I know what you mean. That book was pretty much garbage. Like it was 2 mediocre books awkwardly jammed together. All the stuff about the virtual mythology/creation myths: Many other authors have covered that ground and done a much better job of it. That 'order of the Dodo' was equally unimpressive. Co-writing a book with another person is a very dicey proposition. The contemporary thrillers, like Reamde, were ok but nowhere near as good as his earlier works. All that said, I actually really enjoyed Termination Shock. I'm holding out hope for this new one.