Thank you, I was about to comment on this; you've given me a needed data point.

Permutation City is the only work of fiction I've enjoyed that I do not go around recommending, because I'm wary that to a reader without the requisite specialized background to separate the parts based on real science from the parts that are pure fiction, it might actually be something of a memetic hazard.

If you are going to recommend it, I would suggest accompanying the recommendation with a link to the antidote