the text felt pretty hard to get through and i didn't understand the setting at first, but i eventually got around to appreciating the beautiful language and the worldbuilding! even though this was originally published in 1996, i found the scifi elements still absolutely believable. the book deals heavily with the consequences of a world that lives more in the digital realm than the physical and a tragic lesbian romance. unfortunately, it's pretty hard to get a hold of this book and it's the author's only novel.

and since this is something people do, i will add a quote that i particularly liked

'There will be no whales.'
'But we need them,' I said.
'We need them? Is that the best reason you can come up with?' He laughed, a rasping, mechanical sound. 'The kings of the ocean are gone, and what is our argument for their return? We need them? We? Their murderers? The ones that made the water bitter in their mouths, and killed the food they ate? The ones that made the ocean boil red with their blood for miles around? Men need them? Those vermin? Those stinging insects? Struggling pustulent humanity—needs them? Do you think a whale cares? You might as well need the sun to rise at midnight because you're feeling a bit chilly. Yes, of course, certainly we need them. But the question is, do we deserve them?'