The Children of Possibility

This is quite an impressive and original sf creation, with a future history that goes a long way into our future, and its own somewhat original treatment of time travel. The author is an experienced and proficient writer, who seems at home with various sciences; he's put research and creative energy into it, and it makes an interesting and exciting story that I can cautiously recommend to sf readers in general.

At this stage I'm giving it only three stars, partly because I've read it only once as yet, and I need more readings to have a settled opinion about a book; and partly because I find the characters relatively unappealing. They're not unpleasant, but they're low on personality. Ideally, I like to enjoy the company of fictional characters, but I don't get much out of these.

Well, characterization is traditionally a problem area in sf, and the story is of interest anyway. I see that there's a sequel and a prequel, and I plan to proceed with one or both of them.

I should explain that this book has a beginning and an end, and can be read as a standalone novel. The author wisely left the ending half-open, so that it could either be continued in the future or not, and in the end he decided to continue it. However, reading the sequel is optional: we're not left with a irritating cliffhanger.