That's on my list, it was $35 at Powell's though so I decided to wait for a paper back. Post again when you finish, I'd love to hear what you think of it
I liked it. By the end I was skimming sections of science porn to get to the story. I think many of his readers tire of the educational bits in his books, I know my tolerance for his science and history exposition has waxed and waned from novel to novel and subject to subject. I feel like some of his novels are essentially high brow pulp while others are more serious or literary. I'd put this amongst his serious material. I've met some fans who couldn't get into this one and I'm not surprised. It's not as challenging as Anthem but less challenging than Cryptonomicon in my opinion. I liked it, it's not amazing. The consistency of his work reminds me of Marukami, knocking it out of the park sometimes, very good other times, and occasionally enjoyable but disappointing when compared to what he can do at his best.