The book sets out with a very promising idea. Virtual reality versus real life, the reflection of society and the new dangers. However, these thoughts are given very little attention after the first 50 pages, once the main plot picks up speed.
Not that there is so much of a coherent plot. The six different plotlines are jumbled, and also badly balanced. Renie&Co get most of the attention, while the others are sadly underused. I especially would have liked to see more of Orlando and Dread. I also kept wishing that there would be less chapters focusing on Paul, because they didn't seem to have anything to do with the book, didn't take the plot anywhere and generally felt like excess baggage.
As far as characters are concerned, I liked it that the focus was on Africans for once. It's rare to get this in a book, especially in the sci-fi/fantasy ones. But there was no character I particularly cared about. Orlando came close, but he got so little attention that it was difficult to really care. Renie felt fairly blank. !Xabbu was okay, and I absolutely loahted Renie's father.
The ending is disappointing because it provides no closure of any kind. It feels as if after reading 800 pages, you got nowhere because a solution to the initial problem with the kids isn't anywhere in sight, and nothing that happened in the second half even seemed to be connected to Renie's mission.
I'm not going to read the sequel. I only finished the first because I don't like to put books down without reaching the end. But it was not a very satisfying read, so I'll avoid the rest.