The Cassini Division

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Posted by timothy on Friday June 20, 2003 @04:00AM from the first-summer-weekend dept.

danny writes "Friends have been recommending Ken MacLeod's science fiction to me for some time, and I've finally read The Cassini Division. Read on for my review - and check out my other science fiction reviews." Nothing says the start of summer like some paperback science fiction. The Cassini Division author Ken MacLeod pages 240 publisher Orbit rating 7 reviewer Danny Yee ISBN 1857237307 summary politics in the 24th century

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.

136 comments

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slashdot p(tr)oll by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:02 · Score: -1, Offtopic
which one of these is simoniker ?
- this guy
  or
- this one?
- they're the same guy
Well... by Gortbusters.org · 2003-06-20 04:03 · Score: 2, Funny

Nothing says the start of summer like some paperback science fiction.

I thought that comment was a little TOO geeky, but given the crazy rainy weather, I'd have to give some credit to it!

--
--------
Free your mind.
1. Re:Well... by falsification · 2003-06-20 04:05 · Score: 1
  
  I was going to say it's comments like that that keep bringing me back to Slashdot, wondering what could possibly be next.
404 And Life by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:04 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Pater was a young boy,
He had a heart of stone.
He had no money,
Worked his fingers to the bo-one!
Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 04:04 · Score: 5, Insightful

I love him simply because he understands anarchism. A rarity in any genre of literature these days. The Sky Road did an excellent job not only showing his ability to produce good hard SF but also his ability to understand the political issues that will be inherent in any future society.

--

./revolution
1. Re:Anarchism in his work. by haa...jesus+christ · 2003-06-20 04:16 · Score: 1
  
  i'll preface this by saying that my understanding of anarchism isn't too deep, but you might check out a short story or two (sorry, forget the names) by vernor vinge which touch on it.
2. Re:Anarchism in his work. by DNS-and-BIND · 2003-06-20 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Anarchism? Is it anything like Somalia, or Chechnya? Cause if it's not it ain't real anarchy.
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
3. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 04:23 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Oh please don't think I consider that too "deep". I don't. It is just rare unless you read fictional independent books. Rare in the way of anarchist fiction per say as a genre. You should check out V for Vendetta which was an interesting comic mini series which more than touches on it but in a very original and admittedly strange way. It is a good break from Kropotkin and Malatesta anyway.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
4. Re:Anarchism in his work. by RobotRunAmok · 2003-06-20 04:26 · Score: 1
  
  What is "Anarchism?" Is it "anarchy, out-of-time?" A pipe-bomb throwing Roman Legionnaire? Martian colonists storming the Terran Governor's palace with torches and pitchforks?
  
  Help me out here...
5. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Doom+Ihl'+Varia · 2003-06-20 04:26 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  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.
6. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 04:30 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  This is a long and pointless holy war. If you like I will call it libertarian socialism. I prefer to let the people who defined and lived the political movements of the past to dictate what they mean. A society "without leaders" (that is the original meaning) isn't necessarily chaotic, though it can be. Similar to the way a society with leaders can be chaotic or not (although most anarchists would argue any society with leaders is inherently chaotic). Have you read anything by Kropotkin/Prouhdon/Bakunin/Goldman/Rocker/Malatest a/Bookchin? I would recommend reading something by any of them if you are at all interested in history or politics.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
7. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 04:35 · Score: 1
  
  I'll give you the simple INTERWEB solution. www.infoshop.org. Read "The Anarchist FAQ", it isn't perfect but good enough. Having just typed that I also see the real meaning of your question. It is future history written that includes accurate portrayals of anarchist societies. Oh and storming anarchist martians burning down palaces would be bad ass.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
8. Re:Anarchism in his work. by RobotRunAmok · 2003-06-20 04:45 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  libertarian socialism
  
