This book has exploration of past alien remnants, and like Rendezvous with Rama, they feel alien. Unlike that work, the characters here are prospectors, trying to escape the dystopian hell of an overpopulated earth where shale oil algae is mined for basic foodstuffs.

Like the wild west, most characters have their own stories. Robinette (or Bob) has two, one history and one current day. At first, the current day Bob comes across as a sex obsessed whiner, but his story does converge nicely with the flashbacks by the end.

This novel won four major awards - the Hugo, the Nebula, the Locus and the John W. Campbell memorial award. The universe described here was much bigger, and further novels follow. There was also a PC game (completely fits the historical story) and there is even a TV series in development. I read this for a 70s challenge, and now plan to read more about the Heechee soon.