Humanity gets a glimpse of the lives and politics of the aliens that nearly destroyed them, and come to know them, while learning how they are related to us and how we can transcend ourselves.
 

I liked the convergence of humanity and the WE, and the fact that we don’t really know who originated whom. Were humans created so they could make new sparks for the WE? Or did the WE evolve out of the need for brains? It’s nice to see the development of events from the point of view of the WE, and that there are rogue elements even in that culture. It was also nice to see the development of relationships, between all the couples, especially as Kai gets older and turns into a shy-around-girls teenager. The best parts of this book are, like in the previous books, the relationships between the characters, especially as everybody pairs up. Unfortunately, I found the writing wasn’t up to par with the previous books, which is too bad, because the story itself was very interesting.

It’s nice to see the development of events from the point of view of the WE. That it was a rogue WE who was careless and tried to cover up his mistakes explains the change in behavior between books 1 and 3, as it is different aliens.

It was also nice to see the development of relationships, between all the couples, especially as Kai gets older and turns into a shy-around-girls teenager. The best parts of this book are, like in the previous books, the relationships between the characters, especially as everybody pairs up In this case, it’s really hard for Rob to let Cory go, but by the end, he’s accepted it. Everybody is growing.

The story was about communicating, and the mistrust between people and other species. The humans endlessly debate what needs to be done, but ultimately bow to Rob’s wishes, but eventually Cory takes over. The WE leader had more absolute control, and took the chance that he would be trusted by humanity. They seem more advanced that way.

The concept was really, really interesting, and I loved the way the WE were characterized by numbers, as in their hierarchy in the collective schemes. I also like the way the first group went out to search for sparks. My understanding from the third book, though, was that it was all a mistake, that they didn’t know it could kill our kind of life. But in this book it seems that they do know, but the first group doesn’t care.

The writing in this book was generally weaker than in the previous ones. There was a general overuse of “!”. I understand that people are shouting a lot in this book, but I find that it’s overwhelming to the point of becoming uninteresting -as in, “oh, they’re shouting again”, after which I would sigh and roll my eyes. The author also overused many colloquial expressions, such as “as yet” or “as of yet” and others.

The strongest writing was near the beginning of the book when Cory and Rob were talking, while the weakest was near the beginning with the WE. Strangely, the WE sequences got stronger as the book moved along, while those with the humans got weaker. I think the early WE scenes were weak because they lacked scenery and most of a setting, because they don’t need much space in the sphere, and they became mostly just talking heads. It felt stunted as 41 explained everything to 42 and got annoyed and offended at the slightest turn of phrase. Later, it was the humans who had to explain everything and got annoyed and offended as they tried to decide what to do. Near the start, the humans have actual discussions, notwithstanding the shouting. Later, they cover every single angle possible for every argument, and I found it went on for way too long. (I had a similar comment for Isaac Asimov’s later novels, where he would take one decision, and analyze it for pages before moving on to the next one.)

Some other weak points: Any artefact, space probe, must be very close-by, but here it is described as it would actually be near another star. Even the farthest probes (Voyager and Pioneer) are currently barely out of the solar system. (unless affected by a wormhole or something…). Daniel’s argument makes no sense –it is because he is head of security that he shouldn’t go and be potentially compromised. This is exactly the argument used near the end of the book to convince Rob he shouldn’t go. Sometimes they say everything is a security matter so Daniel’s decisions should stand, and at other times, when it is clear it’s a security issue, they overrule him. Arthur also flip-flops: “Let’s decide who later, focus on what we need to ask.” … then later … “Before [determining the first question], I think we should establish who is going.”

I was a bit disappointed that the WE have quasi-religious viewpoints so similar to humans, which gives them motivations like humans to go out and destroy that which conflicts with it as they seek to cover up the truth. It sounds way too human, but I guess if they evolved from humans, it could explain why they behave like humans.

The construction project in Toronto was briefly mentioned, but I don’t think we ever get an answer as to what was being built. Rob (or was it Daniel?) was cut off when he started asking about it.

I also wondered if other animals have sparks, too. They exhibit intelligence of a sort, though not as advanced. The story seems to think not, giving humanity that special soul spark.

In the end, they’ve dealt with the bully, but bullies forget quickly and easily. Given how security-minded this group is, I would really expect them to at least mention a defense system being built in orbit or a watch on the Homesafe. Cory is the one who hungers for knowledge, and it’s expected that he goes out exploring. But it seems remiss that Rob and Daniel aren’t mentioned in the context of a permanent defense for humanity’s home.

It’s an interesting choice to make the last chapter all talking, with no setting whatsoever. Not what I expected, and a very different way to end the book.