Frustrated with myself for not getting most of the puzzle pieces until I looked it up. I didn’t realize the splinter was not orbiting a neutron star, didn’t realize the splinterites become the aloof, etc etc. Also didn’t notice the difference in origin myth between the splinter and the ark.
There are a bunch of things still unclear to me with the arc of the Aloof, since there are so many phases they go through (how did the Splinter get to be orbiting the supermassive black hole? Did the neutron star interloper come before splinterites started traveling off the splinter, or was that the event that spurred the development of off-Splinter travel?) Again, part of this is my lack of observation, but I do think he could have presented stuff more clearly. It seems like there were at least two distinct phases of the splinterites "waking up" and building arks.
Definitely a solid and scrupulously researched novel: my occasional lack of engagement with it is mostly due to insufficient observation and a general apathy towards physics. I’d like to read more Egan in the future, but I’m going to consciously gravitate towards stories focusing more on computer science, biology, math, etc.