I did (very little, but some) follow up reading from the bibliography, and there are definitely some worthwhile "truth is stranger than fiction" topics in there

I did (very little, but some) follow up reading from the bibliography, and there are definitely some worthwhile "truth is stranger than fiction" topics in there. I don't recall it being told backwards in time, or at least in a way that was confusing. Might need to revisit it. The (semi?)sequel Echopraxia didn't quite grab me as much, and I think the concepts were a bit 'higher' and so my level of intellect got a bit left behind - which I'm also finding with Accelerando by Charles Stross (still enjoying it, but there are parts that lose me), which is highly respected on HN.