This was an interesting read in the sense that it was written 25 years ago about the near future, hence, the time just past. In some respects, the author's speculation about the future was solid. There is one particularly interesting description of a navigational system that any modern reader would chuckle to read. By and large, however, the speculations about the future were pretty far off track. My principle problem with the book, however, had nothing to do with that and everything to do with the fact that the story really never engaged my interest in any meaningful way. Science fiction writers often take the opportunity to proselytize about political issues--understandable and sometimes even interesting. In this case, however, the background noise utterly drowned out the foreground story. Also, I have to say that the cover art on my issue (girl with a bow) was just silly and trivialized the book. ( )