This story finally wraps up almost all of the unanswered questions, including how humanity deals with the higher intelligence. I must say, some of Clarke's predictions are rather troubling, but probably not that far off. I'm not entirely sure I agree with some of his summaries as the book ended, but the overall story was extremely gripping, I had trouble putting this book down, I wanted to finish it so much.

Granted, part of that might have come from the fact that the Rama series of books turned me on to science fiction, but nevertheless, I think other sci-fi fans out there will immensely enjoy these books.