I liked the middle section quite a bit, but both the start and end of the book have some very weak points in the characters decisions as well as just a whole bunch of teasers thrown out. The biggest issue is the entire premise of why he is trapped. But even then, so many bad / unreasonable choices are made. Not to mention the whole thing that his best buddy has a mission in direct conflict with his goals of making a bunch of vi controlled NPCs. It’s also in direct conflict with his new view that both the NPCs and VI as real people. Massive cognitive dissonance. Lots of extra fluff and repeated stats. Don’t plan on reading any more.