I got dropped into a random spot in a random universe, which I guess is Stross's imagination, and it's sometimes a bit unnavigable for me. ( )

"What will you give us?"
"Mmm. How about a post-Marxist theory of post-technological political economy, and a proof that the dictatorship of the hereditary peerage can only be maintained by the systematic oppression and exploitation of the workers and engineers, and cannot survive once the people acquire the self-replicating means of production?"

Actual text from this novel. From page 5.

Now I don't mind a book with a political message, but this one continues on in the same vein ad infinitum. A decent political novel won't tell you what it wants you to think, but will tell a story that illustrates its point. This one just shoves it in your face, right from the outset. Amateur, at best. Learn some subtlety, man.

The science is just as bad. Possibly worse. Good science-fiction, if it's going to rely on science at all, needs to have some foundation in reality. Stross's pseudo-scientific writing is so ludicrous, so contrived, that I couldn't continue reading. I couldn't tell whether he'd pulled it all entirely out of his ass, or tried (and failed) to read an advanced physics textbook. Whichever the case, it was clear that he didn't know what the hell he was talking about. I kept trying to read this book - I was on vacation and had a limited number of books with me - but ultimately I couldn't force myself to go on. Just awful. ( )

Stross' dazzling space epic works on so many levels---his latent humor is a great break from the (at times) mind-numbing technobabble. Aside from its underlying NWO agenda (!!!), this is a great ride. ( )

The future in this story is a taut, almost understandable form, and in the next instant. . .alien. This page turner has a sardonic humor to it that will keep the reader's mind pausing with intense attempts to viscerally imagine what you've just read. ( )

I've read seven of Stross' novels before I read this one, and that was a serious mistake. One reason is because this is a very entertaining read, as an isolated post-disaster civilization that's a farcical, steam-punk, take on the Russian Empire is steam-rollered by a super-technology force that is beyond the comprehension of the autocrats. However, I would also have had a better understanding of the basic themes and tropisms that pop up in the following stories that Stross has written. There's the low-key hero who is simply trying to do the right thing. There's the put-upon woman of action, seething under the pressure of stupid gender expectations. There's the fascination with espionage and secret operatives. And, of course, there is then the whole matter of coping when your world is turned upside down, and you had better have an intellectual break-though, or else. I really have nothing critical to say about the book, though I can see where the many info dumps could put off some readers. ( )