There is a lot to like about this book. For a start, there is a lot of humour in it, despite the somewhat dark underlying themes, or perhaps precisely because of them. Rob van Essen also uses language very deliberately. Time and again, the characters say something and then deliberate if another word would have been better. Especially as a second language reader that adds an extra dimension. 
The plot is odd, as befits a science fiction novel. Odd is good, and mostly it works very well. It starts with a young boy growing up in a strictly religious (reformed) family, and I must admit that my heart sank as I thought it was going to be yet another Dutch novel whose claim to literary fame was a miserable youth. But the author has made a much more well-rounded story than that, and that was all ok.
The only aspect that I was less enthusiastic about is where, almost at the end,

all the characters who are living in the French monastery are left sort of hanging in mid-air.

I don't have such a problem that for certain things we are given strong hints about what is going on (Ick's motivation, for instance) but it is left open as to if that is really the case. Also, in real life, we are sometimes left guessing.
I was very lucky to get a signed copy of this book as part of the NS publieksprijs campaign. I will definitely be voting for it.