It was an interesting book to read but a little long winded and depressing.  you don't get into the real meat of the story till well over half-way.  Anderson is a good writer, but his stories always have this feeling of the world ultimately moving beyond our comprehension. He tries to show that alieness of the future.  I've read novels from several different authors and I have to say that Poul's books show the most strange futures.  In my eyes harvest of stars was a little depressing.  It shows how the world moves beyond us and how some people are really just born in the wrong time period.  I suggest you read the series if you want to see what future technologies do to culture and how they change the direction of society totally.

In the distant future Earth is under the tyrannical rule of the Avanist Govt. and the
only ones who can fight them is the Fireball Company under the leadership of Anson Guthrie and a space pilot named Kyra Davis. She must save Guthrie who's intelligence is downloaded into a computer. Their adventures take them from Earth
to a exotic lunar colony and finally to a planet menaced by a dying star. Anderson's
speculations about artificial intelligences, biotechnology and space travel is first-rate
and his lyrical prose makes his novel literally sing.