Bluescreen left me feeling unsatisfied and failed to, as most books do, instill in me a desire to read the next book. While the idea behind the book is great, Wells fails to deliver this time. Dan Wells, whose other two series I read and loved, has let me down this time. 
 The Good 
 There is a lot to like about Bluescreen. There is an abundance of insight into what our future might look like. Widespread robotics, implanted computers, and an unsettling trust in technology help create the Bluescreen world. With a few faults (mentioned below), Wells succeeds in creating an immersive world where readers can sympathize with characters who have been shaped by a society that seems so outlandish. Just as technology leaks into just about every part of our lives, technology rules the lives of those in Bluescreen. 
 I'll admit it: Bluescreen did keep me entertained. It's one of those in-an-evening books. That is the primary purpose of these books, so this almost made it worth the read. While some plot twists are relatively predictable, the plot manages to be engaging (except when you're yanked out of the story by one of the items mentioned below). 
 The Bad 
 I knew this book would be saturated with the anti-capitalist sentiments that plagued Partials. In his never-ending quest to make political statements, Wells constantly reminds us of how "the megacorps that run the world just look at us like walking bank accounts." Everyone has a right to inject their opinions into their work, but its downright excessive in Bluescreen: 
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 "It wasn't going to make any new jobs, it wasn't going to feed anyone, it wasn't going to do anything but make expensive new toys for people like Anja, so rich she could just replace her djinni at the drop of a hat." 
 ""Go to Mexico," said Marisa. "They have jobs there--"" 
 "So don't tell me to get a job, because you know there are no jobs for humans in LA anymore," 
 ""The world is upside down--it's not even upside down anymore, it's shattered, it's unrecognizable. I was just as poor as you, a dead-end street rat with nothing to eat, and nowhere to go, and a hundred years ago we might have been part of a communist revolution, taking back the power from the oligarchs on top to the workingman who makes it all possible. But there isn't a workingman anymore. Machines make it possible, nulis and autocars and automated factories, and nobody has anything but the people on the top...." 
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 I read this book for entertainment that makes me think occasionally, not a satire plagued by political drivel. Furthermore, it's irrational political drivel: Wells seems to forget that when technology displaces workers, they tend to move into other fields, possibly even fields that haven't been invented yet. At one point in human history, everyone worked in food production. Now it's 1-2% (in the US). What seems to be the premise of the next book is the change of this terrible world Dan Wells has created. It's difficult to go along with it when the world is unrealistic given rational human economic behavior. 
 If you're going to write a horse book, it might be a good idea to learn about horses. If you're going to write about computer security, try to do a better job reflecting it somewhat accurately. Since writers are not security experts, an occasional inaccurate detail is excusable. However, as a computer programmer who has merely dabbled in security, I had a hard time getting through the book. It's riddled with misconceptions about computers in the areas of viruses, firewalls, programming, networking, and not to mention pragmatism. One does not merely "hack" into secure computers in the matter of minutes on demand.