As usaul, hard SF-ish. Gives a very good impression of time- and space-implications of galaxy-wide colonisation using relativistic travel. There’s a reveal about two-thirds in (complete with “sit down for this”) which on first thought is a bit “meh!”, but nevertheless has very far-reaching consequences which only become obvious a bit later. Also, I don’t quite see the point of the Palatial side-story. Nevertheless, an enjoyable and gripping read, but not quite as good as Reynolds’ other books IMO.