I read Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore just cause it looked fun and had been on my list for a while.
As it turned out it was a lovely geeky novel. It got a little contrived by the end and if you’re not into Silicon Valley, you might find it really truly ridiculous. There was a lot of Google in the book and most of it was unabashedly untrue. Way over the top. Ridiculous.
But I still enjoyed reading it. It was fun, light, sweet. And not one I’ll remember for a long time.
Your mileage might vary.
Did you read the hardcover? I only ask because I thought it was fun that the cover glows in the dark. 🙂 I agree — it’s a fun bit of geeky fluff. I like the way the story juxtaposed and combined a scholarly, print-based quest with the world of high tech & hackers. If you were really looking for a point to the story, it might be that neither world holds all the answers, that there is value in both.