There are a lot of mutterings in the Amazon reviews about the similarities between Neverness and Dune. It's been a while since I've read Dune, but the similarities seem mostly superficial to me. I thought it had more in common with Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun. (Note: that's a very good thing.)

That sounds awesome. I've never heard of it before, but now I'll look for it. (And either comparison makes it intriguing.)

i guess it's the pacing thing that Publisher's Weekly and others mention...it's a first book, so maybe people thought it was a good start but needs work?

(it looks interesting, except for all the math stuff--it's very hard to balance science/math with a really good story that holds interest for enough people, i think)

I just finished Spin, and thought that guy did it well tho--a really really good book--but he did it by focusing more on the people instead of the science, which appeals to me more anyway.

amberglow, I absolutely love Spin. I was recommending Robert Charles Wilson to mygothlaundry on IRC last night.

I wouldn't be put off by the mathematics. I'm completely non-mathematical and it didn't bother me. Every now and then he'll go on for a paragraph or two about the beauty of mathematics, but it's well-written.

I liked Neverness but there was something about Zindell's style that put me off reading more of his stuff. Can't remember what it was now: a little cloying maybe?