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A collection of loosely related short stories clumsily cobbled together.

Good:
Raises valid concerns about genetic engineering and US patent law.

Bad:
Most characters appear morally wrong for no good reason. It detracts from valid criticism of corporate wrongdoers if all characters are adulterers & chauvinists.
Ending is unbelievable.
There's almost no narrative structure to the novel.
* It should have been an essay.

Read this if you are already invested in Revelation Space series.

Good:
Familiar characters & locations show up.
Ties to the war on Mars, which is one of my favorite parts of the lore.
Story beats reminded me of a Culture series novel.

Bad:
Drawn-out midsection, rushed & unnecessarily complicated ending.
Aliens end up feeling mundane.
Not a viable entry point into the series, despite being advertised as standalone.

Good:
Speculative fiction at its finest.
Great society & world building, shown through a lens of a single life.
Two timelines nicely intertwine & support each other.
The scenes of hardship & revolution resonate deeply.
* Evokes the feeling of classic Sci-Fi without any problematic elements often associated with it.

Bad: ∅

For a depiction of a similar theme check out John Kessel's [b:The Moon and the Other|30753686|The Moon and the Other|John Kessel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1491126501l/30753686.SY75.jpg|51302140].

Good:
Picks up nicely from where Foundryside left off
Crasedes is a scary villain
I liked drawing parallels between Foundrysiders and free software movement (though book itself doesn't delve too deep into this)

Bad:
Main characters felt bland, I cared more about villains
Repetitive plot: a new complication arises → clever scriving scene → heist/action scene → repeat
Major plot-lines remain unresolved

Good:
The plot twist around Ryland's amnesia is great!
"Space amoeba" story done right.
Relationship between Ryland and Rocky is endearing.
Audiobook elevates the whole experience.

Bad:
Protagonist with amnesia trope has been done before.
Rocky has interesting alien physiology & boring human psychology.
* Earthbound story-line and characters seem childish & oversimplified compared to science in space sequences.

It's uniquely beautiful.

Good:
I liked the mash-up of styles & the film making theme nicely ties them together.
Different story-lines are all interesting, I enjoyed how they each centered on a mystery.
The vision of Solar System / alternate history is stunning.

Bad:
The callowhale exposition at the end was superfluous & took the magic away.
* It went a little bit over my novelty budget (your millage may vary).

A return to form for the series!

Good:
We meet Sabetha! She's well developed character in addition to being Locke's obsession.
Locke's love blunders are masterfully depicted & invoke nice, fluffy schadenfreude feeling.
Two story-lines (historic & contemporary) are both enjoyable & intertwine nicely.

Bad:
Locke's origin story feels tacked-on as a hook for a sequel that is yet to materialize 8 years later.

A murder (mystery) bot story!

Good:
Return to short form.
It was nice to see Senior Indah start off skeptical and gradually warm up to Murderbot.
Murder mystery format is a good fit for Murderbot's narrative style.
Preservation was a nice change of setting from previous stories.

Bad:
Confusing chronologically (it's set before Network Effect).
I'm more interested in Murderbot's adventures with ART.