  That high-pitched keening sound you hear is Ayn Rand twirling about in her interment...
9. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Tackhead · 2003-06-20 04:59 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  > > libertarian socialism
  > That high-pitched keening sound you hear is Ayn Rand twirling about in her interment...
  So? Wrap a few thousand turns of Rearden Wire around 'er, and hey, now we know how Galt's Gulch was really powered!
  In the esoteric version of the novel (in which the Oath was a trap to trigger the generator's self-destruct mechanism by causing Rand to stop spinning), John Galt's biggest complaint about Gulch life was having to say "libertarian socialism" three times a day just to keep Ayn spun up fast enough to power the city.)
10. Re:Anarchism in his work. by TheCrazyFinn · 2003-06-20 05:08 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  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
11. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Sloppy · 2003-06-20 05:27 · Score: 1
  
  That's anarchanachronism. You know, where George Carlin walks out of a time-travelling phone booth, speaking seven unspeakable words, and John Locke, upon seeing this, says, "Whoa! The Social Contract is null and void."
  
  --
  As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
12. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 05:51 · Score: 1
  
  Jesus fucking christ someone finally gets it. Was avoiding that depth because I figured if I even said Trotsky everyone would knee-jerk on me like they have with "libertarian socialism". Anyway I agree completely.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
13. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 05:54 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  Yes, it is so hilarious. It is impossible for people to be economically equal and have little to no government. For instance, the spanish civil war which saw much of spain collectived under an anarcho-syndicalist union (the CNT) never happened. Just like every non western example of large scale communes that had an ardent history of libertarianism also never happened.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
14. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Ella+the+Cat · 2003-06-20 06:27 · Score: 1
  
  From my reading of his work, I think he's sympathetic to Trotskyism and friends of his who are Trotskyists, but he has issues with it now. So he tends to give it some credibility in the future he depicts, while advocating libertarianism. Note how sometimes the Trotskyists "go bad" from one character's viewpoint, eg Dave Reid, or they have to face up to losing their idealism when forced to make compromises for the greater good in an imperfect world.
15. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Ella+the+Cat · 2003-06-20 06:33 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  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.
16. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Ella+the+Cat · 2003-06-20 06:51 · Score: 1
  
  I agre about Ken. My candidate for best anarchist SF novel ever is Ursula K LeGuin's The Dispossessed. (Look at my website URL)
17. Re:Anarchism in his work. by riptalon · 2003-06-20 07:01 · Score: 1
  
  Anarchy is chaos
  
  No. Anarchy is no rulers. Chaos is "a lack of order". Obviously out esteemed masters would like us to believe that the whole world would cease to exist without them but logically the lack of a heirarchically structure does not have too mean no structure at all.
18. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  You are 100% correct. Thought I would be alone in any threads with this subject.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
19. Re:Anarchism in his work. by readpunk · 2003-06-20 07:43 · Score: 1
  
  Wow, glad to see I am not the only one who has read that book. It is my favorite as well. I think I need to read again about Shevek and his adventures. Strange how LeGuin also wrote those books about that tiny cat (forgot the name) for very little children.
  
  --
  
  ./revolution
20. Re:Anarchism in his work. by riptalon · 2003-06-20 07:48 · Score: 1
  
  Anarchism? Is it anything like Somalia, or Chechnya?
  
  No it is not like Somalia. Anarchy is no rulers ("No Gods, No Masters"). A load of warlords fighting over who gets to own the country sounds like rulers to me. One man robbing another at gun point or G. W. Bush, it is just a matter of scale, but the princple is the same. If you have hierarchical power relations based on force or the threat of force then it isn't anarchy. For future reference:
  
  Anarchy: No rulers or hierarchical social structures based on coersion. May be highly organised or totally chaotic, or anything in between, but any organisation involved is based on free agreement between equals.
  
  In cases like Somalia the word you are looking for is chaos. Since there is still vast amounts of hierarchical social structures and coersion involved it cannot, by definition, be anarchy.
  
  As an aside, on the topic of Somalia, it is worth noting that if all you know about it comes from Black Hawk Down you have be sadly misinformed. The political background portrayed in the flim is a total fiction and the makers go to great lengths to hide the truth. For instance they show Adid's militia armed with AK-47s when in reality they would mostly be armed with M16s since Somalia was a US client for the previous decade under the dictatorship of Siad Barre.
21. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Damek · 2003-06-20 07:59 · Score: 1
  
  Well, of course, as usual, human beings change their ideas over time. Someone can start out dyed-in-the-wool communist, then turn anarchist, then switch to libertarian, then green, then back to a hybrid libertarian socialist view... The possibilities for personal belief mutation are endless.
  
