Although I wouldn't go as far as to call myself a fan, I have enjoyed various novels by L. Neil Smith: The Probability Broach, The Nagasaki Vector, Pallas, The Crystal Empire, Henry Martyn. Smith is known as a writer of "libertarian science fiction," works that interweave his political philosophy with alternate histories and space operas. Although even as a libertarian, at times I've found his polemic heavy-handed, he usually has a leavening of humor and I usually found his novels overall enjoyable. Not this one.

Although there is a libertarian society in the backdrop of this story, it's not that I found the political message heavy handed for once--at least in comparison to his other books. No, worse, I found this irritating and dull. And right from the dedication, with its spelling of "Amerika." The lyrics sprinkled throughout the story were even more annoying than the songs of Hobbits and elves throughout Tolkien. Maybe it's that by and large I'm not a music fan, at least not of pop music to the extent it's featured in this book. Maybe it's the humorlessness of this book, while Smith's North American Confederacy books, for instance, are generally filled with humor (and a lot of libertarian in-jokes.) But the emotion this filled me with for as long as I could stand reading was irritation. Not even the kind of irritation you feel at having ideas you cherish challenged. No, that would have been commendable at least. Just a niggling, I don't like this world, these characters, or how this is written. ( )