Alien intelligences that are truly alien, perception as simulation, subjective vs objective time, category theory as a universal tool for traversing the layers of reality, progressive politics between party ruins and personal life, multiperspectival storytelling and a few plot twists – what could possibly go wrong in a book that has all this?

Basically that Dath puts all of this into it – and has to try too hard to make it fit. The voices don't seem authentic, category theory gets a mix of overly theoretical introductions and silly practical "applications", and the political perspective is kind of tacked on, while the plot isn't strong enough to hold it all together, especially as it kind of loses its thread two thirds through the book. I reads a little like an experiment: "What happens if I write a novel about category theory?" But Dath is neither daring nor focused enough to really pull it off.

To be fair, it has its moments, and Dath really expanded my notions of memory, intelligence and life in general, but that would have comfortably fit into a novella. In its present form, it took me a month (and two other novels on the side) to get through. If only that time would have been as compressed as story-time has been for the protagonists…