Nicola Griffith's Slow River is an acclaimed piece of science fiction, and insofar as it has realistic portrayals of the interactions between chemistry, biology, corporations, and the environment, it's a very successful book. But when it comes to the personal and family intrigue, the book has problems. Too many times, the characters' motivations are in question, so the plausibility of the novel suffers. Katerine, especially, is a character whose actions are never fully explicated, who serves as a major antagonist without a cause.