SOLVED. scifi novel set in scotland; Alternative future with various marxist/trotskyite factions waging world war across Asia and Europe. USA and CIA still exist. Life-extending technology. [s]

[Perdita]

A world spanning adult/young adult(?) science fiction novel but with a lot of action in Scotland. Alternative future with various marxist/trotskyite factions waging world war across Asia and Europe. USA and CIA still exist. Amongst a number of plots the protagonists don't know they are searching for a female heroine who was actually part of the earlier part of the story that got the last of the life-extending medical technology and turns out she works as a lowly civil servant (librarian or historian???) in Scotland.

The final alternative society is a low-medium technology utopia. In the concluding pages the industrial might of the Clyde build a spaceship using iron ship technology (steampunk before steampunk). The people are genetically manipulated to be more eco-friendly and even hate light pollution at night.

I read it as a paperback novel in perhaps the late 1990s/early 2000s so probably sometime between 1980s and 1990s?

[Kris]

Something by Charles Stross?

Perdity, how does the "life-extending medical technology" work? Does it offer immortality?

How far into the future does the story take place?

What's the tone - action, suspense/thriller, mystery, etc.?

[Perdita]

Hi Charles

If I had the book in front of me I could answer your questions totally. The life extending technology is not central to the plot. Since it is a slightly post apocalyptic novel, knowledge of how to do the immortality is lost and was only ever available to a very few in the political elite. From memory I don't think it was total immortality but life extension. It was more a device to lead the trail back to the female protagonist who was an "unknown hero".

It wasn't set too far into the future but the world war III with communist factions marching across Asia was perhaps a little bit alternative history too. This particular "nation" had adopted low technology anyway.

Tone: difficult to describe since it has been a long time since I read it and I wasn't remembering it for the tone necessarily (but the world-building/politics). Action (but not he-man action) mystery (chasing back to this heroine). After that it was just sci-fi is all I can really remember.

I'm probably missing something really important about the book but my memory banks are empty.

Perdy

[Darcy]

I believe Kris provided the linked to Charles Stross so that you could peruse his books to see if the one you're looking for is one of his works.

[Perdita]

thanks -- I've checked them out and whilst the genre and location is right I can't find anything that matches what I read.

It's a nice mystery anyway

p

[Andy]

Might be Ken MacLeod's The Sky Road The Sky Road

[Perdita]

bingo! solved. I did look at his books but missed this one.

[Andy]

Great. I have that one on my to-read stack, but it sounded like his kind of thing

[Perdita]

I read it as a stand-alone which is why I wasn't looking for it as part of a series. Thanks!