I'm not sure if I even liked this book. It is difficult to follow, especially at the outset when you're dropped into a reality that doesn't quite make sense... as the book progresses, it starts to make a bit more sense in that you can better understand the setting, but less sense as it moves into (I think) something that is supposed to be a spiritual awakening. And I say 'I think' because I was not really clear what the Millie thread was all about and I am just guessing that it was intended to be a spiritual awakening kind of thing. I'm not very sensitive to nuanced spirituality so...

I really liked the originality, and the creativity of the environment/setting/plot beginnings. But once I got about 2/3 of the way through I found I understood only the setting, and lost any sense of what the main character's 'goal' was. And I still don't have a clue what the different factions (SINDS, Millies, etc) were all fighting about/for.

So, overall? I enjoyed the originality and the future-tech aspects... Unfortunately, I didn't understand the plot, or believe in the spiritual awakenings as described. ( )

Intelligent, provocative and hard-edged (as everything Gwyneth Jones writes seems to be). I can't say that I enjoyed it, but I do have to praise her ability to challenger her readers, and immerse them in her characters' bizarre (and unpleasant) world and ways of thinking. So: a difficult but ultimately worthwhile read. ( )