It's not a mess structurally. If you read the notes on it, you will will find Stross wrote a series of nine loosely connected short stories, which follow each o

It's not a mess structurally. If you read the notes on it, you will will find Stross wrote a series of nine loosely connected short stories, which follow each other temporally and thematically. If you you try to remember it's not a novel as such it will help you relax and enjoy each section better. Stephenson's inability to finish books coherently is a completely different issue