By Nic Lindh on Thursday, 22 May 2008
Charles Stross’s Glasshouse takes place in the post-singularity far future where people have the ability to change their bodies any way they like, back themselves up at will, and all the other post-singularity goodies.
The novel takes a while to get going, and at first it’s a bit hard to figure out what kind of drama Charles Stross can mine from an environment where, by definition, nothing bad can really happen.
Once the characters find themselves in the “Glasshouse” of the title, though, the action and the suspense become fast and furious, and Glasshouse settles in to become a creepy meditation on the psychology of memory and gender roles.
Once you have the ability to edit your memories, can you really trust yourself?
The ending feels a little bit abrupt and neat, but apart from that, Glasshouse features strong and interesting characters, impressive world-building, and tense action sequences.
Highly recommended.