I found this book enjoyable, interesting, and coherent.

In Doctorow's world, death and illness have both been overcome, and reputation is everything -- social and economic transactions are based on reputation alone. It is most emphatically not a utopia. Resources are limited, but the economic distribution system is based on reputation, not money (in one poignant moment, the book's hero, Julius, is evicted from his hotel room because his reputation has dropped too low). In interviews Doctorow has said he wanted to imagine what an economy based on an assumption of surplus would look like, but I don't think he has achieved that. Instead, he has created a different distribution system.

The key conflict of the book is between Julius, who is living in Disney World and trying to protect the old ways, and Debra, the leader of a group that wants to take over and remake the Magic Kingdom using new technology. The characters are well-drawn, with consistent motivations -- there's no last minute "change of heart" to explain the action. The technology is described in enough detail to get the point across (usually in a nice "show you, not tell you" kind of way), but not so much detail that you feel like you are watching a re-run of ST:TNG. I should note that I read the dead tree version of the book -- checked out from my library -- not the downloadable version.

There's really nothing wrong with this book. So why am I rating it a "0" instead of a "+"? Overall, the book was good, but not great. It was pleasant, interesting and coherent -- but it wasn't fun, fascinating or gripping. I will definately read Doctorow's next book (which is due out this Winter), but I don't feel sufficiently moved by this offering to jump up and down about it.