  For evidence of this you need look no further than Ken MacLeod's own blog, http://kenmacleod.blogspot.com/ - Down in the end of the June 17th entry he writes: "However, the expose did give me something to throw in the faces of Trots who called me names for hob-nobbing with libertarians, or for upholding positions unpopular on the present-day left that were considered left-wing back when I originally acquired them. I'd probably have remained a lot closer to the libertarians than to the socialists I now hang out with, if it hadn't been for a third touch of the tentacle."
  
  So he was socialist, but liked a lot of the libertarian ideas, but felt pressure from socialists over time to drop those ideas, and now is working with socialists again for apparently anti-commercial sentiments towards some libertarians...
  
  Anyway, true socialism is libertarian and anarchic to begin with.
22. Re:Anarchism in his work. by limber · 2003-06-20 08:09 · Score: 1
  
  Speaking as someone unschooled in the respective anarchist, socialist, libertarian, communist dogmas, I found all of the political stuff in the other three Macleod books a painful muddle to get through.
  
  I enjoyed *The Cassini Division* because at least it went to the end-game and spelled out the 'what if' implications. In the other novels I simply wasn't interested in listening to various associates of Dave Reid argue about politics, or conspire to bring about whatever counter-counter-counter-revolution they were involved in.
23. Re:Anarchism in his work. by DNS-and-BIND · 2003-06-20 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  Somalia *is* anarchy in action. Why is it, every time an actual anarchy appears, college-educated people point to it and say, oh, but that's not an anarchy
  
  --
  Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
24. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Ella+the+Cat · 2003-06-20 08:48 · Score: 1
  
  tee hee (a hint to any moderators)
25. Re:Anarchism in his work. by Jobby · 2003-06-20 14:41 · Score: 1
  
  Speaking as someone unschooled in the respective anarchist, socialist, libertarian, communist dogmas, I found all of the political stuff in the other three Macleod books a painful muddle to get through.
  
  I'm in total agreement with you here - although there were some lovely hard sci-fi concepts and ideas, all the political stuff completely ruined it for me. I don't think anyone has mentioned Alastair Reynolds yet. He's a stunning space opera writer, although I think that's a little restrictive. Start with Revelation Space: fantastic characters, inventive technologies and the end is completely mind-blowing. It just gets better with the sequel, Redemption Ark and with the final part of the trilogy, Absolution Gap, out in October what better time to start reading?
I beg to differ.... by tha_mink · 2003-06-20 04:05 · Score: 5, Funny

Nothing says the start of summer like some paperback science fiction.

A two piece bikini says it much better than a paperback baby.

--
You'll have that sometimes...
1. Re:I beg to differ.... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:27 · Score: 0
  
  as opposed to the one-piece model.
2. Re:I beg to differ.... by DataPath · 2003-06-20 04:30 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  at the right beaches a *ahem* one-piece bikini says it better
  
  --
  Inconceivable!
3. Re:I beg to differ.... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:38 · Score: 0
  
  A two piece bikini says it much better than a paperback baby.
  There's a Cowboy Neal joke in here someplace, I just know there is...
4. Re:I beg to differ.... by mdielmann · 2003-06-20 05:10 · Score: 1
  
  But since most geeks won't see those, either by not leaving their basements or from the beaches clearing when they do, we'll have to stick with the paperback sci-fi as the measure that a geek can observe...
  
  --
  Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
5. Re:I beg to differ.... by TeknoHog · 2003-06-20 05:16 · Score: 1
  
  I prefer the zero-piece bikini.
  
  --
  Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
6. Re:I beg to differ.... by JWCoder · 2003-06-20 12:18 · Score: 0
  
  Paperback baby...
  
  I don't think I want one of those... That sounds disgusting. The beginning of summer sounds more like this to me:
  
  Baby back,
  
  Baby back,
  
  Baby back ribs.
7. Re:I beg to differ.... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-21 02:09 · Score: 0
  
  Wouldn't that be a nokini ?
8. Re:I beg to differ.... by DataCannibal · 2003-06-23 00:32 · Score: 1
  
  A two piece bikini says it much better than a paperback baby
  
  Round here it's a one-piece bikini. Are you jealous ?
  
