For what it's supposed to be, that is the hard SF, this novel is an absolute Doeuvre leader. The ideas are excellent, and despite an output in 1995 they are still relevant (search for a theory of everything that combines relativity and quantum physics), and some are visionary expectations (such as the creation of different sex, that just to be held in Australia ... country of the author). For me, this is the first real hard SF novel I read, and I admit I was a bit battered by the scientific details and plot very dense, which require a high level of concentration to the reader.