This is my second Valente book, and I feel much the same about this one as I did the previous one (Palimpsest) - the language is gorgeous and the imagery is striking, but the story feels created to serve their purpose rather than the other way around. The fact that this is told through a completely unconventional narrative structure (jumping around in time, through diary entries/movie transcripts/audio recordings, etc), on top of Valente's surreal image-drenched language and stream-of-consciousness writing style, means that the story would really have to be rock-solid and sharp to shine through all the other stuff, and it isn't. It's kind of a murder mystery, kind of a speculative fiction, kind of a space exploration story, but doesn't really bring it home in any of those genres. Rather than give us a couple of new worlds, Valente gives us ALL OF THEM, and doesn't really flesh out any of them. 
 I give the author credit for an intriguing story concept, and once again I enjoyed her magnificent language and imagery. But ultimately I was left wanting more when it came to characterization and story.