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Title: Good idea poorly executed
Review: I'm a complete geek and avid reader of hard sci-fi. I like Neuromancer from William Gibson, Snow Crash and Diamond Age from Neal Stephenson, and Diaspora and just about everything else from Greg Egan.But I can't recommend "Artificial Kid" by Bruce Sterling. The ideas behind the story are good. His descriptions are visibly good, but it reads neither like a good story, nor like a tech manual.The problem isn't isolated to this book either. "Difference Engine" also reads slowly. I can't even pinpoint exactly what it is, other than Bruce Sterling's writings are VERY slow to read and hard to stay focussed on the story. It's almost as if the acting is poor. Dialog, inner and outer, just seems adolescent.
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