I can't take credit for the phrasing -- I must refer you to lmbujold, who's won 4 Hugo Awards for Best Novel, and 1 for Best Novella. "A metaphor gone metastatic" is how her character Mark describes his internal state, and "nearly a prosthetic memory" is something that character Simon Illyan exclaims over a delightful little device that winds up saving his ass.
Re: I didn't know what to expect...