  --
  No but, yeah but, no but...
Woot! by Eric+Ass+Raymond · 2003-06-20 04:06 · Score: -1, Offtopic

AESP SFTP CAT.5 100MHz 26AWGx4P PATCH TYPE CM (UL) C (UL)

--
BOO! TERRO
I love Source Mage by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:08 · Score: -1, Offtopic

I reversed the keys on my keyboard so that the top row now says poiuytrewq instead of qwertyuiop. No one really knows why I did this, but I've done it and there's nothing anyone can do about it. it's not really all that hard to type on if you're a touch typist. it helps if you don't pay attention to the keys. You should try it and see what your coworkers/SO says about it. It makes the keys more interesting and when the helpdesk people come out to fix your computer they cannot, and they tell you you should reboot your computer because the keys on the keyboard are backwards. Now I think I'm going to rave about my linux distribution. love Source Mage so much I don't want to sleep I just want to play with sorcery and cast and dispel and resurrect and compile and install and compile and optimise and optimize and optimise and optionally depend on caffeine and eat nothing but sorcery but mummy said caffeine is bad but I think she just wants my caffeine and I'm awake now and I can't sleep and I need sleep and I can't sleep and I think I've used the word and too much and I just did it again and I just did it again and again and again and I don't think this makes much sense but I can't stop because I can't sleep and I can't sleep because I can't stop and need sleep and I love sorcery and I need sleep and I love sorcery and I need sleep and I love sorcery and I need sleep and I love sorcery and I need sleep and I love sorcery and I need sleep and I don't think I can sleep now and I don't think I can ever sleep again I'll just stay here in front of my computer and hack sorcery and slowly quietly go insane but it doesn't matter because I love Source Mage and I don't care and I really need sleep but I haven't been outside today I don't know what its like outside I've never been outside but thats okay because I have sorcery to keep me company sorcery and the world wide web and its much better in here because in here is world wide and out there is just closed minded automatons who don't understand the power of sorcery and I need sleep and people tell me I need sleep but I don't believe them I think they're just trying to get me vulnerable and I can't sleep or they will come for me and take me and take me away and hurt me and I don't like those people because they're not real people the only people I know I know are real I know through my computer my computer tells me who is real and if you don't have a public key how can i tell you are you what do you mean you don't have a pgp key you must have a pgp key everyone I know who I know is real has a public key you are not real you are not real you can't be real you can't be a real person without an email address and I can't trust you because I can't verify your identity and I don't know you who are you you are an impostor you are not my friend I don't know you all my friends have pgp keys and you are not a pgp key and I can't verify your fingerprint and you wont encrypt your speech and I can't trust you I can't trust anyone any more I can't trust anyone except sorcery sorcery is my friend sorcery knows all and sorcery is cool and sorcery does everything and I love sorcery and I love Source Mage and I need sleep and I love Source Mage and I love sleep and I need Source Mage ande I need Source Mage.
Sad news :( LZW Patent, dead at 20 by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:09 · Score: -1, Offtopic

I just heard some sad news on talk radio - LZW patent US4,558,302 was found expired in its patent office filing cabinet this morning. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the internet community will miss it - even if you didn't enjoy the litigation, there's no denying its contribution to bandwidth conservation. Truly a compression icon.
mod up +5 FUNnY by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:10 · Score: -1, Offtopic

My ASS has a cASSinni division - you can see my black hole in there, too.
WTF? by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:11 · Score: -1

Nothing says the start of summer like paperback science fiction??? WTF? Dude... try getting some sun.
The ONLY scifi you'll ever need: by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:12 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Linux on every desktop!
Just Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:12 · Score: -1

a Beowulf cluster of these!

No? How about: Natalie Portman! Hot grits!

No? How about: In Soviet Russia, book reads YOU!

No? How about: Cowboyneal reads paperbacks on the toilet.

