A light, funny and satirical book. It is set very much in the moment and in a few years the concepts and ideas presented may not date well. Somewhat ponderous and I found myself skipping parts of the book. Could have been better if it were a couple of chapters shorter. ( )

I initially had high hopes but I was disappointed with this. Very poorly conceived, the characters were dismal and the plot seemed rehashed from several movies. Very lazy.

I made it all the way to the end, but was left feeling I ought to have dumped it after 50 pages. ( )

Thanks to the publishers for this Early Reviewer group copy.

I found this chunky bit of alt.future satire to be a brisk and entertaining read. If Pratchett and Naomi Klein did some synergising, it might be a little like this. A lot of the elements have been done before - big business gone mad, weird tech, mad scientists - but the characters are more than just cliches, and the author convincingly lets us share their motivations and weaknesses, keeping our sympathy throughout.
Also, there are some properly funny moments, and a few scenarios that stretch the mind! A good read, and given the chance, the author could produce something really special in the future, now that he's dealt with some of his obvious bugbears. ( )

Earth Inc is an enjoyable ride through a capitalist world.
The humour is not as overt as in some similar books - but that is a refreshing change. Certainly an enjoyable read, although it doesn't leave you with any form of after-thought, which would be a nice addition.

The actual plot is surprisingly well written, despite a lack of real substance to provide some backbone.

And yet, in spite of all this, it is still entertaining. I can't place why, but it is. And this is, I suspect, it's main redeeming feature

4/5 ( )

"The silence lengthened. Jorj shifted his weight from foot to foot. Abi moistened her lips. Bil hummed quietly. A few uncomfortable moments later the building caught fire, and everyone was rather relieved."

It's 2050, and life on Earth has been privatised. Our heroes are on the bottom of the ladder, scrambling to stay employed and/or uncaught, living precariously -- but hugely better off than the disenfranchised masses that are locked out of the cities altogether. Jorj doesn't want much other than to keep his job, and sleep. Abi wants to kill the most powerful man in the world. And something, or someone, is playing dangerous pranks -- like sending robots out to kill people.

This is a good, fun, satirical comedy. It has a good deal of verve, and maintains a consistent pacing through a frenetic adventure. I suspect it will date rather badly, as many of its touchstones (text messaging, iPods, reality television, etc.) are very much of the moment. But it works on its own terms quite well. A decent addition to the comedy science fiction genre. ( )