Desolation Road is one of my favorite books too. It is such a marvelous pastiche, and the conceit is brilliant.

I had trouble getting into the book until the chapter on Rael Mandella's snookers challenge, which won me over completely. The sheer number of characters at the beginning, coupled with the sometimes bizarre universe make the book difficult to approach. Stay with it at least until the snookers game. Desolation Road is so diverse that _something_ in it is bound to appeal to everyone.

Unfortunately, I thought Ares Express wasn't nearly as good. The central conceit was rather limp, in my opinion, and only one scene completely grabbed me.