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This review was written in the late nineties (just for myself), and it was buried in amongst my things until today, when I uncovered the journal it was written in. I have transcribed it verbatim from all those years ago (although square brackets indicate some additional information for the sake of readability). It is one of my lost reviews.

This volume of the Mars Trilogy departs from its predecessors in one tremendous leap -- this is a work of philosophy and politics before it is a story. And this change makes it the best of the series. All of the characters are here, but it is what they say and believe and do that is so special.

This novel changed me. It altered the way I perceive my world, particularly the words of Vlad concerning "capitalist feudalism." But more importantly, it reinvigorated my desire to make a difference and not just live my life in isolation. I was reading this novel while the U.S. and NATO were attacking Serbia over Kosovo. A few weeks later, the Columbine [shootings] happened in Colorado. Then came Star Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace. It all seems so depressing and overwhelming and meaningless, but really these events are all of a piece, and all are incentives to change those things Robinson so rightly criticizes.

I don't know if I can change anything, but I am sure going to try.

[A note of personal interest: those changes that Robinson catalysed are still with me today, but they were also something of a breakpoint for my first marriage. The changes pushed us too far apart to ever be together again.]