Garoo

Vernor Vinge, Rainbows End ★★★

Vinge takes on William Gibson, with mitigated results: not nearly as well written (that wasn’t as jarring in the previous books, possibly because they were in their own universe), but with better characters, and an interesting world and story, although the ending is not all you’d like it to be.

Robert Charles Wilson, Spin ★★★★

Taking the premise of Greg Egan’s Quarantine and running with it in a completely different direction: much lighter on the hard sci-fi and more interested in the characters. Not exactly memorable, just masterful storytelling and an enjoyable read.

Charles Stross, Glasshouse ★★★

Not that it isn’t well written, but the story doesn’t interest me — well, it actively repels me, in fact (I can’t stand stories of people being trapped, never could, never will). There are clever ideas in the way the author replicates the 1950s society through game theory, but a lot of the story feels hackneyed and predictable.

David Brin, Sundiver ★★

I thoroughly dislike the universe, the oremise, and the writing. In short, I instantly disliked the man. Which is too bad, because he asks interesting questions. Poorly.

Greg Egan, Permutation City ★★

When I started reading books by Egan, I thought his love for matryoshka sets of parallel universes and dimensions was exotic and original; now I’m really getting tired of it. I love his knack for imagining and describing every single facet of post-physical humanity, but hate the theoretical mumbo-jumbo of mathematical impossibilities.