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This was definitely Stephenson's most 'conventional' novel since Reamde, with both the pros and the cons that come with that. I found both the characters and the locations interesting and described in fascinating detail as ever with Stephenson. It suffered a little from a fairly quick and gripping start bogging down into a more drawn out middle, before ramping up well again from about the half way point.

I found the 'surprise' in this one really came from the lack of surprise. I was fully expecting a mid-book twist where the geoengineering goes wrong and some sort of chaos ensues... but no, that just never really came. I liked the shootout ending, but it did feel a little 'small' relative to the scale as of the book as a whole. I do wonder if he might consider a sequel to this one... I'd be delighted to dip back in to the lives of Saskia & Red & TR and the rest, or even further explore some of the side characters.

I dithered between 3 & 4 stars for this one... in the end I went with 4 because I did enjoy it throughout... more than Fall/Dodge in Hell for sure.... I'd probably rank it similarly to SevenEves, a little behind Reamde and obviously not in the same league as Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle. One for the Stephenson fans, but probably not the most representative introduction to his work.

Interesting read this one. It took me a while to get through it, but in the end the world building was compelling enough to keep me interested, even if I didn't entirely get on with the writing style to begin with.

I have to commend the author for conjuring such a unique setting... the more I read the more I wanted to know about the histories of the two cities, the story of the mothership, and the mystery of the 'crocodiles'. It wasn't without annoyances though... the whole Bianca/Sophie dynamic was fascinating to begin with but became infuriating by the end. Mouth's arc felt more satisfying, but in the end the whole story kind of felt like it finished before it really got started. I read (after finishing it) that it's a standalone, which, frankly, shocked me, since I was sure it was going to be the start of a many-part series. The ending certainly felt that way.

I'd certainly consider checking out more from this author, if nothing else for their sheer imagination, but this particular one left me feeling kinda ambivalent.