Technology Porn: Well over 50% of the narrative is dedicated to describing the science and technology that allows humanity to get into, survive and move around in space. The Cloud Ark is constructed around the International Space Station, currently headed by astronaut Ivy Xiao. The space station is already bolted onto an asteroid called Amalthea and is partially protected from the Moon fragments. Engineer Dinah MacQuarie uses robots to excavate Amalthea to provide further protection for the station. The Ark must become self-sufficient enough to endure for 5,000 years—at which point Earth should be stable enough to be terraformed and turned into a habitable planet once more. There are hints, however, that the entire project is not really feasible; that it’s only intended to pacify people and give false hope. Tragic Irony: That, in the far future, the Diggers are immediately hostile to Blue and make an alliance with Red, when they're related to the Dinans.

None of my criticisms should put you off reading this novel if you're a fan of hard sci-fi or post-apocalyptic fiction. Its structural and narrative flaws don't outweigh its merit as one of the very best treatments of the end of world scenario. Not so much "outgrown" as "beaten out of them." The narration dryly notes that humanity being whittled down to eight surviving women more or less killed the idea that God was running things. As a result, the Spacers don't really have a concept of God, but a form of nontheistic spirituality called dukh is practiced. Fleming, Mike Jr. (June 8, 2016). "Skydance Reunites 'Apollo 13' Team For Neal Stephenson Sci-Fi Novel 'Seveneves' ". Deadline . Retrieved June 9, 2016.Bittersweet Ending: Humanity is in the process of repopulating the Earth, but it is divided against itself into two warring alliances: The Blue nation and the Pingers against the Red nation and the Diggers. Kath tries to persuade the Diggers to Take a Third Option, so there's still hope for the future (or at least, a sequel). Stephenson takes on some very interesting social themes, from the uses, abuses and limits of power to the consequences of directed genetic manipulation. He also does a good job of extrapolating on the evolution of connectivity, social media and the part narrative plays in shaping our expectations of the future as well as the way we look at our histories. By the end of the Epic, The Ark's population has been reduced to eight women, with the rest of the crew having sacrificed themselves to ensure their survival. Ambiguous Gender: A lot of Camites don't appear to have easily discernible gender, usually because the clothes they wear are generally neutral and loose. On spotting one he doesn't already know, Ty's inner monologue reasons that the Camite is probably male because of their height and broad shoulders, and he will refer to him as "he" unless told otherwise. Actual Pacifist: Camilla believes aggression is an inherently bad human trait and passes that belief onto all of her progeny.

That´s, what I´ve read so far, the closest, first hard sci-fi, first with some and then mainly space opera, Stephenson has written, because he usually tends to stay on devastated, dystopian Earth. There are, of course, lengths, and long passages without much action, but in contrast to some of other of Stephensons´ works with much philosophizing and info dumping, a better character implementation helps to prevent losing control over the storyline.

Tropes used:

Badass Army: Both Red and Blue have these. Blue's army is mostly Teklans, who are hulking supersoldiers genetically engineered from a Russian badass. The Red military has squads of genetically reimagined Neanderthals who are naturally as strong as Teklans and use whips of microbots in combat. Abnormal Ammo: The Spacers of 5,000 years in the future do not use guns. An Infodump early on in that section tells us that, seeking a projectile weapon that could incapacitate humans without damaging the fragile infrastructure those humans need to survive, they settled on weapons that fire small, programmed robots at a target that can optionally kill, stun or otherwise inconvenience who or whatever you shoot with it or, if they miss, decelerate before they puncture the wall of a space habitat. Conveniently, they're also programmed to return to the side that fired them.