Like probably every American who's read this book, I picked it up because I heard something vague about it winning a prize. I exploited Amazon's Super-Saver Shipping policy to get it essentially for free with a case of hot cereal. It took three frickin' weeks to arrive from England, but I'm glad I got it.
I'm glad, because Chris Beckett has a talent you almost never see in science fiction: he knows exactly when to end a story. If you read SF to be entertained, to forget your day-to-day life, and to forget the story itself once your cat needs feeding, then Chris Beckett is not the writer for you. But if you crave thoughtful, smart and subtle - something that involves you in the complexity of life rather than distracting you from it - then you will find The Turing Test very much to your liking.
