First of all, I want to make it clear I am newish to Sci-Fi so will not be comparing it to other authors of the genre.This book is quite extraordinary for me. It has an unusual style in the it has two story lines running side by side, one revealing the history of the characters on Earth, and one moving through the present in Space. The different narratives alternate between chapters and I found this to be infuriatingly effective. The plots were fascinating to me and so my attention was held by having to read another chapter of Earth story to find out what happened next in Space, and vice versa. I also enjoyed the writing style - I see one review on the site mentioning the Americanisms in the book (spellings are mentioned I think) but I think that must have been the reviewer's edition as this is not something I experienced.To me, there are certain criteria you must meet to read this book and enjoy it:1. Be sciency. Ken MacLeod used to be a Computer Programmer and there is some fairly overwhelming technical stuff at times which may go straight over your head if you're not computer-savvy to some extent.2. You must not object to drugs use in books. My old school librarian hated this book because of the regular references to Marijuana throughout. MacLeod does not set himself on one side of the fence or the other in the legalisation debate, but the stuff does appear many times.3. Be prepared to take your Sci-Fi with a pinch of salt. Unlike my only other experiences of the genre with Iain M. Banks, the physics of the world simply don't work. Well, theoretically they do, but there is no way they could be possible by the laws we know of today. The engines used to travel across the universe in a split second are Anti-Gravity drives which allow the device to escape all gravitational influence and thus travel instantaneously. Theoretically sound, but implausible. Iain Banks at least used Wormholes for this, which are actually known to exist in Space.4. Last, but certainly not least, be politically aware. Basically the whole point of these books (this is part 1 of a trilogy) is an examination of political devices and systems. If you get confused by the difference between Trotskyism, Stalinism, Communism and Capitalism and variations thereof, you either need to be prepared to get your head around some concepts or this is not the book for you.I loved this book unreservedly. It is not often that I can give 5 stars without thinking twice. While I was reading it, I dreamed about it while sleeping, thought about it while awake and was always looking forward to getting back to the read the next chapter (it turned out to be a bad thing to find in the run up to exams!). I will however openly admit to bias. The Earth based narrative largely takes place in Edinburgh, a city in which I lived for some time so I know all the places mentioned. Also I am a programmer/hacker and a socialist, so the society in the book and the political struggles appealed to me. It was the kind of future I could dream about becoming a reality. Indeed some of the tech is already in the development pipeline (the Google Glass project = Spex?).I am also intrigued by some of the concepts introduced. For the example the effects on the culture and society of the individual planets of the "Second Sphere" by the arrival of the very occasional starships are very interesting. It is also a space opera that does not involve everybody being able to travel in space. In fact, only 2 ancient species are able to travel in space, one having been given the technology to do so by the other. Humans have no control over their destinations - they simply go with the ship as guests, trading what they can at each stop off. The fact that they travel instantaneously but time moves on in relation to the number of light years traversed also makes an interesting point, as the star traders live only normal human lifespans but witness history over centuries or millenia and MacLeod uses this as a way to show cause-and-effects of politics and cultural revolutions.In summary, this book is a political, cultural and technological maze that will either hold your attention or have you running for the exit. I loved every second of it and was unable to put it down. If I could I would give it a solid 7 out of 5...and I assure you, I am not easily kept happy by a book, especially a non-realism based one.
