Yes, the book meanders a bit. Yes, it's self-indulgent. Yes, it spends too much time on "look how clever I am" exposition. (Oberon II being the most outstanding example.) Yes, the ending events seem to come from nowhere. No, it's nowhere close to what _Steel Beach_ was.
However, it's still better than 99% of the tripe being served up as SF these days. Varley can actually write characters that aren't mere cardboard cutouts. Sparky, for all his self-absorption, actually feels like a real person. The Eight Worlds universe is still one of the best out there, and Varley actually looks deeply into the sociological changes that various scientific advances will have, as opposed to the pervasive "1995 people with stardrives" that so many others write.
A thumbs up, but not quite as high as I had hoped...............
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