Awesome. Proof that more writers should collaborate. Set in a parallel version of Heinlein's Future History (Detailed timeline of the Future History) with some of Heinlein's "juvenile" elements and recent events (9/11, war in the middle east) folded in. (Then further skewed by a major event in the book.) It's a fun, classic space opera (with some "romance") that begs the question of why Robinson has not written one before... Having read quite a bit of both writers, I think it does read more like Spider, but I like the feel of Robinson's writing (bad puns and all) around Heinlein's world building.