I found myself stumbling through a complex set of words that felt like a computer spit them out instead of a real person. The words added nothing to the weave and were out of place. No good reason except you just learned how to use the thesaurus on the computer. The story was slow at times and the heights were not as high as I am used to from Poul. Sorry for the harsh Poul.
I expected something more post apocalyptic. Instead, I found a boring book. I expect more of Poul Anderson.