An odd little novel, with a wonderful backdrop and a foreground best viewed a little out of focus.

It's Hal Clement, the science is awesome, and the big picture completely captivating. Unfortunately most of the characters just didn't make me care.

The best character is a precocious little girl, but she's pretty much window dressing.

The rest of them are so much just one thing.

It's kinda like Asimov's psycho history, it works wonderfully with societies, and fails looking at a single small group of people.
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A somewhat frustrating book. Clement offers a seemingly impossible yet scientifically rigorous future Earth setting packed with interesting concepts. But then he populates it with underdeveloped characters who do simple and obvious things (there is definitely a YA sensibility to the storytelling). ( )