From Amazon:
One hundred and fifty years from now, Africa has become the world’s dominant technological and economic power. Crime, war, disease and poverty have been eliminated. The Moon and Mars are settled, and colonies stretch all the way out to the edge of the solar system. And Ocular, the largest scientific instrument in history, is about to make an epochal discovery…
Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his long-running studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey’s family, who control the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans for him. After the death of his grandmother Eunice—the erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur—something awkward has come to light on the Moon, so Geoffrey is dispatched there to ensure the family name remains untarnished. But the secrets Eunice died with are about to be revealed—secrets that could change everything...or tear this near utopia apart.
My first Reynolds story was "Great Wall of Mars". It was a great short story. I followed it up with "Revelation Space" and it was a fascinating first novel. So when Reynolds released the first book in a new trilogy ("Poseidon's Children) this year I thought I would follow this one as it was published. Did it hold up to his previous work? Yes and no.The ideas are right up there with the other stories. The individual scenes on the moon and beyond are amazing. Unfortunately I was disappointed with the segments that took place in Africa. I realize they were important to Geoffrey's character but I thought Reynolds dedicated to this part of the story. My favorite scenes were the ones on the moon with his sister. The culture that he develops there is very interesting.
If that was the only drawback I would have liked this story more. Unfortunately the main, driving plot was pedestrian and disappointed me. I expected better from Reynolds. Arthur C. Clarke is one of his inspirations and I have found some of his books to be more of a travel log than a novel. This suffers from some of the same shortcomings. Hopefully books two and three will have a better plot.
If you prefer idea driven books, i would recommend this one to you. If you like plot driven books, I would take a pass on this and pick up one of his other titles.
