Pretty good, if ultimately rather dark, sf opera

I enjoyed reading this. It's a vast span of time, and a lot happens, although mostly to only the main characters; one wonders a bit if the rest of the Galaxy is really so passive. The quasi-Buddhist and quasi-Greek and quasi-so-on terms were a bit odd and sometimes off-putting. And I have to admit with some shame that I couldn't always keep straight exactly who was who and whose wife or parent or whatever.

The background universe and technology and philosophy are rather rich and interesting. There's too much exposition at times.

And then (semi-spoiler) at the end in some sense none of it matters. Which is maybe sort of the point, but still...