Alright so I had intended to read this something else from this author for a couple of years now, and finally this year I've done so. This first book has gained a strong and respected reputation and so I was expecting quite something from it.
It may be that I started thinking that it was simply some new slant on space opera SF but it actually mixes that up with post-cyberpunk and a fair bit of surreal imagery and ideas. This goes along with some hard SF but it is all written together well enough to keep you enjoying the story and characters.
It does have some very good, original touches and fun characters and it is actually not the absolutely huge narrative you may expect. It focuses around just a mostly small group of characters in a SF thriller tale.
A good read and something different and unusual in modern science fiction.