No? How about...
1. Re:Just Imagine... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:18 · Score: -1
  
  Petrified Natalie Portman pours hot grits down her pants onto a beowulf cluster in Soviet Russia that plays Ogg Vorbis for CowboyNeal.
FREE HARRY POTTER by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:13 · Score: -1

That is all.
1. Re:FREE HARRY POTTER by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:19 · Score: -1, Troll
  
  harry potter book available online, brought to you by ur favourite warez group... XC-TOD-ESTAOG!
  
  heres the ebook link
  
  Sincerely, Scott Lockwood
2. Re:FREE HARRY POTTER by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 08:05 · Score: 0
  
  Hang on. This could only have been scanned from that shipment of books that went missing in the UK. Is this the real deal?
3. Re:FREE HARRY POTTER by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 09:25 · Score: 0
  
  yes
The summer IS science fiction here… by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:14 · Score: 0

â¦in Philly. Iâ(TM)m thinking weâ(TM)re in that story in Illustrated Man with the planet that drove people mad from the constant rain.
How about ... by burgburgburg · 2003-06-20 04:16 · Score: 1

Memorial Day?
Heat?
Rain?(this year)
Tank tops/short shorts? (Women in ..)
White shoes?(for those sartorially challenged)
Heat? (It deserves at least one other mention with Global Warming)
Mosqitos/West Nile?(Something has to fill our post-SARS days with dread)
1. Re:How about ... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 05:28 · Score: 0
  
  Global Warming is a myth.
  
  That is all.
Aw, c'mon. by Faust7 · 2003-06-20 04:16 · Score: 4, Funny

I thought that comment was a little TOO geeky,

There's no such thing as too geeky. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go polish my Star Trek figurines, attend to my X-Wing model, review my anime collection, dust my wallscrolls, order an Alienware case, muse over Kerouac, check the Slashdot front page again, write a new Linux text editor, submit an Amazon review for the latest Babylon 5 novel, put a P4 motherboard in a Commodore case, make a particle accelerator out of coffee grounds and tin foil, and post to sci.math and alt.tv.x-files. And recompile my kernel.

--
The coolest voice ever.
1. Re:Aw, c'mon. by 222 · 2003-06-20 04:56 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  You havent built robots to do all of this for you? phhht.
2. Re:Aw, c'mon. by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 06:23 · Score: 0
  
  The sad thing is, after your 'funny' comment, I had to go search Amazon and see if there really was a new B5 novel.
3. Re:Aw, c'mon. by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 09:22 · Score: 0
  
  Ha ha ha! That rocks!
Screwed up seasons by shplorb · 2003-06-20 04:18 · Score: 1

Nothing says the start of summer like some paperback science fiction.

And nothing says the middle of winter like burning some paperback science fiction for warmth.
The best part of this book... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:18 · Score: 4, Interesting

... 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!
1. Re:The best part of this book... by rjforster · 2003-06-20 04:48 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  I remember she was at a party and fed the suit. Was it a wine glass she gave to the 'monkey' perched on her shoulder that was all part of the suit? That was cool.
  
  Anyway, I only read about a quarter of it before I got bored.
  
  Not a patch on the Hyperion cantos by Dan Simmons.
Eh? by Faust7 · 2003-06-20 04:19 · Score: 1, Funny

What's a bikini? Does it have something to do with girls?

--
The coolest voice ever.
1. Re:Eh? by TopShelf · 2003-06-20 04:38 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  no, it's an island that you blow up with test nukes. That's why it's in two pieces...
  
  --
  Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
Skyshadow's Summer Reading Recommendations: by Skyshadow · 2003-06-20 04:19 · Score: 4, Informative

While you're out buying the new Harry Potter (stop pretending it's for your nonexistant cousin, loser), I highly recommend picking up:
Jennifer Government by Max Barry.
Very near-future society where multinationals have been carried to their logical conclusion. Funny, interesting and thought provoking and highly reminiscent of Neal Stephenson's earlier work (in a good way).
A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.
Entertaining story along with two extremely interesting concepts: the intragalactic usenet and well-executed small group-minded aliens. If you like it, A Deepness in the Sky by the same author is a definate next stop. Vinge reminds me a lot of Larry Niven, again in a good way.
Harry Potter
Just go ahead and buy it -- you know you want to. Don't let the disapproving looks from the book snob working the checkout counter at Borders deter you -- they're working at Borders, few chrissake, who are they to criticise? A little fluff reading never hurt anyone.
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
A lot of people are crazy about American Gods, and I agree it's a good read. However, Neil Gaiman's real strongpoint is his short stories, of which this is a collection. "Murder Mysteries", "Only the End of the World Again" and "Don't Ask Jack" are my personal favorites, although there's really good stuff throughout.

