110
people found this helpful, as of 2023
ranked #242,671 most helpful
out of 571,544,897 reviews
★☆☆☆☆
Gave up after about 40%
The prose is awkward and cumbersome. Far too many made-up words and phrases that were still indecipherable after reading almost half the book. The story line is banal and mundane; character development nil, and is in no way engaging. Even the main concept of a multi-part AI (about 20 if I remember correctly) with no indication how they interact falls flat. Are they: peer-to-peer; master/slave; all able to communicate with all; or only to the master; requires outboard network or power; etc. I am astounded that this novel received any awards at all. It is in no way in the class of SciFi as that written by Asimov, Herbert, Card, and many others. I could not force myself to finish the book.
