Trouble and Her Friends

Trouble and Her Friends shows up on so many LGBTQ+ in SF/F lists around the web that I figured I had to pick it up. However, I'm not sure reading this book in 2018 makes a ton of sense. The questions and concerns it raises about online "freedom" and regulation are dated to the point of seeming quaint. Similarly, the technology underpinning a lot of the book are so dated that it's distracting. When was the last time you thought seriously about BBS systems being the central hub of information on the internet? The scenes where one of the characters is physically inside cyberspace started out as whimsical and novel, but we spend so much time there that by the halfway mark, these scenes were tedious.

Of course, a lot of this isn't Scott's fault. Trouble and Her Friends is very much a book of its time that doesn't age particularly well. I did enjoy the first third or so, but unfortuantely the middle was just kind of a slog and I was so happy for it to be over.