--
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
1. Re:Skyshadow's Summer Reading Recommendations: by vjmurphy · 2003-06-20 04:49 · Score: 1
  
  "Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
  A lot of people are crazy about American Gods, and I agree it's a good read. However, Neil Gaiman's real strongpoint is his short stories, of which this is a collection. "Murder Mysteries", "Only the End of the World Again" and "Don't Ask Jack" are my personal favorites, although there's really good stuff throughout."
  
  Better yet, pick up some of his Sandman trade paperbacks. Now that's geeky!
  
  --
  Vincent J. Murphy
  Spandex Justice
2. Re:Skyshadow's Summer Reading Recommendations: by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:53 · Score: 0
  
  Very nice, thanks for the recommendations.
  
  I'll definately check them out tomorrow while at Chapters to pick up the Potter book.
  
  AC and proud of it!
3. Re:Skyshadow's Summer Reading Recommendations: by olman · 2003-06-20 20:42 · Score: 1
  
  A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge.
  Entertaining story along with two extremely interesting concepts: the intragalactic usenet and well-executed small group-minded aliens. If you like it, A Deepness in the Sky by the same author is a definate next stop. Vinge reminds me a lot of Larry Niven, again in a good way.
  
  Yeah, it's fairly nice. Compares favorably to Niven's stuff, imo. No bolt-on-sex-scene-per-book to start with.. The concept of everything getting more stupid the closer you get into galactic center is fairly amusing. Along with sentient IP packets, apparently they did not filter for evil bit..
Engines of Light by cruachan · 2003-06-20 04:19 · Score: 1

The last book of the newer "Engines of Light" trilogy was recently published too (http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnI nquiry.asp?userid=69Y7O3S8XC&isbn=0765340739&itm=1 ). Similar themes in many ways, but the idea of a neo-communist Euro-Russian ressurgance explored in more detail. MacLeod is interesting, in that like Ian Banks (also Scottish incidently) he sees the future as deepest red - and all the better for that too.
Unless.... by Angry+White+Guy · 2003-06-20 04:20 · Score: 1

The title of the book is 'The Start of Summer'.

But other than that, I'd have to agree with you.

--
You think that I'm crazy, you should see this guy!
Not bad by ender- · 2003-06-20 04:21 · Score: 1

I read the book, and enjoyed it though it didn't blow me away. I did like the political/social aspects of it. Even to the point where I've been trying to figure out what my political/economic views are since I really think the direction the US is taking these days is horrible.

Ender

--
Nothing to see here
1. Re:Not bad by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 07:05 · Score: 0
  
  I know it's bad for to comment on sigs, but yes, I do like soggy frosted flakes. Why do you ask?
Previous works... by Dinosaur+Neil · 2003-06-20 04:24 · Score: 4, Informative

I think this reviewer is missing out; reading this book by itself is kinda like watching Return of the Jedi without have seen the two previous parts. MacLeod's first work, The Star Fraction, is a good prequel (now available in the US), but to really grasp the setup for The Cassini Division, it is very helpful to read The Stone Canal first. (The Sky Road is a sequel to The Stone Canal as well, but the world described is mutually exlusive with The Cassini Division)

Personally, I've enjoyed all of MacLeod's works (including the trilogy in progess that starts with Cosmonaut Keep). Part of that is the well paced/structured stories, the intriguing look at tech and/or politics, and especially the low-key humor that he works in. In The Cassini Division, the story is peopled with ber-socialists; guess what the euphemism, "Go employ yourself!" refers to...

