My main response to having completed this book was, “Good riddance, I’m done with this series.” I suppose I could have stopped at any time, but I’m stubborn, so I insisted on reading all seven books. (Though this was the fifth one written, I read the two subsequently published prequels first.)

Of all seven books, this was my least favorite. It felt like Asimov was just phoning it in to complete his contractual obligation. For one, the previous books had various plotlines that inevitably intersected in clever ways – even if Asimov never mastered the skill of showing not telling. Yet this book only had one plotline from which we never veered, and it frankly got boring. What added to the boredom was that the plot was essentially all about an individual seeking to verify a decision he had already made in a previous book. Four-hundred pages about double-checking your answer is not the most inspiring of tales.

One upside of the book was a deep dive into a planet called Gaia that seemed to be inspired by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s notion of the noosphere, for which I have a soft spot in my heart. The possibility of extrapolating lessons from that form of consciousness did give value to the text. On the other hand, there were the usual drawbacks – Asimov’s sexism, predominantly. In addition, this novel heavily featured intersex characters who were treated with opprobrium, disgust, and misgendering, adding another disturbing layer to Asimov’s embrace of heteropatriarchy.

Overall, I would not recommend this book, nor would I recommend this series except for those interested in it as a historical artifact.