I read Starfish close to 20 years ago. He had a uniquely dark vision of the future compared to the zeitgeist in 2007 or so. It's been interesting living through reality since then. I fear the day will come when I reread his earlier works and they start sounding optimistic.
I found it a letdown, lacking conviction and thus unconvincing. Oh, the story had to end some kind of way, but by then both its author and I had mostly lost interest. I don't hold that against what came prior.