Nowhere near as mind-blowing as the prequel this novel shoots itself in the foot by unveiling its boogeyman a bit too early.

The anthropological/evolutionary hard sci-fi mystery game is still pretty fun, but all the rest — from characters to plot — feels pretty underwhelming.

Positive:	Negative:
Some fascinating scientific and anthropological ideas	Forgettable, almost negligible characters
Grounded in legitimate science	The introduction of aliens feels a bit goofy