Rating: 
Summary: Cool, but far from a masterpiece
Review: This book is cool. It is one of the most cool books I've ever read. But it isn't anything else. Cadigan is unable to completely craft a world where her cyber-prophetic story can fully develop: the book is way too short to allow both a storyline and a world picture with as large a scope as attempted.Now, this is not a bad book. Not by any standards. But it doesn't have the edge of believability that Neuromancer had, nor does it have the kind of ultra-quick completely compelling, innovative style of Snow Crash. It lacks a distinct quality to make up for its shortness.
Rating: 
Summary: waste of time
Review: This book seemed too disjointed and meandering in plot. This is the first book in a long, long time that I put down to finish the next day, with only five pages left to read. I cared that little about how the thing was going to end. Some neat ideas crop up throughout the book, but with very little character development and plot development, at the end I was sorry I wasted my time reading it.
Rating:
Summary: No ending.
Review: This book starts out well, and there's some resolution to the main premise of the novel (how and why the deaths happen). But the ending left me literally saying "That's it?!" There's really no resolution to what happens to one of the major characters. I have not read the sequel to this novel so I don't know if the second book provides that conclusion, but I am not impressed by books that do not end. I really enjoyed Cadigan's earlier novels, such as Synners, but this one really did not measure up.
Rating:
Summary: Cyberpunk snackfood
Review: This is the first book I've read by Pat Cadigan. While it was a pleasant enough read, it hasn't convinced me to go out and devour all her other novels. The book is relatively short and easy to read, even though she jumps between the viewpoints of two characters. I felt she did a good job moving between the two storylines, but also felt she could have gone alot more indepth into both the characters and the story. For the majority of the book she is clear and the storyline understandable, but the ending seemed abrupt and didn't resolve the story to my satifaction (I found myself asking "Is that all?"). However, I would still recommend this book, especially if you're a cyberpunk fan.
Rating: 
Summary: Good fun book for cyberpunk fans
Review: This the first book of Pat Cadigan's I've read. I can't remember who or where I heard about it, but a good book. The novel is set in a near future cyberpunk world where artifcial reality (AR) is commonplace and people regularly fall into lives in AR that are more compelling that lives in the real world. The technology is believeable with enough details to satisfy hard sci-fi readers without delving into textbookese. Having enjoyed the proto-ARs that are online games, I was interested in seeing what Ms. Cadigan had to say about the future. Similiar to Gibson's Pattern Recognition, all the characters in the book are looking for something. The focus is on the role of artifical reality in these hunts. The vision is interesting, but in the end it is difficult to relate to reality. The book is fun and enjoyable as a quick read, but for more heady cyberpunk, turn to Bruce Sterling.
Rating:
Summary: Good fun book for cyberpunk fans
Review: This the first book of Pat Cadigan's I've read. I can't remember who or where I heard about it, but a good book. The novel is set in a near future cyberpunk world where artifcial reality (AR) is commonplace and people regularly fall into lives in AR that are more compelling that lives in the real world. The technology is believeable with enough details to satisfy hard sci-fi readers without delving into textbookese. Having enjoyed the proto-ARs that are online games, I was interested in seeing what Ms. Cadigan had to say about the future. Similiar to Gibson's Pattern Recognition, all the characters in the book are looking for something. The focus is on the role of artifical reality in these hunts. The vision is interesting, but in the end it is difficult to relate to reality. The book is fun and enjoyable as a quick read, but for more heady cyberpunk, turn to Bruce Sterling.
Rating: 
Summary: "Life is so cheap in DC..."
Review: Well, this was an excellent book. And it made me itch to experience what Pat Cadigan described so well - AR. The details, the rules, the help files, icons, passwords - it's a game, it's life. It's not too far from the way many things are now with the Internet. That said - I had to re-read the first chapter after I had finished the book. THEN the first chapter made sense. The first chapter took a lot of liberties with what you would know, so it isn't until nearly the end that I realized who was whom in the first chapter. But as it slowly slid toward finish line and the book drew closer to toward its conclusion, I found the book very difficult to put aside. A wonderful blend of technology and myth. As for the "Life is so cheap in DC..." - I tell you, things must REALLY be different in the future. Whoa! Five out of five stars - just for being so different than many books I read and for working so thoroughly on the ins-and-outs of AR.
