I really liked the books.
I have been a computer geek since I was eight, yet I felt out-geeked by the writer of the book.
I think that there was a great progression of the main character from a selfish loner to someone who wants to help the world and you can believe that they might want to.
Typically a writer will throw in the hero of a story doing something good at the end just because it's expected, but I honestly felt that the change in the character was organic.
The world described was terrible, but I still wish I had the technology that they have