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35th out of 84 books
—
144 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Execution Channel
by
Ken MacLeod
It's after 9/11. After the bombing. After the Iraq war. After 7/7. After the Iran war. After the nukes. After the flu. After the Straits. After Rosyth. In a world just down the road from our own, on-line bloggers vie with old-line political operatives and new-style police to determine just where reality lies.
James Travis is a British patriot and a French spy. On the day t...more
James Travis is a British patriot and a French spy. On the day t...more
Hardcover, 288 pages
Published
June 12th 2007
by Tor Books
(first published 2007)
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I'd like to have given this 4 (even 5) stars but The Execution Channel swindled the reader.
I know, I know, it's a book about the back-stabbing global three-letter chess game being run LIVE on 'your planet(tm)' but still ... one thing I hate more than anything is a broken pact with the reader.
Come out and tell him sraight, "I don't fucking like you, and this is gonna hurt," as all real novelists should. Or, suck up to him like you're giving the best head you've e...more
I know, I know, it's a book about the back-stabbing global three-letter chess game being run LIVE on 'your planet(tm)' but still ... one thing I hate more than anything is a broken pact with the reader.
Come out and tell him sraight, "I don't fucking like you, and this is gonna hurt," as all real novelists should. Or, suck up to him like you're giving the best head you've e...more
Alan
rated it
Recommends it for:
People who want to believe
Recommended to Alan by:
If I told you, then I'd have to kill you...
The Execution Channel is full of surprises—which is more than I can say for the Execution Channel in the book, whose televised fare is all too predictable: human beings in authority, torturing and killing other human beings. Not much to hang a book on. Fortunately, the Execution Channel itself makes up only a small part of The Execution Channel.
We're visiting the near future again as MacLeod's thriller opens. Roisin Travis is a member of a peace group monitoring the activities on an ob...more
We're visiting the near future again as MacLeod's thriller opens. Roisin Travis is a member of a peace group monitoring the activities on an ob...more
A brilliant novel: not just a good read (which it is), not just relevant (uncomfortably so), but also brilliantly written. MacLeod is a fine writer, and in this novel his prose really shines - especially starting about half-way through.
This novel explores how the world might react to a series of apparent terrorist attacks that begin with a mushroom cloud appearing over an American air base in Scotland… and things get worse from there. How does the United Kingdom – and the rest of th...more
This novel explores how the world might react to a series of apparent terrorist attacks that begin with a mushroom cloud appearing over an American air base in Scotland… and things get worse from there. How does the United Kingdom – and the rest of th...more
Interrupted The Backroom Boys to take The Execution Channel on a trip.
Surprisingly good. I'm often surprised by Ken MacLeod - he writes clearly, wittingly and sometimes irritatingly Scottish. His irritations also sometimes roll over into technology (like his erstwhile peer Charles Stross) in this book but he mostly keeps it in check.
An alternate "now/future" book, not pleasant to the Americans at all and very correctly and righteously frustrated at the injusti...more
Surprisingly good. I'm often surprised by Ken MacLeod - he writes clearly, wittingly and sometimes irritatingly Scottish. His irritations also sometimes roll over into technology (like his erstwhile peer Charles Stross) in this book but he mostly keeps it in check.
An alternate "now/future" book, not pleasant to the Americans at all and very correctly and righteously frustrated at the injusti...more
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This book was purported to be science fiction, but at first I doubted it. It seemed to me to be more of an espionage thriller. I liked it. It was an exciting read, but it just did not seem to be science fiction. Then there came a point in which there was some discussion of how Al Gore barely won over George W. Bush in the 2000 presidential election. Okay, it was an alternate history novel. That is usually classified as science fiction. There are some who think it should be classified as a genre ...more
What if Al Gore won the election, not G.W.? What if the 9/11 attacks hit Boston, and not the World Trade Center? What if the war on terror is over, and the terrorists won?
This political thriller had a very exciting start, but drifted into meandering intrigue. Set in Britain, it sets a realistic premise for a world that has returned to nuclear brinksmanship, except now there is a new and far more destructive weapon based on particle theory. The science was as interesting as the spy games...more
This political thriller had a very exciting start, but drifted into meandering intrigue. Set in Britain, it sets a realistic premise for a world that has returned to nuclear brinksmanship, except now there is a new and far more destructive weapon based on particle theory. The science was as interesting as the spy games...more
A book club book. I started it assuming it was sci-fi, but it turned out to be near-current sci-fi, so it ended up reading more like a spy or espionage novel with some outlandish elements rather than full fledged sci-fi. I thought it was ok, but not great. I wasn't in the mood for this kind of book as i was finishing it up, which is more my problem than the author's. Still, it made it seem like a bit of a slog to get through. Some aspects of the book were very funny, but the bottom line was...more
Near future sf/thriller. "The war on terror is over. Terror won." So goes the blurb on the cover. A spy for France and his children get caught up in a lot of espionage action after what appears to be a tactical nuke goes off at a US air force base in Scotland. It becomes obvious that this is on an alternative timeline at some point in the novel--but it sneaks up on you. Today's technologies are extrapolated into the future with some plausibility, as is the war on terror's war on civil ...more
Brilliant, one of the best novels I have read in years! A near future setting (a new style for Macleod) which examines espionage and misinformation during war, with soldiers blogging form the front lines and tv news on mobile phones. However, the story is a personal one following a student protester how gets caught in the sights of the allied security services, and her father, who had been recruited by French intelligence and has to go on the run.
