I'm going to be thinking about this book for a long time. The first book felt oddly removed emotionally, like all the emotions were heard through a wall, but this book didn't have any of that, and I don't really know why they are different in that respect. Usually, overly technical science descriptions are a turnoff for me, but this again didn't have that problem, I actually feel like i learned a lot about our solar system. 
This book scratches the itch that older sci-fi books have, of a mythic scale and dramatic, eerie scenes that speak on the human condition. Any sci-fi fans should give this series a read, you won't regret it.