Building Harlequin's Moon (one spoiler)

[phantom power]

This novel really grew on me, as I read it. Among other things, it was a remarkable feat of portraying every character's viewpoint in such a way that there were characters who were right, or wrong, or damaged, without ever having to resort to "good" or "evil."

The only thing that stood out for me as being questionable was a bit near the end where they set up a system where some people would get access to life-extension facilities, but most would not. That's a major inequity, and I found it hard to credit that it would be considered acceptable. Particularly since that same inequity was a theme of contention throughout the rest of the book.

If I was Brenda Cooper, I'm not sure how I'd feel about Larry Niven getting top billing, even though it seems clear from the dedications that she did the, ummm, actual writing. On the other hand, I noticed the book because it had Niven's name on it, and from now on I'll also notice Brenda Cooper, so maybe she wins after all.