I just finished reading The Caryatids by Bruce Sterling. I don't normally write about books I've read, but this one really bothered me. It made me feel somewhat cheated. The book sets up a very interesting future world with complex characters, problems, and political factions, but then it doesn't really do anything with it. The whole book has the feel of a rather long series of introductor chapters telling us how the world has become messed up, who the people trying to put it back together are, and how those people interact with each other. Gargh.

I wish sterling would take part one, the part about vera and miljet, throw away everything that came after it, and write a story that has a plot.