Rating: 
Summary: interesting enough to overcome the lack of plot
Review: The Mind Pool is a very odd book. For one thing, the story is very obtuse and quite frankly, boring. The two main characters are so similar I found it very difficult to keep track of which was which. And put it all together and it really wasn't that bad. The world in which The Mind Pool is set had enough interesting qualities to overcome the lack of plot. There are enough unique and interesting subplots going on that at times Mind Pool was a real page turner. Clearly Sheffield has some very interesting ideas, but is just not that good at wrapping them up into an actual novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking and unpredictable.
Review: The Mind Pool starts with a dramatic display of power from the "evil" Morgan Constructs and finishes with a twist I could not have predicted. I was never satisfied with the description of exactly what the Morgan Constructs were, but then again, the lack of detail allowed the imagination to take over. The same lack of concrete imagery made the ending a bit hard to visualize, but that ending was so unique that I was too amazed to care.
Rating:
Summary: Something Missing
Review: The Mind Pool tells the story of a future in which humans have encountered only three other intelligent species in the explored universe. The explored universe is essentially an ever exapanding sphere that radiates out as probes continue to move out through space and everything within this sphere is easilt reachable using "Mattin Links." What I find intiguing about this story is the description of three very different alien species and how they are thrown together with humans, the only "aggressive" species, to form a team. However, I felt that this particular plot point wasn't dealt with in an engrossing manner. The whole novel felt somewhat pieced together and was shorter than it should have been. The catalyst for the story, the Morgan Construct that poses a threat to the universe and the teams are sent to find, felt almost forgotten and I was unclear what role it served in the story except as a launching point. I enjoyed the story, but there were so many aspects to this universe that I would have liked to learn about and I felt like none of them were really explored in any depth. There was a subplot that was apparently left out of the original version of this story, called The Nimrod Hunt, that I felt was a hinderance to the story rather than adding anything and the author added back in merely because he was fond of it. The ending was somewhat confused and just seemed to stop and I wasn't really satisfied. I think I will pick up another of his books that isn't a rewrite of an earlier story and see how I like it.
Rating: 
Summary: Uncertain voice
Review: This book seemed to be a reprise of Golden age science fiction, in a world where technology is the saviour of all, people are ethical, honest, hard working, updated with a dash of cyberpunk mentality, with hard edges, drugs, lies and the accompanying details. Unfortunately, the visions did not meld well, leaving the story as a mishmash of ideas, with various sub-plots spawning off in various directions, and seemingly never wrapping up properly. In addition, I don't feel that sufficient detail is given to the elements of the story to make them believable. There are too many glossed over details to draw the reader in properly. The main plot (at least it seems the main plot) itself represents an interesting idea - the mind pool - but it is lost in the noise. Nevertheless, it is a somewhat interesting story, and a unique vision. It's just very hard to read.
Rating:
Summary: Original and unpredictable, but kind of hazy
Review: This is a good book; but although the finale is unpredictable, it seemed rushed and vague. I had a hard time trying to visualize some of his descriptions, but the story itseslf didn't have many flawes. This book is well worth the read because of the humanity questioning/praising moral that it contains. 3.5
Rating:
Summary: Unpredictable and exciting but hard to follow at times
Review: This is an exciting read full of original sf ideas, but the conclusion is vague and doesn't make much sense. It's a good book, until the climax, then I found myself reading certain parts over and over again trying to understand them.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the best science fiction novels ever
Review: To my mind, speaking as a very long-time science fiction reader, this may be one of the best science fiction novels ever, and head and shoulders about most of the stuff that passes for science fiction on the book racks today. Why is it so good? As John Campbell said about van Vogt's The World of Null-A, "It's like a 220-volt power line--it looks innocent, but once you grab it, you can't let it go." One of the best shoot-the-sheriff-on-the-first page opening chapters ever; enough plot and concepts for half a dozen ordinary novels; a compelling and visionary concept. It really does recall the intense sense of wonder of the great science fiction novels of the 50s and 60s. I would quite cheerfully hand this, along with, say, Pohl's Heechee series, Vance's Araminta Station, Asimov's Foundation Trilogy (and sequels), something by Phillip K. Dick, Blish's A Case of Conscience, and a classic Heinlein like Double Star and say, "Well, if you don't like any of these, then you will never like real science fiction."
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