3.5 starsThis was my second book by Ken MacLeod and was much better than my first; Learning the World. For the most part the elements of this story were more realistic and believable than that previous book.The book consists of two stories told in parallel; one set several centuries after the other. One charting the lead up to starflight and the other the descendents of that starflight. Both stories were engaging, interesting and well told. The characters were well rounded and convincing. The East-West politics were a little dated but not unreasonable so. The technology was generally believable where necessary and totally alien, again, where necessary. There were some choice little computing in-jokes (mostly early on in the book) including one in the fourth sentence of the book that I suspect will sail over most readers heads without their realising it (unless they are into the historical origins of computer gaming).Sadly it was rather let down by a lot of silly little inconsistencies, typos and confusing sentences, despite this being a third re-print of a second edition. There really is no excuse for that level of errors in such a late printing. These were all mostly very minor but annoying all the same. For example, at one point the narrative states "I was on call all the time and often had to visit the fabs, in real or virtual space." Then just ten pages later: "The fabrication units occupied a separate wing of the station. This was my first visit to them outside of VR...." Or "...side by side and face to face, were Aleksandra Chumakova and Grigory Volkov." That one reminded me of an old ryhme: "back to back they faced each other, drew their swords and shot each other." Minor? Maybe. Am I getting picky in my old age? Probably, I'm certainly expecting better quality from my reading than I did just six or seven years ago. But I don't think unreasonably so; these are errors of sloppy editing and each occurence pulls me out of my immersion in the story.All that said they were still only minor technical grumbles and didn't put me off an intriguing and imaginative story. My one stronger grumble was with the ending(s). One of the stories (the older one), was wrapped up nicely, although inevitably it was very predicatable with the very existence of the other story providing a major spoiles. However the other story was left completely open with virtually no resolution at all. Okay so he wants us to go out and buy the next book in this trilogy, but still I hate cliff hangar endings in series with a vengence.Overall a very good book, if a little untidy in places. I will be continuing with the series.
Do You like book Cosmonaut Keep (2002)?
Très bon récit de science-fiction où l'on suit l'histoire à deux époques très éloignées. Bien qu'il puisse se lire de manière indépendante, la lecture du reste du cycle s'impose afin de mieux appréhender l'univers en développement.Malgré tout, il reste moins intéressant que La Division Cassini du même auteur. Si l'on retrouve bien les idées socialistes de Ken MacLeod, il manque un certain souffle au texte. Après réflexions, l'auteur est plus à l'aise dans la partie concernant l'anticipation proche que dans celle se passant dans un avenir plus lointain.
—Farth
Conceptually an interesting book. I won't repeat the plot summary, but, to read, a very frustrating book. The author chops between the two stories in an abrupt manner that does not serve either character development or exposition. And there is an overuse of organisational acronyms that is truly baffling. I gave up trying to sort through which faction or organisation was which. First and last names are also confusingly used. In such a short story with such an array of ensemble characters it was too much.Peter F Hamilton does this kind of thing so much better. A great space opera lives on the detail, both technical and human, and it's just lacking here. I rarely say this, but the book needed another 250-500 pages to flesh out the story.It was also quite strange that the only two powers in this alternate universe where the European Union and the USA - what happened to everyone else? China, Japan and Sydney get mentioned once as asides. Is this a case of white western English speaking writer showing his limited world-view? I hope not.And as a personal aside, maybe it was my edition but it is beyond irritating to read made up American words like 'debarked' - what the hell is that, like declawing a cat? It's bad enough reading supposedly European internal dialogue with spelling like meter for metre and liter for litre, my brain can't read the right pronunciation.grumble grumble.
—Lorelei
Cosmonaut Keep is about 2 tales interwoven. Set on Earth and another world, Mingulay, but separated by time, we learn how humans came to live on this world that is many light-years away. We also learn that the descendants don't have the ability for interstellar travel, but are visited by humans (from Earth) who do. The focus of the story is the history of how it got this way, and how the isolated humans try to acquire interstellar travel again. There is a range of characters, human and extraterrestrial. The main characters have their share of vices and personal dilemmas. There are humorous social and political discourses. The story moves forward in the two space-time settings, culminating in our understanding of past and present human worlds.This is the 1st book in the Engines of Light trilogy. For me, it was worthwhile storytelling entertainment. And I liked the social worlds developed by the author. I would think that the conclusion gives the readers several entry points for upcoming stories. I look forward to reading the other books.
—Ray Heinonen