This book has the most original, am...more
This book has the most original, am...more
Interesting premise, but this book could've been SO MUCH MORE. I didn't realize it was such a political/spy thriller and was expecting more of a dystopian novel (and definitely a LOT more on the Execution Channel, the channel itself only got a brief mention as a character is flipping channels). I dutifully trudged through the book, though, waiting for everything to just "click" for me, but I kept getting lost with the French/British future government double/triple crossing spies, and w...more
So many interesting ideas. So much spy-type activity. Such a lame ending, right from the days of the pulp fiction serials where episode 9 ended with our hero in a 40-foot-deep pit with greased sides and episode 10 starts, "Having left the pit with a mighty leap, ..."
About halfway through I started to wonder how the author would wrap this up. I'd have done well to stop there, because the book had already made all its useful comments about society and trust and governments. ...more
About halfway through I started to wonder how the author would wrap this up. I'd have done well to stop there, because the book had already made all its useful comments about society and trust and governments. ...more
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An unpleasant parlor game is to wonder what the world would be like if all the nasty trends of the day were to persist into the coming decades. If this sort of thing interests you, then Ken MacLeod has a book for you. The Execution Channel is set in a unpleasant future of frequent torture, limited civil rights, environmental degradation, refugee crises, terrorist attacks and the use of nuclear weapons. The book starts off with a nuclear detonation at a Scottish air base. That attack is quickly f...more
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1078028.html[return][return]A departure from MacLeod's previous space-opera stamping grounds, this is a thriller set in the present or near future of a slightly alternate earth - Gore was elected in 2000, 9/11 hit Boston, and the War on Terror resulted in military operations in Iran and Central Asia as well as Afghanistan and Iraq. Secret technologies, disinformation through blogging, and confused but lethal rivalry between intelligence services all play a part, but th...more
Rattling good alternate history (Gore won Florida, 9/11 happened but hit other buildings...) near future thriller... that is utterly wrecked by a ludicrous old school hard SF ending. Boooo!
PS, if you have the edition with the fabulous byline "The war against terror is over. Terror won." just be advised that while that's a great line, it doesn't describe this particular book.
PS, if you have the edition with the fabulous byline "The war against terror is over. Terror won." just be advised that while that's a great line, it doesn't describe this particular book.
A great read with enough little hooks to keep me intrigued right to the end. I liked all the little references to Operation Gladio and other black-ops history. Made it seem all the more vivid. Nice near future alt-history thriller. Loved the end. Also enjoyed the 2 short stories at the end of the book
Never got beyond "suspenseful"; some other authors will hammer the action and adventure, here, it seemed to always be "about to get" adventurous or action-packed and then it turned away at the penultimate moment. Like hotel-porn, this was soft on action and just mediocre on suspense.
MacLeod presents a few good ideas here, but he buries them in an uninteresting story populated by largely depth-free characters, and capped off with an out-of-left-field ending that would be more at home in the opening 50 pages of a space opera. His conspiracy blogger, Mark Dark, is the only character memorable enough to stay with the reader past the final page.
MacLeod's writing style is otherwise solid, but I just can't recommend this book.
MacLeod's writing style is otherwise solid, but I just can't recommend this book.
A near/alternate future at the cusp of big events. It took a while to get into and then the middle bit seemed stretched, while the ending came in a rush, but it's an interesting segue from current times to science fiction.
Entertaining alt-history political thriller. The ending was a bit out of left field, but not cripplingly so for my enjoyment of the novel; it's possible the ending was setting up more science-fictiony sequel. (I'd read it.)
A fairly interesting near future story where cyber espionange is very strong. I enjoyed the characters, particularly the travis family. The ending did not work well for me.
McLeod does a great job of evoking a terrifyingly plausible near future where the "war on terror" could lead us. The ending loses steam.
Caisa Viksten
added it
It's a dystopian political thriller set in a near future England and Scotland in a slightly different universe. The end was slightly disapointing.
When I read the description of this book it grasped my interest, but by the end I found myself disappointed. The premise was great and some of the characters were well written, but in the end there were too many loose ends. I also found the ending to be extremely far fetched and unexpected. I thought the writting was great and still give the book 4 stars, but the tag line just didn't fit the book.
Fast-paced, near-future dystopia thriller...fun reading. The final twist is a bit tough to swallow in terms of suspension of disbelief, but for a good story I can live with that. There is a bit of fairly graphically described violence so be cautious if that bothers you. I enjoyed it and would recommend for anyone looking for a thriller with a message to send about the dangers of information control.
Nice premise this one, however for me it didn't seem to gel the threads very well, thought the ending was a bit of a let down too.
Loved the book makes me want to read more stuff by Ken, this guy is good at what he does.
ok… savvy use of believable internet. kinda bonkers ending…
I usually enjoy MacLeod, but this one was hard work.
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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.
...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.
...more
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