In order to enjoy The Caryatids you need to remember three things.

Firstly, Bruce Sterling is simply brimming over with ideas. He has put lots of them in this book. Some of them may not make a lot of sense, at least in context with the other ideas, but boy are there a lot of them.

Second, the book is satire. If some of the characters appear a bit like caricatures, that’s because they are. Sterling is exaggerating for effect.

And finally, Sterling is an incorrigible cynic, so he’s going to be poking fun at everyone and everything.

If you are OK with all of that, you should enjoy this book.

As for me, mainly it reminds me of how much I miss California. Yes, we may be stupidly optimistic at times, but at least we do have a positive attitude towards life.