Rating:
Summary: Subtle & stylized noir science fiction is a winner!
Review: What a mind bender! Possibly a little to sophisticated for some readers, but filled with Zen and noir elements that give the sci-fi a nitty gritty edge. I kept wondering where the storyline was going--and was not disappointed. Nice job Pat Cadigan, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this on the final Nebula ballot for this years awards.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book for Cyberpunk Fans
Review: With her new novel, Tea from an Empty Cup, Pat Cadigan reaffirms her position as the "Queen of Cyberpunk." Combining computers, artificial reality, and a post-Apocalyptic dystopia, Cadigan weaves a story of murder, intrigue, and false identities. The story follows two women: a young, Japanese girl named Yuki, and a homicide detective named Konstantin. While neither story seems connected at first (and both seem completely unrelated to the opening prologue), Cadigan manages to use both points of view to give the reader a larger sense of the whole. In Yuki's story (entitled "Empty Cup"), she follows her missing friend's trail to an exotic mystery woman named Joy Flower. Joy hires her as an assistant, but when Yuki checks in to her new living quarters, she finds an artificial reality hotsuit and headmount waiting for her. Scared, but curious, she plugs into AR and discovers that she is wearing the guise of her missing friend, Tom Iguchi. Meanwhile, in another story ("Death In The Promised Land"), a homicide detective is investigating the apparent murder of man who was plugged into artificial reality when his throat was slit. The staff at the AR parlor is less than willing to help, but Konstantin dons a hotsuit and headmount and heads into the strange AR world of post-Apocalyptic Noo Yawk Sitty to hunt down the murderer of Tom Iguchi. Cadigan does an amazing job of weaving the two plotlines together, titling and numbering each chapter after its respective story. While she bounces back and forth between Yuki and Konstantin, she allows the reader to quickly see that these stories are related, growing closer together by the end of the novel. Threading through the story is an underlying foundation of Japanese culture and mythology, which becomes integral to the story behind the story. The world Cadigan creates is filled with a wonderful understanding of the Internet and the online community. In her AR world, players are warned that everything they hear must be considered a lie, as people adopt different names and different faces to suit their needs. At one point, Konstantin helps a child find her way home, only to find herself entrapped by the child who attempts to blackmail her. Is the child really a child, or an adult wolf using a sheep's disguise? More fascinating is the subtle descriptions that show the real world from which people flee into artificial reality. Japan has been destroyed by earthquakes and covered by the sea. Real-life television shows like "Police Blotter" upstage and interfere in police work. And there is a chilling refrain reminding us about horrible places like D.C. where "life is so cheap there, it's a whole different world." In addition to great storytelling, Cadigan also provides the reader with strong female characters in Yuki and Konstantin. While the women have issues with the men in their lives (with Yuki it's Tom, with Konstantin it's her ex-husband), they both are consciously aware of their bad relationships and desire to move on. Yet, Yuki finds herself driven to find Tom despite his lousy treatment of her, while the detective constantly hears her ex's voice needling her shortcomings. Tea from an Empty Cup is a wonderful return by Cadigan, who has not published a novel in years. Despite the fact that much of the story is rooted to Japanese culture, it does not make the overall story inaccessible. In fact, it allows the reader to slowly discover its importance as the story progresses. One warning though, this story, like much of cyberpunk fiction, can be difficult to follow because of its technical aspect and vocabulary. Those who work or play with computers will be more likely to grasp the imagery of the novel more readily than someone who is not plugged in to the online community. I think Cadigan's writing echoes the artificial world in which her characters exist. It is only as difficult as the reader demands, because those involved aren't looking for easy answers. For those willing to take the time to learn the landscape (and the lingo), cyberpunk fiction can be enticing and very rewarding.
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