The novel has two narratives in alternate chapters. The first follows two citizens of the Amalgam, a Milky Way-spanning civilisation, investigating the origin of DNA found on a meteor by the Aloof. The Aloof control the galactic core and, until the novel begins, have rejected all attempts at contact by the Amalgam. The second narrative is set on a small world known as the Splinter, and covers the attempts by its inhabitants to understand the environment within which their home exists. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the Splinter orbits a collapsed star within its accretion disk and is subject to various dangers. The two stories come together in a complex twist which involves a kind of past/future first contactrole reversal. Much of the narrative explores the effects of orbital dynamics around a high mass object and requires an understanding of Newtonian gravitation and at least a basic familiarity with general relativity and its application to black holes and neutron stars to be compelling. Understanding the story's wider frame of reference and the Splinter's encounter with the Wanderer are tied in with this. The Amalgam is explored in three other short stories, Glory, Riding the Crocodile, and Hot Rock.
Criticism
One review compared Incandescence to "a not particularly enthralling lecture on the process of scientific discovery, combined with the physics of a black hole". Another reviewer described much of this criticism as "trite received opinion" and said the book had "hints of greatness and pleasing moments" but its structure was "a failed literary experiment" and ultimately rather dull. On June 6, 2008, British writerAdam Roberts released a review criticizing Incandescence for its awkward prose and weak characterization. In response, Egan dissected the review, going so far as to call it "probably the first genuine hatchet job I've ever received." In particular, he accuses Adam Roberts of malicious nitpicking and a straw man argument, and suggests that Roberts should have known he would be unfairly biased against the book and refused to review it:
