This was an interesting book. I’m a big fan of [b:Children of Time|25499718|Children of Time (Children of Time, #1)|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1431014197l/25499718._SY75_.jpg|45276208] and the rest of its series, and I quite liked [b:Service Model|195790861|Service Model|Adrian Tchaikovsky|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1698554344l/195790861._SY75_.jpg|197724648]. This book reminds me of [b:All Systems Red|32758901|All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1)|Martha Wells|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1631585309l/32758901._SY75_.jpg|53349516], but with a greater sci-fi lean. Murderbot was more about interpersonal relationships and the characters, whereas this is a similar concept, but with the emphasis on geopolitics.

I do agree with the criticism that the book lacks depth and reads as YA. It’s full of very interesting ideas and plots, but not explored in much detail. There’s a lot of smoothing and high-speed movement throughout. I’d definitely be interested in reading a fleshed-out version of this book with exactly the same plot, just with more sauce. I didn’t particularly like the end of the book, which consists of lots of short stories that progress time. There’s also this odd backdrop of everything being a theatre, which only led to disappointment for me because I had my own theories about what it meant, and they didn’t end up being true.