Europe in Autumn

I don't know what to say about this book. I almost put it down about 100 pages in because I think it was mis-titled. A better title would have been “Stuff That Happens to Rudi, Most of It Bad, All of It Confusing”. The only reason I hung in there was that another reviewer PROMISED that it would all make sense in the end. So, I carried on. The chapters read like little episodes that seem unconnected and Hutchinson does have a knack for putting the reader into the storytelling trance, otherwise no one could survive this much exposition every single chapter. Some of it was really interesting (I'm a history major), some of it just seemed...fruitless.
Still, I plugged on and the payoff at the end is worth it. I'm pretty sure.

I'm trying so hard not to just list all of the things that drove me crazy. Like the technology. Sometimes it's so advanced and sometimes it's completely backward. What in the hell was in the suitcase? I'll stop.

Here's what rocked: Hutchinson's writing, Rudi (the character), Seth, The system itself (I LOVE the idea that situations are parceled out to so many people doing tiny bits of it), and the lovely, kickass unnamed (really) female character. I do not like where the story seems to be going in the end, nor do I feel any need to read a sequel.