Lifelode, Walton. Yes. My only previous exposure to Walton was the straight-up alternative history of the Small Change series, which I enjoyed quite a bit. Lifelode is set in a very different world, though the characters are completely recognizable and resonant in their humanity. The non-linear narrative could easily have distracted, had it not been well executed and clearly in service to the story.
I will express some concern at the presence of a FAQ at the back of the book. I may simply be an old stick-in-the-mud, but my reasoning runs something like this: if there are issues that need to be clarified, then by all means clarify your text; if you want to talk about how the work came to be, then give an interview or write a blog post, or even an Author’s note; and if you just want to underscore that you’re not going to answer a question, well, shouldn’t that go without saying?