"Hard" science fiction isn't usually my favorite, but the concept of NASA tossing up a final manned mission before the organization is completely dismantled is well-realized and highly plausible (though, jeez, 78 pages just to crash a space shuttle seems a bit much -- it's a pre-credits sequence at best, but that's what you get with hard SF).
thar be minor spoilers
Unfortunately, Earth history takes a turn for the ludicrous as the final Shuttle launch begins. From Gareth Deeke's attack on the Shuttle until Jian Ling's suicidal mission to NEO2002OA, the events on-planet tumble headlong towards cataclysm in a way that strains credulity. In particular, Mr. Maclachlan, as described, is a one-term president. His actions precipitate economic problems at home, and one sure way to be shown the door in U.S. politics is to preside over a recession. Maybe the idea is that the Earth situation is one of those "multiple systems failures that always gets you."
thar be spoilers
The events on Titan are pleasingly depressingly plausible, until we're suddenly thrust into the end of Spielberg's AI. How are we to continue to find this story credible when the author resorts to resurrecting his main characters so they can engage in a gratuitous sex scene? And why wouldn't the Ammonos resurrect Nicola Mott while they were at it? Did Paula and Rosenberg have "main character" stamped on their foreheads, or did Niki have DNR flags in her medical files?
Note: posted 5/1/2013, backdated to when I finished reading the book.
