the worldbuilding is beautiful, robust, and in some respects creative and fascinating. The character development, beyond Kira and a few secondary characters, was not always satisfying. I'm mindful that this is the first book in a new series and we may see some of the characters better explored in future books. The relationship between Kira and Alan in the first couple of chapters felt awkward. Is "babe" still going to be popular among humans in the 23rd Century? And honestly, more character development would have meant a longer novel and the novel is, as mentioned, already just under 900 pages. That said, one of my favorite characters was Gregorovich, the Wallfish shipmind. I hope to see more of him in the future. The pacing of the novel was also jarring at times because things start out slowly, then develop rapidly, then slow considerably, then the action happens very quickly and dramatically, then the pace slows again. Yet still, the nature of the aliens, especially Itari, the one that Kira comes to know well, was fascinating and thought-provoking. Paolini manages to capture the simplicity of the human perception of life, freedom, self, duty, purpose, and how those things may be impediments to understanding or embracing an alien culture that is built upon completely different biology, and philosophy. The book comes with helpful Appendices and a full glossary for readers prone to getting lost in the complexity of this story. All in all, I can definitely say that Paolini has grown as an author. I will look forward to the next book in the Fractalverse series.