The book is easy, fun, light, and enjoyable, focusing on pop science that captures the imagination. The pre-voyage material isn't as slow as many similar adventure books, but some readers object to the geological name-dropping and the fact that we're getting more or less the bric-a-brac of geology and not really an exploration of scientific modes of thought. Various peculiarities such as the anticlimactic final business about the compass qualify the success of the narrative ultimately, but heck, it's a new genre
