Will Sargent reviewed Neptune's brood by Charles Stross
Review of "Neptune's brood" on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every interstellar colony in search of good fortune must be in need of a banker."
And this book is all about banking, economics, and fraud. In this particular book, for example, interstellar trade is only possible through Bitcoin, and faster than light travel is impossible. There were some sections in the book which made me wonder how on earth civilizations persisted for the duration necessary to make physical travel worth it -- but then again, it's got humanoid robots and a distinctly human appetite for entertainment and distraction, so how realistic can it be?
The bigger story always comes about through the world building, and in this sense it's like Bank's Culture -- a theoretically honest and clean technologically advanced world that quickly shows the dirt, corruption and deal haggling that goes on underneath.
The ending is abrupt, but that's not why I …
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that every interstellar colony in search of good fortune must be in need of a banker."
And this book is all about banking, economics, and fraud. In this particular book, for example, interstellar trade is only possible through Bitcoin, and faster than light travel is impossible. There were some sections in the book which made me wonder how on earth civilizations persisted for the duration necessary to make physical travel worth it -- but then again, it's got humanoid robots and a distinctly human appetite for entertainment and distraction, so how realistic can it be?
The bigger story always comes about through the world building, and in this sense it's like Bank's Culture -- a theoretically honest and clean technologically advanced world that quickly shows the dirt, corruption and deal haggling that goes on underneath.
The ending is abrupt, but that's not why I read Stross. There is clearly more work put into it than has gone into the Merchant Princes, and it's intriguing on its merits. I can't tell you if I'll remember anything about the plot.