The Helix and the Sword

I recently picked up The Helix and the Sword at a used book store – a happy find as the author's Toolmaker Koan is one of my favorite SF books. I was not disappointed. The story is placed in the far future. Life has scattered throughout the solar system with heavy concentrations in the asteroid belt. The plot of the story involves a semi-religious resource war. Technology is very different from present day; biotechnology and solar energy play an important role. For example, the spaceships are giant living creatures that use photosynthesis for energy and solar sails for propulsion. One interesting twist is that the future humans have abandoned planets, including the Earth, and civilization exists totally in space. (That becomes important late in the book.)
The story-telling is very good. It reminded me somewhat of early Arthur C. Clark books. If you are a fan of science fiction and like Clark's books, you will probably like this one.
The only problem I have is that John C. McLoughlin has apparently only written two fiction books (and those back in the 1980's). Sad.