Rating: 
Summary: A terrific sequel to a terrific book.
Review: "Beggars and Choosers" is the sequel to the fascinating book "Beggars in Spain". It is every bit as good as "Beggars in Spain", and presents a plausible yet fantastic set of subsequent events. Like "Beggars in Spain", the characterization is as good as the plot, and a variety of political and science themes are explored.
My only reservation about this book is that I would recommend reading "Beggars in Spain" first.
Rating: 
Summary: First-rate hard science fiction
Review: Beggars and Choosers is the second book in Nancy Kress's "Beggars" trilogy. Although it is intended to be able to stand alone, many readers will find it much more intelligible and enjoyable if it is read after Beggars in Spain, which is a fine story in its own right. Beggars and Choosers is set in a twenty-second century in which genetically engineered humans ("genemods") have taken over the reins of society, with the predicable consequence of conflict with the unmodified "livers." This is not a new theme, but Kress handles it with imagination, intelligence, a wonderful understanding of the conventions of hard science fiction, and a truly admirable literary style. This, and Beggars in Spain,contains some of the best written science fiction that I have encountered in my forty or more years of reading in the genre. It is intellectually demanding, as is most good science fiction, but very rewarding. My one quibble with the book is comparatively minor, but annoying enough to be stated: I found the distinctions between the various groups of modified humans (donkeys,sleepers, super sleepers), and their origins, to be less than clear. I suspect that readers who approach Beggars and Choosers without having read Beggars in Spain are likely to have even more trouble with these distinctions than I did, but the differences are of critical importance to the understanding of the story. I am looking forward to reading Beggars Ride, the third volume in the trilogy.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful look at issues raised by nanotechnology.
Review: I join others in recommending that "Beggars in Spain" by Kress be read first in order to fully appreciate this book. It's the best look I have seen so far in fictional form of the issues raised by nanotechnology. For a thorough nonfiction overview of these questions, see "Unbounding the Future" by Eric Drexler et al. (and Drexler's Foresight Institute, which is on the Web). Nanotech offers unparalleled wealth, an end to most environmental problems, cheap space travel--but it won't make Serbs and Albanians friends or solve the population explosion, and it can be abused in horrible ways. Similar issues are explored in James Hogan's SF "Voyage from Yesteryear," also highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Thoughtful look at issues raised by nanotechnology.
Review: I join others in recommending that "Beggars in Spain" by Kress be read first in order to fully appreciate this book. It's the best look I have seen so far in fictional form of the issues raised by nanotechnology. For a thorough nonfiction overview of these questions, see "Unbounding the Future" by Eric Drexler et al. (and Drexler's Foresight Institute, which is on the Web). Nanotech offers unparalleled wealth, an end to most environmental problems, cheap space travel--but it won't make Serbs and Albanians friends or solve the population explosion, and it can be abused in horrible ways. Similar issues are explored in James Hogan's SF "Voyage from Yesteryear," also highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Unfortunately not as good as the first one
Review: I really loved the characters and ideas presented in the first book. The second is still a good book with lots of interesting ideas, but mostly uninteresting characters.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful exploration of human nature
Review: In "Beggars and Choosers" Ms. Kress continues to pursue questions concerning the role of biomedical technology in "improving" the quality of the human species. Almost everyone accepts the premise that modern medical science should strive to eliminate physical and mental defects. What happens, however, when we have the technology to enhance traits, such as intelligence, to levels beyond "normal"? She creates a society stratified on the basis of genetic enhancements. This society begins to fragment as the groups grow to distrust and then hate each other. The novel is more crisply written than its predecessor, "Beggars in Spain" and the characters have more depth. This is true even for the SuperSleepless, who may be a different species altogether. Ms. Kress wrote "Beggars and Choosers" in the first person, in contrast to "Beggars in Spain" which is in the third person. She writes through the eyes of three characters to give different perspectives of the new social stratification, and is very effective at this task. Leisha Camden, the key character in the first novel, has only a minor role in this work. I was disappointed by her unceremonious exit. Getting readers to invest this much emotion in characters, however, is the mark of a good writer.
Rating:
Summary: Donkeys and Livers - who are they?
Review: In this second book the sleepless universe continues to expand in a less linear fashion. just don't expect the same pace as the first book, as the narrative style changed and evolved...resulted in a driftier, more introspective mood throughout. the scenes are generally 'earthier' so be prepared to get more aesthetically-human characters too. again nancy took the complex human psyche - sleep or no sleep, into a deeper level full of idiosyncracies and paradoxes... other than a few unresolved character 'disappearances' (which i hope would be dealt with in the next book), the book was an enjoyable read overall.... I agree with the other reader/reviewer that, though this book was crafted to be a standalone, i recommend reading 'beggars in spain' beforehand to get a more 'fulfilling' picture...
Rating: 
Summary: NOT AS GOOD AS "DIAMOND AGE" NOT AS BAD AS "INNERVERSE"
Review: Overall, not a bad book. Not a great book, but not bad either. Read it if you have some spare time.
Rating:
Summary: Super! ....sleepless nights after reading this book
Review: The saga continues. The people who do not need to sleep have wrought a profound change on the world in the first book (Beggars in Spain). Now, like the numerical solution of a differential equation spinning away as the computer chugs on further iterations, the story spinds out in myriad directions and ends up creating a society that looks very much like society today or for that matter a thousand years ago. Stratified and seggregated - of course the rules of seggregation are different. Do all stable societal configurations stratify the society? Or does the author's experince with her society guides the book to this conclusion? Thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: Great Sequel-Also Great Stand Alone Novel
Review: This book picks up about a decade after the end of BEGGARS IN SPAIN and mainly follows the path of the Super Sleepless on Earth, specifically Miranda Sharifi, the brilliant granddaughter of Leisha's nemesis from the first novel. American society has become more stratified than before, where the wealthy working class called "Donkeys" literally buy votes by providing bread and circuses for a large uneducated welfare population called "Livers". Of particular interest is the character of Drew Arlen, a young Liver who wants to raise himself above his birth and be on par with the Super Sleepless. Drew becomes involved with Miranda's plots within plots to remake society as she sees fit.
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