Children of God by Mary Doria Russell

Ack. This was so depressing. The prequel to the book is one of the finest works I have ever read, but this is just a trainwreck. I couldn't keep the characters straight, let alone care about them. She had to pull about a half dozen rabbits out of her hat to keep the plot moving along and by the time she got around to resolving all of the plotlines and redeeming all of the characters, I was so irritated I didn't care.