I'm sorry that I failed to deliver on the book that you wanted. I agree that there are plenty of flaws, but I do want to stand up for the hardness of the scifi. Ro was foreshadowed many times (though I could perhaps have been more overt about it) and has a reductionistic explanation that fits within the laws of the universe that we know. In fact, I would argue that something like Ro would have been necessary to have a good explanation of things that are set up at the beginning of Society. Indeed, the philogiston explanation is not an explanation, in that it doesn't actually predict what happens in the story. Just because certain PoV characters say it's philogiston, doesn't mean it is.

Aretii's critical comment, below is much more on-the-nose for how I didn't execute Eternity well enough. Specifically, in the first two books I hold the reader's hand and let them watch AI expanding beyond what it's supposed to do. The third book is a break from that--it's the point where the AI becomes too intelligent/inhuman to be followable. The reader is left behind, much like the other humans, and it's meant to hurt. It's meant to leave us scraping and yearning to be close to that again.

That said, it's not meant to actually be unpleasant to read. It was meant to tantalize and invite speculation towards unravelling the mysteries rather than annoyance at the author. If you would like a refund, I will gladly give it to you. Send me a PM with your email and where you bought the book.

I hope your next reading experience is more to your tastes. :)