A tepid long-winded ending to what could have been Benford's magnum opus. There's a strong core question: how can organic beings, such as ourselves, hope to survive in the long run, against mechanical intelligence that can learn and improve much faster, with fewer limits. The setting is the far future and the center of the galaxy, where Benford can romp in speculative astrophysics.

But the book fails for many reasons. It is claustrophobically set in the Wedge, an artificial construction of space-time (esty). After hundreds of pages there, I still never had a feeling for what it was as like to be in the Wedge. The strongest reference point was Hodgson's Night Land.

The book is almost all info-dumps. There are pages and pages on memes -- remember that was a hot topic? When there's not an info-dump, something catastrophic happens. Humans have little to do other than survive, briefly. That may fit thematically but it requires more skill than Benford applies to make it work as a story.

And worst of all, the resolution to the challenge of mechanical intelligence that has dominated the entire series of novels is an implausible MacGuffin, which will be left behind the spoiler curtain.

For me, this series peaked with the third entry, Great Sky River, which told an intense personal tale, the most planet-bound of the series, with relatively few info dumps. The fourth entry, Tides of Light, is an OK followup. After that, there's little to recommend.

Not recommended. ( )

Ciclo del Centro Galactico I