Singularity Sky

I wanted to like this more but honestly the book is kind of a mess. There's some good ideas in here and I like the two main human characters. But then parts of the book are nearly incomprehensible with the gonzo writing and gimmickry. There's even a section of the book which seems like a Very Important Space Battle until ha ha the curtain is pulled and you learn it's just an exercise. That's annoying enough on TV when Star Trek does it but doing that in a book is just not OK. Particularly when I'm struggling to follow the plot already.

But, good things.. I like the history of the Eschaton and how humanity created an AI God and just sort of didn't benefit from it. The Festival is an interesting phenomenon / menace, I wish he'd spent more time on that. Instead all we got were the Critics with their obnoxious prose and some adventure I never quite understood involving a governor and a rabbit. I liked the premise of the twisted up New Republic more, that was well explored.

Starting to think Stross is not for me. Too bad; I vaguely know him from the Internet, he's a good and smart guy. And his books are about themes I'm interested in. But somehow it doesn't quite click for me.