--
"I'm a scientist! I don't think, I observe!" - Dr. Clayton Forrester
1. Re:Previous works... by Philmeeh · 2003-06-20 05:55 · Score: 1
  
  The Cassinni Division and the Sky Road are set in the same 'world'. At the start Cassinni Division Jon Wilde is in a conversation with some of the Earth residents and is surprised that everybody follows the philosophies of a mystery friend. The Sky Road is about the Deliverance where Jon Wilde's lover Myra is revered as a great philospher. Wish he would go back to that universe and describe the events between the Sky Road and the Cassinni Division, but it looks as though he is working on a standalone called Newtons Wake
2. Re:Previous works... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 06:18 · Score: 0
  
  The Engines of Light series is absolutely amazing. I'm sneaking out at lunch to the bookstore every day to read the third one (name escapes me). Well worth your time.
3. Re:Previous works... by Dinosaur+Neil · 2003-06-20 09:34 · Score: 1
  
  The Cassinni Division and the Sky Road are set in the same 'world'.
  
  In the "introduction to the American Edition" for The Star Fraction, MacLeod states, "The four books can be read in any order, and the last two of them present alternative possible futures emerging from that mid twenty-first-century world I imagined at the beginning." In The Sky Road, terrestrial space travel had stopped for over a century after the "revolution", while it had continued for that time in The Cassini Division. Remember that the "tinkers" were the pariahs in the former, while it was the "non-cos" in the latter...
  
  I actually did read them "in any order" (basically reverse) the first time, but I think they work better in sequence...
  
  --
  "I'm a scientist! I don't think, I observe!" - Dr. Clayton Forrester
MacLeod's Weblog by Bogatyr · 2003-06-20 04:28 · Score: 4, Informative

Ken MacLeod keeps an active weblog at

http://kenmacleod.blogspot.com/
Good sci fi by anagama · 2003-06-20 04:31 · Score: 3, Interesting

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.

It seems a lot easier to avoid "sci-fear" in text form though ... lucky for me, the public library is two blocks away!

--
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
1. Re:Good sci fi by Skyshadow · 2003-06-20 04:35 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  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.
  If Reloaded had any deeper meaning at all, I think it was that humans and technology need each other, not that tech is bad. If you want a real "tech is no good" attitude, Fight Club might be a better example...
  "In the world I see -- you're stalking elk through the damp canyon forests around the ruins of Rockefeller Center. You will wear leather clothes that last you the rest of your life. You will climb the wrist- thick kudzu vines that wrap the Sears Tower. You will see tiny figures pounding corn and laying-strips of venison on the empty car pool lane of the ruins of a superhighway."
  
  --
  Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
2. Re:Good sci fi by Consul · 2003-06-20 05:25 · Score: 1
  
  Funny this would come up, because as an aspiring indie filmmaker, I was seriously looking into what it would take to make good science fiction movies, and whether or not they would sell. Right now, all I need to do is actually get off my lazy bum and start writing, planning, casting, shooting, and all that fun stuff. Special effects remain the single hardest part, but this is not an unsurmountable hurdle.
  
  So how about it? Would you buy science fiction films if they could be made as good as literary SF?
  
  --
  -----
  
  "You spilled my egg... I needed that egg."
3. Re:Good sci fi by anagama · 2003-06-20 09:07 · Score: 1
  
  I would and do buy movies. However, I buy only the ones I can watch over and over - Brazil, Seven Samurai, things like that. I watch these 1 - 2 times a year. Personally, I wish you good luck on your project. There are definitely not enough good sci-fi movies, and way too many of the "Invasion of the Body Snatching Evil Computer Mechanoid Alien Terminator Clones" type of movies out there.
  
  Can I plug Ian M. Banks' Culture series again for adaptation?? ;-)
  
  --
  What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
The Killing Star by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:33 · Score: 1, Interesting

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.
1. Re:The Killing Star by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 05:17 · Score: 0
  
  I can't find it on Amazon.
  Ergo: it doesn't exist and you just made it up because you are a psycho who has nothing better to do all day than think up fictional fiction and post about it to Slashdot in a desperate cry for attention because the girl next door ignores you and doesn't know that you fantasize about her when you masterbate, which is doubly-depressing because you're not even good at it enough to please yourself, probably because you are an insensitive clod who can't appreciate how hard you try to please yourself and maybe you would loosen up if only you would get out and enjoy life and read a book, and I mean a real book, not a made-up one that I can't find on Amazon.
2. Re:The Killing Star by nlper · 2003-06-20 10:43 · Score: 1
  
