Quite possibly the worst science fiction novel, if not worst novel, ever written.

KSR sets out to intentionally deceive you. The author wants you to think this is a book about space exploration, generation ships and the characters within. It is not. This is a book about the author's dislike of space bound idealism. He weaves a fantastic tale, and then right at the end where you would expect to find some kind of resolution to the issues faced by the characters, he hits the whole plot with a hammer. Rather than using deus ex machina to move the plot forward, he uses it to move the plot in reverse. In the span of pages characters invent, find and bs meants that allow them to reverse their journey. The ships computer, the narrator, is destroyed when the ship is thrown into the earths sun, and yet his voice remains to tell us how everyone got back to earth safe and sound to fix earths environmental problems. A tremendous bait and switch, the only ebook I have ever sought a refund for.

Do not read this book if you enjoy science fiction, endings or narrative.