Nick Sagan's Edenborn

Picked up the book Edenborn by Nick Sagan, he is the son of Carl Sagan and interplanetary artist Linda Salzman Sagan. Carl Sagan was the writer of cosmos, Broca's Brain,Contact (later adapted into a movie starring Jodie foster), etc.
The book is not too bad. I felt like it could have used more action, though perhaps the lack of it gave the author a chance to really flesh out the characters. I have not read his first book Idlewind, i think this book builds on it. There are a couple of references to idlewind though not so essential to reading edenborn. His style is definitely unique, what with a joke wrung out of Thomas Edison's quote "I have not failed, i've just found ten thousand ways that wont work".(the joke wont make sense if i pluck it out of the story)
The character pandora is an intriguing tech savvy woman who is in love with a 'bad boy'. I liked her character the most, though i found myself jotting down afew lines by the character haji who is a wise sufi who says "enlightenment must come little by little otherwise it would overwhelm". Then there is penny who is coco in a dark but hilarious kind of way, its like she was on a permanent scheming rant.
You might need to be a bit patient for the most part with this book, the pace quickens as it nears the end and you get the feeling that there is another book in the horizon. I am leary of comparing it to Orson Scott Card's Ender novels, though if you like Ender, you might enjoy this...Edenborn has a mystical quality to it and some very interesting humour. (well at least to me..i find a reference to Operation love machine kinda hilarious.)
For a quick layout of the plot from idlewind click here

**You have got to read bankelele's nightmare if its one thing you do today.