My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In her previous books in this series, Infomocracy and Null States, Malka Ann Older has created a futuristic government known as micro-democracy and a powerful data platform in charge of running it all known as Information. What is interesting is that she has always been questioning the very system that she has created. In this concluding novel to her Centenal Cycle series, micro-democracy reaches a crisis point that it may not survive.
There are many things to love in this book. Ms. Older has honed her ability to write a taut thriller where the pages leading up to the climax were hard to put down. She also continues a trend from her previous book where she brought peripheral characters in the past to the forefront. Unlike the previous book though, she doesn't leave previous main characters behind. The previous characters, such as Roz, Mishima, and Ken, all have an important role to play. It does get a little confusing at the climax, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow along.
There are still a few problems with this book. Though it has gotten much easier after three novels, I am still not a big fan of Ms. Older's use of the present tense. Also, while I thought it was very good of Ms. Older to question the world government, but in her books micro-democracy has only existed for 25 years before reaching its next crisis. I don't wish to spoil anything about this book, but it feels like not a lot of time has passed for this system before things start to go bad. I know it's a small point, but she could've given her system more time before shaking things up. Then it would feel like there were real stakes involved with the story overall.
Ms. Older has improved on a lot that held her back previously and she seems to be getting better. I look forward to seeing her writing prowess grow even further in future novels.
There are many things to love in this book. Ms. Older has honed her ability to write a taut thriller where the pages leading up to the climax were hard to put down. She also continues a trend from her previous book where she brought peripheral characters in the past to the forefront. Unlike the previous book though, she doesn't leave previous main characters behind. The previous characters, such as Roz, Mishima, and Ken, all have an important role to play. It does get a little confusing at the climax, but it shouldn't be too hard to follow along.
There are still a few problems with this book. Though it has gotten much easier after three novels, I am still not a big fan of Ms. Older's use of the present tense. Also, while I thought it was very good of Ms. Older to question the world government, but in her books micro-democracy has only existed for 25 years before reaching its next crisis. I don't wish to spoil anything about this book, but it feels like not a lot of time has passed for this system before things start to go bad. I know it's a small point, but she could've given her system more time before shaking things up. Then it would feel like there were real stakes involved with the story overall.
Ms. Older has improved on a lot that held her back previously and she seems to be getting better. I look forward to seeing her writing prowess grow even further in future novels.
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