Very good. I would give it 4 1/2 stars if I could
587464
Gritty but gripping crime thriller. I plan to buy the next book in the series.  Flora was able to make the dialogue real.
3800848
A very good read.  A few pet peeves but nothing that broke my focus on the story.
4605342
I am reviewing this omnibus edition, which I really enjoyed. I am not certain I would have liked it so much reading it in its original installments. Having said that, if it had originally been written as a single volume, it might have flowed a little better. As other reviewers have pointed out, it does get a bit repetitive and drawn out.

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. My favorite aspect was that other books dealing with synthetic or augmented reality start with a society already steeped in it. This is the first time I've seen anyone deal with how a society begins down that path and what the potential benefits and perils might be. For a glimpse of a possible future for Earth (despite my skepticism about the feasibility of such technology), it deserves 5 stars. The story itself, however, was a bit disjointed--due to the aforesaid nature as a compilation of short novels. And the ending was not entirely satisfying. There were also a few confusing bits, like the activities and fate of a character named Willy. I never did figure out what that was all about.

All in all, a good read and I hope the author writes more. I'll be sure to keep a lookout for future work. Well done, sir.
871436
Very good, hard to get 5 stars with me but I think saying I would buy it again says it all.
3694449
I liked it a lot. Very good character development. A lot of cute and funny parts, and very endearing characters. I was a little weirded out by the teen love story, but it's probably not meant for me. Similarly, some of it was a little melodramatic but that's probably more about me not being the target audience. Still, I enjoyed it a lot and I'm glad I read it.
1299533
If half stars were a possibility, this fine novel would merit a 4.5.
2694700
At first I wasn't thrilled, but as I got into it I thought it was very very good.
3021315
So far, so very good, but I'd like to use it a little longer before giving a more thorough review.
4431648
Why only 4 stars? Hey, don't complain, Delta Lab; I almost made it THREE. I'd give this tuner a full 5 stars, except for two things; let's break down the good and the bad.

What I "Love":
>Simple, straightforward Monochrome screen; nice, clean display. Hey it's a TUNER, for goodness sake. I don't need the clutter of a multi-color display that's distracting to me. I just need something that turns orange/red when I'm out-of-tune, and turns green when I'm in tune.

>Controls are on the FRONT of the unit; this might seem like a small thing, until you have it clipped on the only way you can, due to lack of attachment options (see next complaint). When you're onstage, you wanna be able to turn it on, tune, and turn it off, all in maybe less than 10 seconds, and not look awkward doing it.

>It can be attached from either end, which makes it possible to put it on the BACK of my guitar, which serves 3 purposes:
(1) It couldn't be easier to get tot the on/off & pitch-change controls.
(2) Since I can put it on the back, it's less visible to the audience.
(2) I can position it in a way that it's it's more visible to ME.

What I DON'T like:
(1) It's too FRAGILE. I broke one cuz I forgot to take it off my Bass before putting it back in the case; I try to remember, but it only takes once, ya know? I was able to Super Glue it back on; unless you expect to be having to change the attachment point from one end to the other, I suggest gluing it in place to begin with, and avoid possible breakage in such a way that you CAN'T re-attach it.
(2) It's way too EXPENSIVE! Competitive clip-on tuners are less than half what this thing costs. Sadly for me, I like the way it's laid out and prefer it over other tuners, even with the fragility issue. Still, I could "get by" with another tuner; they all serve the same basic function and in this age of digital tuners, one works as good as the next, in regard to accuracy; it's just that I'm "used to" this tuner.

Bottom Line: If you're not already "accustomed" to your tuner working a certain way and can't change your habits, I'd suggest at least trying another, CHEAPER brand; you can always send it back.

And the "ultimate" Bottom Line: Would I buy it again?

I just did.
4276739
I actually it is somewhere between good and great. I really enjoyed it. The violence was not offensive nor was the sexual content. Both were necessary to the story and tastefully done.
1158809
The second half really saves this one, but it does so well enough to still earn top marks from me.  It does seem for much of the first half that a great deal is put up with by some of the main characters with little enough reason to feel a bit contrived, but the characters themselves still stand out, and the pacing is great.
410619
Pretty damn good, not epic, but pretty damn good.
1075522
This book was really good. I am not a NASCAR or racing fan, but it totally wasn't necessary to enjoy this well-written story. The main characters are pretty believable (though Elec, the male lead, is almost *too* perfect. If he is based on someone in real life, Ms. McCarthy, send him my way!) and the situations they find themselves in are instantly relateable. The characters act in rational ways and have understandable motivations so it was easy to lose myself in this book. Several of the situations the characters found themselves in were very delicately handled by the author and so instead of being trashy or ludicrous, they were touching and emotional. I especially like how she handled the older woman with a younger man relationship. The only complaint is that there were several confrontational setups that didn't really pan out satisfactorily (first, with Elec's 9th grade crush and second, with the fake pregnancy), and the author probably could have squeezed a bit more mileage out of each. But that is a totally minor complaint and a style choice. And an understated touch is preferable overblown drama.

