A phenomenal book that expertly weaves real cutting edge science with a gripping, "popcorn" thriller. Before reading Nexus, I had a hard time imagining "hard sci-fi" (whatever that means) could be so damn engaging, but Naam does a brilliant job of making the complex ridiculously fun. The world building is meticulous and incredibly well thought out. You don't just get the techno futuristic gadgets, but the implications surrounding them. The little interstitials where fragments of policy memos and political documents appear are surprisingly engaging and shed light into the world with incredible economy. Nexus does what all great sci-fi does and forces us to consider the implications of future technology and how our choices today might impact it. 
 If I have a bone to pick, it's with the writing style, which occasionally goes too much into detail when describing scenes and the passage of time. The rapidly shifting character perspectives can also feel rushed or flimsy, not adding much to the story. These writing tics tend to go away as the action-packed plot picks up (and the characters start to fall), so I'm not too bothered by them. The last half of the book is non-stop, and one of the quickest reads I've had this year. Overall a great read, and I'm looking forward to continuing the series.