This is an independent book in the Mote universe. Barely any commonality in characters, but the timeline is shared.

The author is the daughter of one of the original authors. The cover (at least my edition's) kinda obfuscates that fact, as their names both start with J.

The basic premise is actually very good, there are some good new Motie concepts, but the writing more than makes up for it... It has none of the "tightness" of the two Mote books, too many attempts to details technology that should really be left alone.

Even if you think you know something about 21st century technology, don't try to inject that into the 35th. Also, you might not be so knowledgeable as you think you are.

Mote fans are bound to read it for the sake of completeness, but will end up regretting the waste of time. ( )

Tiptree longlist 2011. It was very confusing - jumping about from place to place and character to character with no discernable narrative thread to follow. i couldn't be bothered to finish it. ( )