I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I tend to give any book Cory Doctorow recommends a shot. I'm pretty sure I tried something else by Schroeder before, but failed to get into it before the library wanted it back. I made a better effort here, but I'm not really sure it was worth it. Schroeder clearly has a detailed idea of how things are set up in his head, but he has no particular ability to convey any of that. There were some pretty basic issues with just explaining what is going on that Schroeder didn't quite convey.

The protagonist was also ludicrously capable at pretty much anything she tried and things tended to work out to her advantage a little too often. It made the whole thing feel like bad fan-fiction. I will not be reading another one of his books, no matter how much Doctorow raves.