The Expert System's Brother

Pretty good, though Tchaikovsky tends to repeat himself sometimes.

Meh! Not so much

Fantastic mix of SF and Fantasy. One of the best I've read. A novella of discoveries. For the characters in the story and for the reader. At certain point you guess some of the plot but very much of it keeps hidden until the end. A very satisfying read. Mr Tchaikovsky is in my top list of authors and this novella hasn't changed my mind a millimeter.

I could've read 500 pages of this. Feels like a modern Planet of Exile.

EDIT: in fact, it feels like a Hainish Cycle/Ursula K. Le Guin book in general– short-ish, yet still packing a lot of worldbuilding/story in such few pages, and telling a vivid story about humanity and the universe.