This was my first Poul Anderson epic novel and it’s a dandy. I see why he’s one of scifi’s revered masters. As previously mentioned about some other such books, the Amazon reader-critics are pretty harsh, for such reasons as it being hard to keep the saga’s many characters straight.
That’s inane. It’s easy to flip back a few pages to remind yourself, and the story is worth the effort. The tale’s overarching idea, that most of humanity eventually becomes bored with space travel and retreats to study itself, is a shocking thought. Then you remember how we landed on the moon on this very day and forty years later what do we do? Except for our robots (and their contribution, however limited, certainly is worthwhile) we’re not even exploring the solar system, let alone the stars.
UPDATE: Indeed, fifty-one percent don’t even want to go to Mars. Sigh.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 
I don’t know if I’ve ever read a Poul Anderson book not set in a Niven universe. (Man/Kzin wars stories in one of the many, many short story books).
I’ll have to check him out.
I want to make something clear, if I comment on your site I generally agree with you but I rarely comment “Wut he sed”, instead, I comment when I don’t agree.
So anyway, I also have to admit I hated Destiny’s Road.
Not because it was hard to keep up, but because it was boring me.
I’ve read most of his books (and collaborations with Pournelle) multiple times, but I haven’t even looked at that book in ages.
As soon as I find out where it and another “Road” book of his are, they’re headed for the used book store.
Err, where I wrote “another “Road” book”…, I meant, his “Burning” whatever books.
I really didn’t like those either.
Have you read “Inferno”? That’s one fine book. It’s similar enough to Dante’s Inferno except you can understand what the heck he’s talking about.
Thanks. I’m a bit old for all that “Whut he said” stuff. And misspelling words on purpose, like Teh for The.
Well, re Destiny, (shrugs) to each his own.
Niven has zilch to do with Starfarers, far as I can tell. Great story.
I have heard of Niven’s “Inferno,” but it didn’t sound like my sort of tale. But I’ll reconsider it.