This book just had too many interludes about different types of aliens and not enough plot or even characterisation. Also, the prose was too gimmicky to my tastes. I'm not against an occasional smart workplay or a metaphor, but this book was just one after another and then yet another. There were interesting bits of commentery on how humans treat other species and what does it mean to be sentient, however. The humour wasn't exactly bad either, there was just too much of it.