He, She and It

While this novel has a rich world full of detail and cultural diversity, it suffers from slow pacing and a tremendous amount of unbroken exposition. The plot develops at an agonizing slow pace until it is jarringly interrupted by a seemingly non-sequitur story within a story about life in a Jewish ghetto in seventeenth century Prague. Once the story did gain some traction, I found myself feeling unsympathetic toward any of the characters who spend all of their time wallowing in guilt and self-doubt over their past mistakes and the existential nature of their own existence including, surprisingly, the cyborg and the golem.
There is very little in the way of dramatic tension. Whenever there is a moment of genuine conflict, it is resolved with surprising speed or is glossed over altogether. The ending in particular was anti-climatic. By the end I felt the relief of having completed a difficult chore rather than the satisfaction of a well-told story.
A beautiful but flawed novel. If you're willing to invest the time required to read it, it can be a worthwhile experience, but if you crave something with excitement and action, this book may not be for you.