I'm not a fan of US right-wing politics. Nor do I think well of Dan Simmons's personal politics -- and neither would be worth mentioning if that scatter-shot set of nationalist fear-mongering beliefs weren't reflected so strongly in this book. Nearly every chapter had an awkward, suspension-of-disbelief shattering callback to the current events of 2008-2010. I felt physically thrown out of the story every time I read about Obama's campaign, or a mosque at Ground Zero, or that global warming hoax, or...well, you name it -- if Glenn Beck has cried about it or Fox News has pontificated over it, it's here.
If it were simply a matter of world-building, that would be fine. I found nothing wrong with the future he painted; indeed, it was an interesting and thought-provoking scenario with the quirks and curve-balls I expect from a Simmons novel. Even the politics themselves aren't the issue -- it's the heavy-handedness, the constant intrusion of the author shattering the experience.
Authorial intrusion on this scale is especially obnoxious because Dan Simmons knows better. One quote that he's often referenced in his own Writing Well series comes from Gustave Flaubert: "In his work, the artist should be like God in creation: invisible and all-powerful. He should be felt everywhere and seen nowhere."
Unfortunately you see Dan Simmons shining through every time a character in the 2030s, in a bankrupted, drug-addicted, drawn-and-quartered United States, ruminates over the concerns and uniquely American fears of the present day. This never-ending interruption very nearly ruined what would have otherwise been another spectacular work from a spectacular writer.
I say "very nearly" for good reason. Excepting these jarring anachronisms, the story itself was a page-turner and every bit the expected Dan Simmons novel. A combination of well-written characters, glorious scenery-painting, an excellent story, and a compelling, thought-provoking circumstance show that Simmons remains a master of his craft, a writer who truly cares about his art.
For that reason, I can't bring myself to rate this book badly. Despite all the imaginary face-palms and eye-rolling, feeling like I was hitting speed-bumps every 20 pages, this book was not as awful as some of the other politically-motivated reviews suggest. This is not the high point of Dan Simmon's authorial career, but neither is this a truly awful book.
I can't give it the full five stars, as I was regularly and unapologetically thrown out of the story, but minus those moments this is a well-written and fun read in the same vein as Dan Simmons's other works.