Nonetheless, it's worth a read. If you're looking for comparisons then two authors spring to mind: the obvious one is Greg Egan who I think is one of the few authors who bothers to follow through with some of the logical conclusions of his premises. I think localroger does the same. I like that. The other author, curiously, is Michael Moorcock. The reason I say that is that much of Intellect shares ideas with the other book I (coincidentally) am reading at the moment: The Dancers at the End of Time trilogy. In both stories humanity is living in a future where people have almost limitless control over their environment. Morality becomes meaningless and the biggest problem facing people is boredom with life a never ending quest for thrills and novelty. Where the stories diverge is that localroger makes this near-infinite power the subject of his story whereas Moorcock makes it merely the backdrop for an entertaining comedic fantasy. The latter book takes for granted that you've already asked all of the philosophical questions that localroger asks and just want to get on and read something funny. "life is meaningful because we die" is also now a cliché

My final verdict is that if I'd read this book when I was 16 I'd have thought it was the best book evar. But I'm pushing forty now and I just don't get quite as excited about these kinds of ideas as I once did. But it's still good. 7.5 out of 10. In the style of this story I'd rank it roughly in the top 20% of science fiction stories I have read. It really ought to be in bookshops and I'll probably make a donation.

(PS The sex in the book is boring. It's basically all just plain fucking. You'd think that with the power they had these characters would come up with something more interesting...)