Starchild

I'll go with a 3.8 star on this one. I love both writers and this novel goes back to 1965, but there were a few inconsistencies that made me realise that I was reading and not experiencing the story. This novel is the second in a trilogy, though it isn't a direct follow up. This story picks up a couple of generations after the first, The Reefs of Space.

Mankind has reached out and is utilizing the entire solar system and many asteroids and moons. But this is revealed by telling, as the only places visited were Earth, the reefs out past Pluto someplace and a short stay on Mercury. Even with this vast backdrop of people and places, it boils down to a struggle for "world dominance", which should have been eradicated by then.

The interesting thing on this novel is that it is revealed that the stars are in fact alive and sentient, though this is revealed quite late and possibly will be the driving force of the final volume, Rogue Star. I will discover this when I resume reading this series.