I can't say that I enjoyed this one. In fact, I think it's among my least favorite of the Hugos I've read (but at least not as bad as _They'd Rather Be Right_!). I just don't get the point. Locking people from various times and planets in a single room together and letting them have at each other for 150 pages is such a great idea. You'd expect an interesting discussion of the nature of history or humanity, and some in-depth character studies. Instead we get the politics of an off-stage "time war" in the vaguest and most jargon-heavy of terms.
If we're going to spend the novel on the Change War, I'd rather see it in action than read allusions to it. If we're not going to see it, I'd like to see a focus on character and dialog among a really odd mix of people. Instead, we get the worst of both worlds.
I enjoyed your review though, Moff. I just didn't see the Change War (as presented here) as all that interesting, and I didn't see the point of the book's strange format. I think Leiber actually crippled himself with his own rules here.
