 Science fiction critic Paul Kincaid had mixed feelings about the novel . In a review at the SF Site webzine he criticized the characterisation saying that he could not always separate the main characters . Kincaid questioned the need for the supernatural entity , the Typhon , which is never developed . He described the " end of time " sequence as " the most powerful science fictional moment in this entire book " , saying that he found it " far more scary , far more gripping , than any supernatural intervention " . Kincaid said that while he found the book " ambitious " and " intellectually satisfying " , " somehow the whole feels less than the sum of its parts " . 
