Xeelee: Endurance [book]

I HAVE SAID IT BEFORE: STEVEN BAXTER PROBABLY HAS AUTISM OR SOMETHING. HE HATES WRITING CHARACTERS AND JUST REUSES THE SAME CHARACTERS OVER AND OVER. SOMETIMES HE GIVES A PREMISE FOR WHY (COMPUTER SIMULATIONS/ALTERNATE REALITIES) AND SOMETIMES YOU JUST ARE SUPPOSED TO IGNORE IT, OR TWO PEOPLE HAVE THE EXACT SAME STORY BUT ARE DIFFERENT PEOPLE. USUALLY I DON'T MIND THAT BUT THIS WAS A COLLECTION OF SHORT STORIES SET IN HIS MOST ESTABLISHED UNIVERSE AND ALTHOUGH SOME OF THE STORIES WERE GOOD IT JUST FELT LIKE A NIGHTMARE OF "DID I READ THIS BEFORE?" LIKE HAVE I READ THE STORY ABOUT THEM RIDING SPIDERS INTO THE HEART OF EUROPA TO BLOW UP A WORMHOLE TO ANOTHER UNIVERSE? YES. HAVE I READ THE STORY ABOUT TINY PRIMITIVE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN TREES IN ANOTHER UNIVERSE ON A NEUTRON STAR? NO, THAT WAS A STORY ABOUT TINY PRIMITIVE PEOPLE THAT LIVE IN TREES ON A REGULAR STAR. ALSO I GET IT'S PARTLY SUPPOSED TO BE "THE SAME SITUATIONS ARISE OVER AND OVER AT DIFFERENT SCALES ACROSS DIFFERENT WORLDS!" BUT LIKE NINE THINGS ARE CALLED "THE RAFT" NOW, AND LIKE NINE OTHER THINGS ARE CLEARLY JUST THE SAME THING AGAIN BUT HIM SAYING "BOY, I SHOULDN'T CALL IT THE RAFT THIS TIME"


PS. XEELEE STUFF HAS GOTTEN WEIRD SINCE THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE AN UNCOUNTABLE MANY TIMES OVER WAS TO ENGINEER EVERYTHING THAT EVER EXISTED TO BUILD BOLDER'S RING AT THE END OF HISTORY. BUT THEN THERE IS LIKE 50 OTHER STORIES WHERE EVERYONE JUST GOES TO OTHER UNIVERSES ALL THE TIME LIKE IT'S NO BIG DEAL. ALSO THE XEELEE OR PHOTINO BIRDS WEREN'T EVEN IN THIS BOOK. LIKE THEY WERE THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS SERIES AT ONE POINT BUT ONCE THEY WRAPPED THAT UP THERE HAS BEEN LIKE 30 MORE BOOKS THAT BARELY EVEN MENTION THEM ANYMORE. EVERYONE DIES.