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While his heroes might be horse riding vagabonds or rocket riding scientists, I have a feeling that everything that Neal Stephenson writes is essentially a techno-thriller. With Termination Shock this is true in both the theme as well as the style, and Stephenson again demonstrates his mastery over this hybrid genre.

This time around the topic is the climate crisis, a solution to which is presented in groovy technical details. Story takes place in a near future. It carries over the increasingly plausible and dystopian depiction of US that we've previously seen in Fall; or, Dodge in Hell. Though this time the story is more global, so we get to see other places in more detail. I especially appreciated European locales.

Characters are typically clever, witty or stoic, if a bit stylized (no-one really info-dumps in their everyday conversations like that). Not the most believable bunch, but I liked them.

There are the standard weak points as well. The story drags on a bit, and I lost interest in it after a while. It took me almost a year to finish the book because I dropped it around 2/3 of the way through and it took a vacation for me to pick it up again.

In the end, if you like Stephenson you'll like this book. If you don't there's probably nothing revolutionary here that will change your mind. And if you haven't read much of him so far there are better books to pick up first.

I loved this book from start to finish.

Alastair Reynolds' mastery over atmosphere and style is on display from the outset. As the novel jumps through time with each of Coade's "awakenings" you can almost feel author's enjoyment at the opportunity to capture the style of the era.

While these vivid descriptions and dialog are what drew me in initially, it's the unraveling mystery that made it impossible to put this book down. The foreshadowing was enjoyable over the top, building from subtle hints to overwhelming crescendo. The biggest kick is that as I was slowly piecing together the whole story so was the main protagonist, just from the opposite direction: I was eager to figure it all out and Coade was in active denial of it! Not to mention classic hints such as anagrams and homophones ("I am Coade" quote is pure gold!).

All this intrigue is wrapped into hard core sfi-fi concepts like space exploration, aliens, AI and topology. At the heart of it is the theme of identity which grounds the entire novel. In concert with good character work and proper consequences it gives finale the emotional kick it deserves.

Speaking of finale, Reynolds manages to avoid the pitfalls of rushed endings common in some of his other writing. Pacing here is great, and I had enough space to process the gravity of the story's climax.

All in all, a perfect novel.