I really wanted him to stay on the Ameristan part a bit longer. That was such an interesting conceit that was dropped fairly quickly as we retreated into the coastal elite space again. It was the sort of heightened extrapolation from current trends that cyberpunk was built on after all, just applied to the red states rather than to the Pacific rim. Could have cut a few (hundred) pages of Dodge discovering his consciousness for that. Though I do understand how that idea was central to why he was interested in writing that particular book.
A book set in that Ameristan world is what I want Neal to write – just after a book set in the solarpunk world from the end of Seveneves.
I agree, it was a very interesting take on the combination of rural brain drain and social media run amok. It just hit a little close to home for me. I would definitely pick up both of your hypothetical NS books…
…or just about anything else he decides to write.
Yeah, it is another case of financial/equity firms buying things up, gutting the things that were valuable, and then a race to the bottom in quality due to cost cuttings, and then acquired way too much debt. Market slumps didn’t help, but their hubris and mismanagement is what lead to the failure.
But all the entities owned under that umbrella corporation were sold off to other companies and it should be viable again.
