A very ambitious attempt at an overview of history and philosophy, but it does not contain anything new for a well-informed reader. The characters are shallow and poorly written, and the story is contrived. It seems to be a compendium of facts and trivia that were on the author's mind. Very overrated, and a tedious book to read, as it is written from a distinctly old-fashioned, European perspective (dead white males). The author makes much of the meaning of the child's existence, but it turns out to be very anticlimactic--his mission, which rightly doesn't even rate much mention in the book, as much as it is ballyhooed beforehand, is hardly worth the effort that went into producing him. All very overblown and dull. I consider this book to have been a waste of time and money.