You can't go wrong with a swordsman as protagonist, accompanied by a talking cat who is actually an avatar of a powerful AI. Wormhole technology has made it possible to create multiple pocket universes, each designed differently to allow for maximum pleasure, adventure, leisure or whatever. In addition, humans cannot die. A backup can be made any time and is stored by one of the 11 AIs, which float in space. With each incarnation it's possible to do alterations to the physical body. You can imagine the opportunities. The protagonist Aristede is a scholar of the implied spaces, a term that describes structures which haven't been planned consciously but accidentially come into existence. Something is going on though and Aristede must use all his wits to save the day.I really liked the first half of the book. The atmosphere is very colorful and Walter John Williams manages to create a unique world with many details. When the big adventure starts to kick in my impression slowly turned into disappointment. It's just an adventure story with some nice plot twists. Aristede is the only character that allows a glance at how the people might live in such pocket universes, but barely the surface is covered. No comparison to [author: Iain M. Banks] and his culture books or to my favourite [book: Golden Age] series by [author: John C. Wright]. With more focus on characters and their inner struggles this book could have been much better. At the end it's an original SF adventure that gives you a good time but I doubt that it will have any importance. ( )

You can't go wrong with a swordsman as protagonist, accompanied by a talking cat who is actually an avatar of a powerful AI. Wormhole technology has made it possible to create multiple pocket universes, each designed differently to allow for maximum pleasure, adventure, leisure or whatever. In addition, humans cannot die. A backup can be made any time and is stored by one of the 11 AIs, which float in space. With each incarnation it's possible to do alterations to the physical body. You can imagine the opportunities. The protagonist Aristede is a scholar of the implied spaces, a term that describes structures which haven't been planned consciously but accidentially come into existence. Something is going on though and Aristede must use all his wits to save the day.I really liked the first half of the book. The atmosphere is very colorful and Walter John Williams manages to create a unique world with many details. When the big adventure starts to kick in my impression slowly turned into disappointment. It's just an adventure story with some nice plot twists. Aristede is the only character that allows a glance at how the people might live in such pocket universes, but barely the surface is covered. No comparison to [author: Iain M. Banks] and his culture books or to my favourite [book: Golden Age] series by [author: John C. Wright]. With more focus on characters and their inner struggles this book could have been much better. At the end it's an original SF adventure that gives you a good time but I doubt that it will have any importance. ( )

http://bactra.org/weblog/algae-2008-0... ( )

Two sides of an incredibly advanced human culture fight a war over the idea of warring with god, but the motivation really could be anything. The beginning of the war, where Aristide (the main character) learns humanity is under attack on a deliberately iron age pocket universe where he plays at being a swordsman, is pretty strong. The end, where the two sides throw massive space weaponry against each other, is solid as well. The middle kind of lost me a few times though. I didn’t understand the prose sometimes. And the constant "If I can think of this, so can the enemy, so the enemy must have something else planned" argument got pretty tiresome. But that was the middle, not the end.

(Full review at my blog) ( )

Themes of this rollicking space adventure include the relationship of memory to identity; the existential crisis presented by virtual immortality; how humans and artificial intelligences shape each other over time; and the teleology of the universe. The style felt like Asimov - cool ideas, fun settings, not a lot of depth to the characters, but plenty of action and plot twists to carry the story along. As with some other books by the same author, colloquial language and pop-culture references (to current era figures and catch phrases) were often jarring. Overall, fun and creative; neither moving nor deep. ( )