Carey's Sci-Fi is aimed at a general audience, never assuming that the reader is already familiar with genre concepts. In this case multiverse imperialism and hive vs. individual intelligence.

Normally this would be frustrating for me, but in this case, it turns a tense high stakes novel into a cozy low stakes read, where you don't have to pay full attention in order to catch every hint. If you miss something it will be explained again.

M. R. Carey made me care about the characters and their role in the cataclysmic events to come and this carried me through the drudge.