I just finished Wordwired by Elizabeth Bear and honestly, this series reminds me of everything I love about her books. They're ethically and politically complex and they ask such questions that force us to think about our own worldviews that much harder. This series in particular deals with addiction, climate change, artificial intelligence/personalities, world politics, and first contact. And I love the hope and complexity that brings to all of it even as the character's worlds fall apart. It's the pain of the old war dog watching a young soldier die, losing a child, horrors of a nuclear-like attack, etc and all of it balanced by them fighting for a better world and characters who ought to be aligned with the "other" side somehow coming to the main character's through unlikely occurrences. In some ways, it also feels timely as it was written ten years or so ago and echoes some of the issues we face today.
Also the implications of new technologies and the way that characters interface with it. Chefs kiss.
