Revelation space

ok, where do i begin... with over two thousand reviews and rated at four stars, «revelation space» should be one of the masterpieces one is looking for when combing through one's library's records for their next sci-fi read, right? right? having finished the book, i've looked through reviews to see what people like about this one. every second review stresses that the novel's packed with great ideas on a global scale... why then does «revelation» seems so... bland and difficult to read? great ideas are necessary but not sufficient, one looks for characters to connect to, for a story one wouldn't be able to put down, for writing that would immerse one into the unique atmosphere of that story... well, maybe the «revelation» isn't just my sort of sci-fi.

I struggled to care about the characters or believe their dialog. But I enjoyed the abundance of dark, mysterious technology older than humanity. While I slowly pressed on through the first three quarters of the book (with little bursts of enjoyment here and there) I found the ending to be exhilarating. A lot of the answers in the end happened off-screen and came as info-dumps, but it was enough to make me want to read more in the series.