Pretty terrific, actually. Long, but not needlessly long, which was the problem with Matter. Bit of a stock Banks villain, but really lovely use of Culture tech to explore the idea of an afterlife.

(Just now bumped into another annoying authorial intrusion, this time about academic feminism, a little satirical comment from nowhere in the middle of an otherwise gripping, moving scene. It's like you sat on the remote and changed channels for an instant.)