The supporting characters are interesting and could easily be spun off into their own books. I'd like to see more about Elec's brother and sister and Tamara's friend Suzanne.

I do believe I will be purchasing the second book in the series when it comes out. The little blurb from it at the end of this book looks like it sets up a pretty good story too. This book was a quick read that still satisfied. 4 solid stars.
2523846
I give it a 4 1/2
I would say it's really y good but at some points things get very sad.
I suggest 11 and up
2776680
It's been a long time since I stayed up till 4am reading. At least, unless you count last night. You can probably tell from that that I enjoyed it, and I'm sure the author enjoyed writing it. It's a happy book, an uplifting one. One that it's easy to enjoy reading. But it's not easy to read. It's Technical, Hard Sci-Fi, and there will be more about that later in the review. But first I want to talk about the characters. They're great.

Essentially that's the summary of the characters. I can't think of a single character that I didn't like. Maybe the chat-show host, Charles Dance. But of the main characters, there are none that are boring or lifeless. Even the bad guy seems somewhat lovable as the story progresses. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Generally it's helpful to have someone to hate. Normally the bad guy, but not always. This doesn't have that, but while unusual, it reflects the theme of the book quite well (that of coexisting with other species).
The main character,  Selena, is superb. I really enjoyed reading the scenes with her giving interviews, as they were always uplifting. In the book she always make everyone feel better for having met her, and I felt that that emotion really comes off the page. I felt good just reading about her. In fact, if I had hated the rest of the book, I would still hope for a sequel to read more of her character. And Hal, the professor, is another great character. I quite enjoyed the scenes with them together.
There were one or two plot-lines that I didn't think were really necessary, although since I enjoyed reading them I'm not going to complain about them, but I would have liked to have seen the story arc with the character Destinguor introduced much earlier - it seemed a bit squeezed in at the end. The only thing I felt slightly let the book down was the amount of Double Entendre between characters. I felt that while some books do do well with so many of them, that it kind of lowered the tone of the book a little. The sex-ness in general actually. It seems to be constantly present. I have no problem with the actual sex scenes - they aren't too bad. But when sex is mentioned in the narrative during a  thesis evaluation it seems to be getting too out of hand.

And actually, that thesis evaluation was quite a critical scene. It's a scene that ties together Hal's story-lines, as although it's not his thesis, he came up with the ideas. That are described quite well in the book. Not with equations, or anything like that, but with words like "Differential Geometry", "Double-dimensional analysis" and lots of stuff about quarks. I'm an undergradute student of Mathematical Physics and I found the science difficult in parts. I think Sten assumes a higher knowledge of physics than many people possess. But I did find it fascinating, and if you can get past the technical terms it's not really important that you understand what's going on, as they explain the consequences anyway. It's great if you can understand it, but it won't spoil the story if you don't.
In a similar way, the author refers to the arts a lot. He mentions famous artworks, famous pieces of music, and quotes from several books (including his own book: "Souls, Slavery, and Survival in the Molenotech Age"). So if you don't get the science, you might be more likely to get more of these references than I did.

Already far over the 400 words I try to limit myself to, I'll bring this to conclusion. I enjoyed the book. It's not easy-reading, apart from the science there are some complex arguments in "court", but it is fascinating and has a nice message. I'm not sure I liked that he quoted his own book, but Sten makes up for it by giving us the wonderful character of Selena Castillo to read about, and I would love to read more about her.
4883227
Good Book. I would recommend it.  Just a little confusing with the jumping back between characters in the beginning.  Once you get the hang of it, though, it's a good story.
9649
I really enjoyed it. I only gave it a 4 because I compare my addiction to books. I read it pretty steadily and washe annoyed when life got in the way but not so extremely addicted that I let it get in the way of life. I will continue the series and would recommend it if the description catches your attention. Pretty good book.