In the books the culture is frequently called dystopian by people outside of it. Usually to some extent out of ignorance but not completely and not always. Wit

In the books the culture is frequently called dystopian by people outside of it. Usually to some extent out of ignorance but not completely and not always. Within the culture itself in the books, there is an awareness of the dystopian potential of the culture's powers, and tension about what applications are acceptable. The political and cultural shape of the culture itself sort of makes a silhouette around the dystopia it is trying not to be, or could become. It's a positive transhumanist take for sure, but it directly confronts how necessarily tangled up that is with much worse worlds, and should get credit for it.