Cosmonaut Keep (Engines of Light)

Book started out without really detailing the basic constructs in any detail. surprisingly, the farther along you got into the story the characters solidified and started to have some meaning and depth. basically this book reminded me greatly of an early Iain M. Banks.But it was good, really. somehow I am convinced that ken McLean must have a rather huge taste for 'hemp', or 'cannabis', as he mentions it about every 5 pages. if you like space opera, that develops engaging characters and flows well, get this.

This is not an easy book to get into, there is an initally confusing split storyline and seemingly bizarre shifts in narrative and time (without the usual chapter markers to ease the readers transitions), but these are all clues to an unfolding and complex drama well worth a few chapters of disorientation. In the vein of William Gibson's Neuromancer, we are shown a cyberpunk distopia on the verge of a transformative shift or it's own destruction, but peopled by characters both interesting and familier enough to be our guides (rather like Larry Niven's Ring World series); as well as a front row seat to Humanity's awareness of the true nature of the Universe and our relationship to it... and it's not a comfortable revelation either. As the pieces begin to fall into place, the book becomes a real treat to read and the shifts in place and time fuel the sense of urgency and tension as events lead you to an all too sudden but satisfying ending... thankfully, this is only the first book in what promisies to be a fantastic and challenging trilogy, a must have for my library, to be sure.

Like most of MacLeod's books, Cosmonaut Keep is told in two alternating timelines. By far the most interesting story-strand is set on the planet Mingulay, in a complex society of humans, saurs, krakens and other sentients. The worldbuilding and backstory unfold very, very nicely here, in ways that would be unfair to reveal -- much of what's best in CK lies here, and I'll bet you'll have as much fun reading it as I did.By contrast, the near-future alternate Earth, featuring a Red Europe and a reactionary America, gets off to a slow start, and is likely to irritate nonpolitical readers. But this stuff is at least intelligently done, skimmable, and -- about 50 pages in -- finally starts to rock. But I would have liked to have spent more time on Mindulay, the Second Sphere, saur society, kraken ways -- and, I imagine, more of this will be Coming Soon.I don't think I'm giving away too much by saying that Cosmonaut Keep is a variant of the old Elder Races Rule the Universe shtick -- in this one, Fermi's Paradox is enforced by stern Galactic Gatekeepers, and woe to junior races who run afoul of the gods. They *hate* spam -- and care about due process about as much as you do when you spray Raid on an anthill.... Ah, here's a quote I can't resist, from Thomas Wright, the discoverer of galaxies, written c. 1750 (courtesy of Freeman Dyson):"In this great celestial creation, the catastrophe of a world such as ours, or even the total dissolution of a system of worlds, may possibly be no more to the great Author of Nature than the most common accident of life with us. And in all probability such final and general doomsdays may be as frequent there as even Birthdays or Mortality with us upon the Earth. This idea has something so Cheerful in it that I own I can never look upon the stars without wondering that the whole world does not become astronomers..."If this didn't influence MacLeod in writing Cosmonaut Keep -- well, it should have!Other readers see Poul Anderson influences in CK -- what I saw were David Brin touches, and explicit references to Hans Moravec who, come to think of it, was a major inspiration for the AI Wars in MacLeod's first four novels. And there's a welcome scattering of short quotes from Golden Age classics -- a nice touch for the well-read.Cosmonaut Keep is the first of a new series, "Engines of Light". Book #1 comes to an adequate resolution, with plenty of hooks to prime you for the next installment, Dark Light -- UK edition published in November 2001. MacLeod's writing just keeps getting better, and I'll happily put up with his hothouse politics to get to the amazing inventions in his spectacular new universe-playground. Highly recommended.And I should mention the wonderfully atmospheric cover art, by new-to-me artist Stephan Martiniere, of the Nova Babylonia trader starship landing at Kyohvic port, Mingulay. Bravo!Happy reading!Pete Tillman

Matt Cairns is in our near future, in the 21 Century when the European Space Agency makes first contact with aliens. Gregor Cairns is in our FAR future, is a exobiology student who must REDISCOVER the secrets of interstellar travel. The two stories have been woven together. The First Chapter starts off with Gregor, the Second with Matt and so on. The author is somewhat a tease, because right when something seems about to happen, right when some new piece of information is about to help answer an important question, he ends the chapter and starts a new one in the other story line!Don't worry, the book is full of cool stuff. Smart squids, starships, REAL dinosaurs, Area 51 (Dreamland), tiny Gods, flying saucers, spies, cyberpunk and more. YES, he likes to deal with politics, but it is part of the setting, not thrust into our faces. If you enjoy mystery, alien races (that turn out to be less than alien) and high-tech in your Sci-Fi, this is the book for you!

The first book in MacLeods Engines of Light series and the first thing that he has written since the Fall Revolution series.It's clear to see that MacLeod has had better time for planning before he started this series - the universe seems better structured and the foundation a lot more stable than it did in The Fall Revolution. MacLeod seems a lot more secures as he shows us glimpses of his universe.This book has two story lines. One telling the tale of how man found faster-than-light travel and one about a marine biologist (and his friends) on the planet of Mingled. And then there's the gods to connect them.MacLeod is better than ever in this book.Unfortunately he looses it a bit the sequel (Dark Light), but that's another story.