Rating: 
Summary: This Passes As Current Science Fiction?
Review: I can't say that I was too pleased with this book, yet I read the whole thing anyway. Whoever printed on the front cover that you would immediately be hooked after reading 15 pages should have their head checked. It took me nearly forever to get into this book because it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. It claimed to move fast, but it moved slower than any other book I've read of recent memory.For starters, there is a suspected traitor or someone who is up to no good anyway as a third person, an "outside party". Well, rather than have it be someone who is part of the main crew that we've already, briefly, gotten to know, instead it becomes a character who we have maybe been told about only once or twice and don't really know anything about. You might as well have revealed him as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, because that's about how much it meant to me at that point. (Though I do know more about the fictional characters) This book tries to use a lot of big words to sound smart and "sci fi", but it's basically just over simplifying an idea that can be summed up in a few sentences rather than a few hundred pages. The most annoying part perhaps though is the constant questioning of everything. A typical line from the book would read like this: "Jack knew that this was not a dream. It had to be real. ...Or was it?" Now, once or twice that's okay, but when nearly every line in the book ends with a question like that, it gets to be pretty annoying and overbearing. Um, excuse me, Mr. Nylund, I have a question. Do you even know what you just wrote? All these questions make it seem like you're not even too sure yourself and you wrote this thing. Don't waste your time on this thing. If you want to read some sci-fi stuff, stick with the classics, especially Ray Bradbury, because it's much more satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: This Passes As Current Science Fiction?
Review: I can't say that I was too pleased with this book, yet I read the whole thing anyway. Whoever printed on the front cover that you would immediately be hooked after reading 15 pages should have their head checked. It took me nearly forever to get into this book because it just didn't seem to be going anywhere. It claimed to move fast, but it moved slower than any other book I've read of recent memory. For starters, there is a suspected traitor or someone who is up to no good anyway as a third person, an "outside party". Well, rather than have it be someone who is part of the main crew that we've already, briefly, gotten to know, instead it becomes a character who we have maybe been told about only once or twice and don't really know anything about. You might as well have revealed him as Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny, because that's about how much it meant to me at that point. (Though I do know more about the fictional characters) This book tries to use a lot of big words to sound smart and "sci fi", but it's basically just over simplifying an idea that can be summed up in a few sentences rather than a few hundred pages. The most annoying part perhaps though is the constant questioning of everything. A typical line from the book would read like this: "Jack knew that this was not a dream. It had to be real. ...Or was it?" Now, once or twice that's okay, but when nearly every line in the book ends with a question like that, it gets to be pretty annoying and overbearing. Um, excuse me, Mr. Nylund, I have a question. Do you even know what you just wrote? All these questions make it seem like you're not even too sure yourself and you wrote this thing. Don't waste your time on this thing. If you want to read some sci-fi stuff, stick with the classics, especially Ray Bradbury, because it's much more satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: I figured out about 5 pages into the book that it was a sequel. I cursed and finished it anyway. Swooping ultra-tech, meshed with Zen riddles. It seems to make progress toward its goal, filling in without meandering, and read fairly quickly and cleanly - compelling, but not in a powerfully compelling way. There is certainly science in there, and reading the back cover shows that the author has a MS in Chemical Physics. Having studied in that field for a time, I can appreciate some of the things that are discussed. It seems to be written well enough to be accessible to the layperson as well. That the ending has elements of Deus Ex Machina can hardly be suprising, given the levels of technology. That the characters are human, without being perfect or perfectly annoying makes this well worth reading. It is truely hard to find characters that having more than one dimension without being carictures of themselves. Sometimes you just want to give the hero a swift kick, but you never feel like he's responding to the situation in a way that is implausible. The author doesn't even fall into the trap of having the Hero whine endlessly about how hard his life is. I'll happily file it in my collection, and tag it for a later re-reading. I expect I'll enjoy it then too.
Rating: 
Summary: Insanely great!
Review: I found this book to be one of the best I read by Eric. Great sequel to the first 'Signal to Noise.' The first time I read 'Signal to Noise' I wanted more when I finished it. There was no disapointment in 'A Signal Shattered.' I seriously recommend getting both books.
