Ambitious Story Concepts with Disappointing Execution

I'm back!! I share some of the stressors I've had and much of the stories I've been reading these past few weeks. These stories include (roughly in order of discussion): Consider Phlebas by Ian M. Banks, The Long Earth series by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter, House of Suns by Alistair Reynolds, and the webfiction Ar'Kendrithyst by Arcs.And I forgot to talk about A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys... which is a shame because it was my favorite novel of the lot! Definitely have to get into it in the next episode.