I've read only white papers. Bitshares in many ways is first version of Steem.
The biggest difference - Ethereum is full-Turing language, you may write very complex applications, but result may be quite unexpected hehe. Bitshares - simpler things, but the dumbest farmer has biggest potatoes. Example: https://steemit.com/bitshares/@steempower/the-bitland-project-is-set-to-empower-ghana-through-land-title-registration-corporate-license-approved