet voice of reason ( #8, Primary Blue), bad guys who should be good guys ( #3, Phthalo Green), and a disordered timeline ( #5, Mars Black). Oh, and I can't forget to toss in some tidbits superficially addressing The Big Questions ( #4, Yellow Oxide). Those who read the first in the series will notice that this painting scheme is notably similar to Spin. Both were Toucan-in-Jungle prints or perhaps Momma-Cat-Playfully-Paws-At-Curious-Puppies. The numbers were distributed a little differently across the project, and a few colors might have been swapped out, but originality was obviously never a priority. 
 There were elements and sections of this I did enjoy, but the number indicators of the paint-by-numbers sections were still visible underneath the paint. A better work wouldn't have let me know they were there. The biggest, or perhaps final, affront was the superficial and offhand treatment of both science and philosophy. There were interesting mechanisms to understand and important points to explain, but Wilson didn't appear to put any effort into developing these. The book was worse, in fact, for the indifferent attempt.