A short, but insightful tale about a possible future cyberspace and the decisions that humanity will have to make. I wanted to give this one five stars, because I enjoyed the story so much, but I think that it would have been a little better, had there been more substance to the storyline. While I would love to have read a novel with the same story, I wouldn't go so far as to say that it needed to be that long. Just another twenty-five pages or so of quality filler would do this story wonders! I almost gave this 3 stars because, although there are some editing issues and some clunky exposition, I liked this story. It's not a brand-new premise, but the development of the dystopic elements of this particular world are effective--not too much explanation, but broad strokes that let the reader imagine the rest. I think we've all wondered what would happen if the world's food supply suddenly dwindled, and this story taps into that fear nicely.That said, the love story is flat. Michelle as a teenager is a like-able, if somewhat flat, character, but it's a tough sell to suggest that they've both been waiting for each other for 15 years and are ready to commit themselves forever after a five minute conversation, most of which is argument. The story ends on too happy a note for the complications raised throughout, and I can't get over the idea that the main character sold out. Liu writes an afterword in which he says that he writes to make a better world. A lofty goal, but unfortunately some of his writing does read as a lecture rather than a story. I think this is the major pitfall of writing for a "purpose." Overall, it feels like the early work of a writer who has a lot of potential.
