The first outside review of MultiReal is in, from Publishers Weekly. Overall, it’s an excellent review, with caveats. Here it is, in its entirety:
A sly variation on the traditional cyberpunk novel, Edelman’s sequel to 2006’s Infoquake views a stunning new technology through the eyes of the cutthroat executives vying to market it. MultiReal, a reality-altering tool combining biological programming and quantum physics, threatens to plunge a far-future world into chaos, but before it can penetrate the furthest reaches of society, Natch, an entrepreneur and rebel, must find a way to market and distribute it. He faces tremendous resistance from legislative bodies, competing business concerns and the ominous black code embedded in the mechanisms that enhance his body. Edelman brings fresh air to the technological thriller, but his characters remain somewhat anemic and caricatured, particularly Jara, Natch’s second-in-command. MultiReal itself is firmly established as one of the most fascinating singularity technologies in years, and the inconclusive feel of this installment will build anticipation for the third Jump 225 book.
It’s a tremendous relief to see a respected third party reviewer say things like “MultiReal itself is firmly established as one of the most fascinating singularity technologies in years,” because I’ve been worrying about how people were going to respond to this book for a long time now. Of course, you know that there’s a dark, slobbering portion of my soul that’s hopping up and down in distress at the “anemic and caricatured” part of the review. But that’s why I keep him locked in the attic, where he can fret quietly to himself without bothering the neighbors.
You can read the review on PW‘s website, right after a starred review for my fellow SFNovelists.com member Gregory Frost’s Lord Tophet: A Shadowbridge Novel. (“Frost brings the charm of an ancient storyteller and the wit of a contemporary tale-spinner to this dramatic tale.”) Congrats, Gregory.