I was putting this off for ages and ages. At times, this was easily a 5 star read. It has an interesting, cyberpunk setting and plot, taking place in a very topical location and immensely relevant subject matter tied to it. The technology itself was interesting, but ultimately where it falls down somewhat, for me.

The author is clearly knowledgeable and explained it well, but when it is used for plot device purposes, some of the novelty actually gets taken away as it devolves.

As plots go, it’s fairly typical and the pacing is hampered by techno jargon inserts, fairly common of the genre. It’s hard to balance a thriller like pace with the explanation of the divergences from what the readers know. Ultimately, it putters to the end, rather than fairly flying along, as it does in the start. 3.5 rounded up