Quite a ride, but that's theoretical physics and astrobiology for you. While being an interesting introduction to assemblage theory in this book enthusiasm and hype seem do more of the heavy lifting than plausibility. The praise of Lee Cronin's work gets a bit tired as does the constant name-dropping of other scientists as "friends". I really wish there was more actual underpinning of their ideas but especially the last part slips toward blind "tech/AI as next step of evolution" hype without arguments. Still, I'm glad I read it because it was a nice challenge for thoughts.