Gradisil (Gollancz)

Although Roberts' books are full of surprises, they follow a basic pattern of being much more about illuminating social and political ideas than the science fiction universe they are set in.

This is no exception.

I stayed up too late to finish it; for once there isn't a surprise SciFi twist in the last quarter of the book, just a page-turner of an end.

There are probably better times to read this than during a series of chilly, uncomfortable plane flights, since that's basically its setting. Since it was one of my best reads last year, I'm looking forward to a reread.

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2012 reread: Was struck this time by the beautiful language, phrases like "the faceted running bulge and dip of the Appalachians". I've read criticism of Adam Roberts that suggests he's subverting or doing something strange with SF. Read it in a more literary mode this time.