The Stross Formula

Some books are easier to write about than others.  Some books practically review themselves by making their pleasures as limpid as their faults.  Other books are less obvious and so require more thought.  Saturn's Children (2008) is undeniably a book of the first order, its problems and pleasures are simple enough.  However, in order to articulate what I found so disappointing about this particular work I found myself having to compare it to a number of Stross' other books and before long, my review had turned into an essay about Stross' writing style called The Stross Formula.

For those less interested in my thoughts of Stross' style in general, there's also quite a bit on Saturn's Children towards the middle of the piece.



Those that are that way inclined can also read some of my other Stross reviews :

• Halting State (2007) on SFDiplomat
• The Merchants' War (2007) on SF Diplomat
• The Jennifer Morgue (2006) on SFDiplomat
• Glasshouse (2006) on RevolutionSF
• Accelerando (2005) on RevolutionSF

NB : This review was based upon a review copy provided by the publisher