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17th out of 23 books
—
24 voters
The Stone Canal (The Fall Revolution #2)
by
Ken MacLeod
Life on New Mars is tough for humans, but death is only a minor inconvenience. The machines know their place, the free market rules all, and only the Abolitionists object.
Then a stranger arrives on New Mars, a clone who remember his life on Earth as Jonathan Wilde, the anarchist with a nuclear capability who was accused of losing World War III. This stranger also remembers...more
Then a stranger arrives on New Mars, a clone who remember his life on Earth as Jonathan Wilde, the anarchist with a nuclear capability who was accused of losing World War III. This stranger also remembers...more
Paperback, 352 pages
Published
March 15th 2001
by Tor Science Fiction
(first published 1996)
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This came off as a science-fiction lover's science-fiction novel, and so I liked it a lot, even if there weren't a lot of "big ideas" per se.
The narrative is split in two between the "present day" of the protagonist's life from the 70s to the near future, and the far future on New Mars where his mysteriously rejuvenated self has to intervene in a major political dispute, with alternating chapters helping to bring some structural tension as more and more backstory is slowly revealed. Jonathan Wil...more
The narrative is split in two between the "present day" of the protagonist's life from the 70s to the near future, and the far future on New Mars where his mysteriously rejuvenated self has to intervene in a major political dispute, with alternating chapters helping to bring some structural tension as more and more backstory is slowly revealed. Jonathan Wil...more
Pros: Original, quality writing, with an eye for detail and a driving story arc
Cons: None whatsoever
"The Stone Canal" takes place in the same future universe Mr.MacLeod's previous novels have described: a post-Singularity Solar System infested with uploaded 'Fast Folk,' anarcho-capitalist escaped slaves in their extra-solar breakaway republic, Marxist mercenaries and orbital armies protecting the nano-technological 'climax community' utopia that Earth has become . . .
I won't give away the plot....more
Cons: None whatsoever
"The Stone Canal" takes place in the same future universe Mr.MacLeod's previous novels have described: a post-Singularity Solar System infested with uploaded 'Fast Folk,' anarcho-capitalist escaped slaves in their extra-solar breakaway republic, Marxist mercenaries and orbital armies protecting the nano-technological 'climax community' utopia that Earth has become . . .
I won't give away the plot....more
This book is a weird genre of technology-economics science fiction. The author is clearly really intelligent. The book has many smart ideas and references, many of which I didn't understand.
Despite not feeling like I really got it, I liked the book and the story was engaging. A group of dead humans have colonized New Mars resurrecting themselves in bodies grown from DNA. They coexist with robots of varying degrees of cognition, some very human. Humans have solved many problems of the human condi...more
Despite not feeling like I really got it, I liked the book and the story was engaging. A group of dead humans have colonized New Mars resurrecting themselves in bodies grown from DNA. They coexist with robots of varying degrees of cognition, some very human. Humans have solved many problems of the human condi...more
This is the third Ken Macleod book I've reviewed in what seems to be a very short time, so I'll skip the usual plaudits- regular and semi-regular readers of the blog should be well aware of them by now. 1. He's an awesome writer, 2. He writes thought-provoking science fiction which is the best kind of science fiction and 3. He is well worth reading.
Now that's out of the way- The Stone Canal. The second book in Macleod's Fall Revolution series (I'm reading these all ass backwards, I know. I'm sor...more
Now that's out of the way- The Stone Canal. The second book in Macleod's Fall Revolution series (I'm reading these all ass backwards, I know. I'm sor...more
Before reviewing Stone Canal, I have to confess that I really disliked Star Faction, its prequel. The nuances of political ideologies and their almost ridiculous preeminence in his character portraits deeply distract me from the fabulous concepts he can bring to his stories. In Stone Canal, I found the beginning almost unbearable - an exploration of early friendship and political ideologies (socialism, libertarianism, etc.) of the main characters. As the novel progresses, however, these shallow...more
Extremely intelligent and politically as well as philosophically interesting science fiction. You may need to be on the left wing (or have leftish sympathies) to fully appreciate the depts of it, but spoken as someone who is, it is some of the best SF I have ever read.
Originally published on my blog here in December 2000.
