Juicy Ghosts

There were pets of this, like a lot of Rucker novels, that felt magical and hand-wavy, but it was still genuinely fun. It also felt a bit simplistic. Too black and white. No consequences for the good guys murdering people.

Still, an enjoyable imaginary future. Some good ideas. Lots of fun turns of phrase. Rucker likes his alliterations.

Let's be clear, Rucker has always been an acquired taste. I acquired the taste for his hoopy frood style decades ago, and he continues to deliver. This latest novel is another great example of his distinctive Santa Cruz wetware fiction, written during the Trump presidency and COVID-19 pandemic - these are definitely food for his story. If you want to see a little piece of an alternate world where cars have been replaced by biomechanical beasts of burden, tele-operated by living or (mostly) dead disembodied humans from a literal and metaphorical cloud computing system - well, you're weird, and you'll love this book.