After the Laundry Files didn't click for me, I thought I misremembered liking Stross a decade or so ago. But I'm very glad I discovered this short story collection because it made me re-appreciate his writing. I even sort of liked the Laundry-based episode.
Palimpsest ist my favorite. It's difficult to make far future sci-fi feel relatable, let alone in a short story, but through a few tricks he manages to do that.
I'll cheerfully attack the next Stross novel on my unread pile now.
A delicious and gnarly read. If you always wanted to know what upbeat, positive and yet very trippy sci-fi reads like, this is a good start into Rudy Rucker's work.
Like some commenters said, Bacigalupi manages to bring a sort of Gibsonesque lyrical quality to SF and this is something I sorely miss. Also, the setting is fresh (never read anything set in Thailand and using the backdrop with such gusto).
I had to drop this one midway. I adored the Kovacs novels even when they threatened to become formulaic but somehow Morgan's fantasy failed to grip me in the same way.
The characters seem well-constructed enough, the dialog doesn't become too boring or predictable and the setting is nice. I was still curious about what awaits Ringil in the second half of the book but didn't care much at all about what was going on in his world. I think that's the biggest failing here, at least for me.
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