The two interlocking narratives which make up The Stone Canal concern libertarian anarchist Jonathan Wilde. The earlier chronologically starts when he is a student at Glasgow University in the 1970s, and basically deals with his gradual development into a political guru as Western capitalism begins to fall apart in the twenty first century. The other narrative is set in the far future, when a clone of Jonathan Wilde is given his memories, cop...more
The two interlocking narratives which make up The Stone Canal concern libertarian anarchist Jonathan Wilde. The earlier chronologically starts when he is a student at Glasgow University in the 1970s, and basically deals with his gradual development into a political guru as Western capitalism begins to fall apart in the twenty first century. The other narrative is set in the far future, when a clone of Jonathan Wilde is given his memories, cop...more
An intelligent and philosophical science fiction tale with a genre bending foray into economics and politics (socialism, libertarianism, etc.). The storytelling is artful and vivid yet intellectual enough at times to make you stop and think in distraction. It's chapters alternate between a story of identity set in the future on a planet fairly recently colonised by humans, and a second story that skips through the main character's lives from the 1970s into that future. The future story is quite...more
This novel bounces back and forth between near-future Earth and far-future New Mars. The near-future Earth has some really weird and enjoyable bits, where revolutionaries remake large chunks of Earth (especially Britain) in bizarre ways (I gather his "Star Fraction" covers this in more depth), as does the far-future quasi-Mars, and the (well-done) bits in between. But I had serious trouble accepting the characters and their relationship--just not really believable.
... there's a longer story here about how reading this series meshes perfectly with both my memories of living in Glasgow for one semester in the 90s and with where the rest of my college experience fits in my brain, but it'll have to wait. Maybe when I next read the last book in the series. Suffice to say that you can take the scene in Glasgow University's Queen Margaret Union bar, move it up 15 years, and plop me right in the middle of it with no real effort at all.
Aside from the author's zeal for politics and name dropping, the story was quite entertaining. Still, the conflict between arch nemeses was anti-climactic, and the ending was disappointing. If less energy were spent writing down the names of economic and political authors, and more energy spent on tuning up the intrigue it would be a five star book.
It's a libertarian wet dream. Which isn't to insult. Dreams are nice. Except when they involve Hitler trying to steal your private parts. This book doesn't.
A very entertaining and imaginative story. This is the 5th novel by Ken MacLeod that I've read and I really like his writing style. He manages to weave in a lot of "future politics" without making it boring. The science is always good.
Writing not as good as Iain Banks, plot not as inventive, but the more explicit trotskyist/anarchist leanings of the author made it a fun speculative read.
A strong follow up to The Star Fraction, this story follows a character briefly mentioned in the previous book.
Alternating between recollections of the recent past and near future to a time far in the future on the settlement of New Mars, it finds the protagonist suddenly reborn from a digital snapshot of their brain taken immediately after their death in the 21st Century.
Againt the story stands on its own merit whilst exploring political themes. This time Benjamin Tucker's individualist anarchy...more
Alternating between recollections of the recent past and near future to a time far in the future on the settlement of New Mars, it finds the protagonist suddenly reborn from a digital snapshot of their brain taken immediately after their death in the 21st Century.
Againt the story stands on its own merit whilst exploring political themes. This time Benjamin Tucker's individualist anarchy...more
This was interesting at times, and annoying at others. Worth reading if you liked the first.
Pretty good, but not MacLeod's best, in my opinion. This book takes the form of chapters alternating between an interesting story set in the future on a planet fairly recently colonised by humans, and a second story that skips through the main character's lives from the 1970s into that future. The future story is quite interesting, but the other story feels like it only exists to tie this story into the same universe as The Star Faction, MacLeod's preceeding novel.
Airplane book. I liked it ok and it was an interesting read but there was not much deep there in the end.
Sep 23, 2010
Craig J.
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The Stone Canal: A Novel (Fall Revolution) by Ken MacLeod (2001)
Dec 01, 2009
Lorin Rivers
added it
The Stone Canal: A Novel (Fall Revolution) by Ken MacLeod (2001)
1
The story of a friendship that spans 300 (yes, 300 years--it all makes sense without the need for pixie-dust or some such crutch), during which civilization crumbles (sort of) and a new civilization (sort of) rises on another planet.
All the while, Macloed's ruminations on the nature of revolutions and the (post)human condition keep the reader's feet on the ground while being dazzled by the his imaginative brilliance. My favorite of the Fall Revolution books.
All the while, Macloed's ruminations on the nature of revolutions and the (post)human condition keep the reader's feet on the ground while being dazzled by the his imaginative brilliance. My favorite of the Fall Revolution books.
Any and all of the Fall Revolution books are hard to read. That's not to say they aren't awesomely great books, because without fail they are. What I mean is that you will be challenged by Macleod politically. His story structure is very hard to accept at first but in the end is very rewarding.
Anarcho-Marxist SF that cares more about the upcoming revolutions due to unfettered capitolism more than SF-nal aspects. Forward the proletariat--in space!
Robots! Space. Awesomeness! Perfect escape-from-law-school fiction.
"To Lara Byrne, for an inspiration and a genotype" - need I say more?
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Ken MacLeod is an award-winning Scottish science fiction writer.
His novels have won the Prometheus Award and the BSFA award, and been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He lives near Edinburgh, Scotland.
MacLeod graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics.
His novels often explore socialist, c...more
More about Ken MacLeod...
His novels have won the Prometheus Award and the BSFA award, and been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He lives near Edinburgh, Scotland.
MacLeod graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics.
His novels often explore socialist, c...more
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