illegible_scribble
1/19/2017
I am pleased to report that after DNF-ing this novel on my first try after 100+ pages, this time around the book worked for me. I suspect that having gotten a basic grounding in the worldbuilding from the short fiction stories “The Battle of Candle Arc” and “Extracurricular Activities” helped a great deal, as did the advice to not try to understand how the technology actually works and just go for an understanding of its results.
I am now able to understand the overwhelming enthusiasm for this series of some of its more ardent fans; it’s very, very good, I found it really enjoyable, and thought that the second and third books really stuck the landing.