Rating:
Summary: Nylund is a promising author
Review: I had first read Nylund when I picked up his book Dry Water, which I found to be promising, but not really fulfilling.
A Signal Shattered, to my mind, gets a lot closer to a mature work by a talented author. This is true despite some problems that I had with the book while reading it.
My biggest problem was that I was one of the unlucky few who did not realize that this was a sequel, and so I read this book without having read Signal To Noise. As a result, it took me a *long* time to figure out what was going on and probably longer than most people to get into the plot. I would agree that this was probably the wrong way to go about the book. For me, it is a pretty strong statement about the quality of the book that not only did I eventually get into the plot, I enjoyed reading the book quite a bit.
While Nylund has cyberpunk elements to his writing, I think he would be more reasonably compared to a writer like Tim Powers than to more traditional cyberpunk writers. His predominant strengths as a writer lie in his mix of concept and science with a strong lean towards the mystical in places. I would agree that perhaps more attention could have been paid to developing the character reactions to the situation they find themselves in, but I also should say that I was only a little bit bothered by the absence.
Rating: 
Summary: First book was good, this one was fair.
Review: I really enjoyed the first book (which you must read before this one to make any sense of it at all), but this book left me pretty flat. It did not continue with the sense of adventure and discovery that the first had. While this book was an interesting read, I'm not sure I would have finished it if I wasn't trapped on a plane at the time. If you liked the first book and don't have anything else from your library pressing, give it a read.
Rating:
Summary: First book was good, this one was fair.
Review: I really enjoyed the first book (which you must read before this one to make any sense of it at all), but this book left me pretty flat. It did not continue with the sense of adventure and discovery that the first had. While this book was an interesting read, I'm not sure I would have finished it if I wasn't trapped on a plane at the time. If you liked the first book and don't have anything else from your library pressing, give it a read.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It starts with a premise which reminded me of Stars My Destination (i.e. instantaneous jumping from point to point), but this book is really about a psychological cat and mouse game among the protaganist, his "friends," and the evil alien traders. I liked that the aliens were not drawn as all that alien, they are just pure machiavellian capitalists taken to wild extremes. The style is great and I really liked the main character, especially his moral dillemas. There is also some cyber-punk type hacking, but with a cool (frankly unique) poetic, sensory view of programming. Overall an excellent read. My only beef is that the book itself does not state on the cover (or anywhere else) that it is a sequal. I picked this up cold from the book store and the first two pages of this novel gives spoilers (the whole plot and ending really) for the first one which I would have loved to have read fresh. Serves me right for not checking here first!!
Rating:
Summary: Chemistry, physics, metaphor, with a bit of zen thrown in.
Review: I think the first thing that you must know about this book is that you should really read the book that came before it, Signal to Noise, also by Eric S. Nylund. Without the backstory, I think that this complex book would become even more confusing, and the first book was a good read on its own. This book starts with all of humanity reduced to a handful of refugees scattered across space (I did say you should read the first book first, didn't I?). The catalyst who brought about the end of the world is Jack Potter, mathematician, cryptographer, and middle-man. And it is now up to Jack to save what remains of the human race. As if this task wasn't daunting enough, Jack must do this while battling such trifiling details as lack of oxygen, planets with insufficient rotational power to be of use (you'll see), two former best friends who seem to want him dead, a bizarre neurological disorder attacking everyone he knows, one or more fellow refugees who seem to want him dead, and oh yeah, at least one exceedingly power alien who wants him dead... or enslaved. If you're going to read this book, be prepared to give it a careful read. It's certainly a worthwhile novel, but it demands attention otherwise details will slip by that will prove to be important later. The central theme of metaphor and illusion can make the story confusing and chaotic at times, though I believe that is the intent, and it reflects character turmoil well. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, but that is something that you'll have to learn about and decide for yourselves.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as Signal to Noise
Review: I thought Nylund's Signal to Noise was wonderful, and so purchased the sequel as soon as possible. Unfortunately I was disappointed in A Signal Shattered. It lacked the finesse of the first novel, especially in the prose style. The ideas weren't as interesting either and Jack's inability to learn from his mistakes was tedious. The last 40 pages or so were great because that's where the really interesting ideas were, but by that time I was just waiting for the book to end.
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