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The Cassini Division
At the beginning of the 24th century, the inner Solar System is dominated by the socialist Solar Union. Their front-line fighting force, the Cassini Division, defends against viral attacks from post-human Jovians and keeps careful watch on a wormhole. Ellen May Ngwethu, a member of the Division's Central Committee, travels to areas of Earth occupied by "non-cos", low-tech anarchists who still use such antiquated devices as money. Her goal is to find the physicist Malley, whose help is necessary to find a way through the wormhole. And after taking the losing side in a debate over whether to bomb the Jovians or to try to communicate with them, Ellen travels through the wormhole to ultra-capitalist New Mars.
After a slower opening, there largely to link back to earlier books set in the same universe, The Cassini Division rattles along at a good pace. It is not particularly compelling as a novel, however, with no characters that really come to life. Ellen has centre-stage throughout but remains something of a cipher, her dominant feature her dedication to "the true knowledge" on which the Solar Union was founded ("self interest") and her hostility to non-humans, both rooted in her personal history. And none of the other characters gets much play at all. Suze, for example, is a sociologist who joins Ellen early on in the story and has as high a profile in it as anyone else, but she could still have been trivially edited out.
The science is "space opera" style, deployed when necessary for the plot but otherwise passed over, and the intellectual interest comes from the politics. This takes the form of open discussions of political theory and depictions of different forms of social organisation in action, but it never becomes didactic or stodgy. MacLeod himself is a Trotskyist libertarian, a label which gives some feel for his eclecticism, and he depicts very different political systems working reasonably well -- though he often verges on parody. There are also plenty of little jokes, such as a statue of Mises in the Central Planning Committee building.
A significant factor is that aging has been stopped, so many people are centuries old and have political views formed in the 21st century. This makes the recurrence of current political ideologies three centuries down the road more plausible, but it is also a key stabilising factor. Whether in non-co areas of Earth, in the Solar Union, or on New Mars, to a great extent the system works because it's what people are accustomed to. And even the Jovian "fast folk", descendants of humans who moved into computers and experienced a kind of singularity, have some continuity with their past.
Overall? There's not much more to it, but The Cassini Division makes a decently entertaining action story, with plenty of ideas for anyone interested in political theory. I'm not going to rush off and buy Ken MacLeod's other books, but I'll keep an eye out for a chance to borrow them or scam review copies.
You can purchase the The Cassini Division from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
... is the clever use of nanotechnology. Ellen wears a smart suit composed of nanomachines that allow it to take any form. It even has a rudimentary intelligence.. at one point it morphs from a defensive suit of armor into a soft plushy comfortable garment suitable for lounging around a hi-tech spacecraft. Another highlight of the suit is a moment where Ellen blacks out and the suit forms microscopic tubules to inject oxygen directly into her system to keep her alive.
Brilliant!
There is a difference between anarchy and anarchism. Anarchy is chaos. Anarchism is removal of most law and government control. The idea is that you need little else besides contractual law.
Good sci-fi is so great, like any of the Culture series. I wish there were more good sci-fi movies too, but it seems that Hollywood is much more interested in "Science Fear", as opposed to sci-fi. Even our beloved Matrix is more about how tech is bad for people, than about freeing the storyline to explore other areas that aren't possible with today's tech.
... lucky for me, the public library is two blocks away!
It seems a lot easier to avoid "sci-fear" in text form though
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
By Pelligrino and Zebrowski
The best, scariest "hard science" fiction I've read.
It starts with earth and the human race getting wiped out. Then trouble really begins. Plus a whole new reason to hate Michael Jackson.
Learn it, Love it, Live it.
Beer, it's not just for breakfast anymore.
He doesn't really understand anarchism. What he uses is really trotskyism, yeah it looks kinda like anarchism, but it isn't.
His novels are interesting from a Political standpoint (Eric Flint being the only other significant Trotskyist author in SF today, and Flint's much less political in his writings). Unfortunately, he can't write a believable female character to save his life.
But Ken MacLeod is a must read, just for writing a believable communist society that isn't hell or a utopia. This is certainly a rarity in todays world (Not that I'd want to live in his 4th International society, but that's personal taste, I wouldn't want to live in one of L. Neil Smith's Libertarian pipedreams either.)
"You've got an invalid haircut" -Warren Zevon - Life'll Kill Ya
PS, I forgot - even if you don't like his politics, you have to give him credit for making Slashdot a part of one of his futures - middle of page 33, Chapter 2 in the UK paperback of Cosmonaut Keep if you're browsing in the bookshop.