  At the risk of feeding a troll, might I suggest a visit to Google or your local library for books that have gone out of print?
  Both MacLeod's oeuvre (word for the day) and The Killing Star were easily found in my local library's online catalog -- guess where I'm headed after logging off Slashdot?
  Tyler
YOU ARE ALL POLESMOKING ASSHALFS by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:34 · Score: -1, Offtopic

STOP SMOKING THAT POLE, TAKE THE MANHAM OUT OF YOUR BUTTSANDWICH AND WASH THE SPERM OUT OF YOU MOUTH OK SLASHFAGS.

Important Stuff:
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Socialist Solar Union by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:35 · Score: 0

Is that like the Socialist European Union?
Come to think of it by Faust7 · 2003-06-20 04:35 · Score: 3, Funny

I should tell those hot girls next door to keep it down, too.

--
The coolest voice ever.
Anything will get posted on Slashdot these days by Dr_LHA · 2003-06-20 04:38 · Score: 0, Troll

Isn't Slashdot a News site? There must be things better to publish than a review of a 5 year old Sci-Fi novel that apparently is not that great. Did the author of this piece really feel that his review was that necessary? How about me reviewing "The Matrix" for Slashdot for tomorrow.

I can understand if the author thought that this book was an excellent overlooked novel that all Slashdot readers should pick up. But really - what's the motivation behind this story and why on earth did the Slashdot editors believe it worthy for the front page?
1. Re:Anything will get posted on Slashdot these days by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:50 · Score: 0
  
  Anything will get posted on Slashdot these days
  
  Except timely postings of what's happening in the surrealistic, but all-important SCO lawsuit.
  
  It's already 12:50PM EDT on Friday 20-JUN-2003 and we still haven't heard any news yet today about whether or not SCO's injunction against IBM is going to be granted of thrown out of court.
Re:Matrix review by og_sh0x · 2003-06-20 04:45 · Score: 1

Ok, but no spoilers please, I'm still waiting for the LaserDisc version.
Grimwood by mydigitalself · 2003-06-20 04:49 · Score: 1

Ok, speaking of just discovering things; I've read every Gibson - his concepts are great, but I find his language appauling (grammar errors, spelling errors, concorde errors); although his new book Pattern Recognition has done a lot for the latter - although I did find it a little "empty".

Anyway, I read Gibson, Banks, Stephenson, Sterling etc.... and have just discovered Grimwood's Arabesk series and am nearly through the first one. WOW is all I can say. The review on the back of the book "Science fiction so trendy, you can wear it" says it all.

I can thoroughly recommend picking them up this summer.
1. Re:Grimwood by mydigitalself · 2003-06-20 04:52 · Score: 1
  
  forgot the "I am not a best-selling author so don't mock my spelling/grammar etc..." disclaimer ;)
2. Re:Grimwood by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 05:24 · Score: 0
  
  his concepts are great, but I find his language appauling
  
  You are in no position to criticize.
3. Re:Grimwood by psylent · 2003-06-20 05:34 · Score: 1
  
  / but I find his language appauling /
  you really meant appalling didn't you?
  Appalling: To fill with consternation or dismay [Middle English apallen, to grow faint, from Old French apalir : a-, to (from Latin ad-. See ad-) + palir, to grow pale (from pale, pale, from Latin pallidus, from pallre, to grow pale. See pel-1 in Indo-European Roots).]
Fight Club by Ender+Ryan · 2003-06-20 04:50 · Score: 1

I think you are misunderstanding Fight Club. Fight Club is more about consumerism, and how ridiculous it's getting, which is expressed through the main character(who was never given a name, but we'll call him Jack).
At the end of the movie, Jack says to Tyler, "My eyes are open." Ie. He knows what was wrong with himself, but Tyler was going to far.
Anyway, that's my take on it.

--
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
1. Re:Fight Club by Skyshadow · 2003-06-20 05:05 · Score: 1
  
  I think you are misunderstanding Fight Club. Fight Club is more about consumerism, and how ridiculous it's getting, which is expressed through the main character
  No, I agree. I suppose I was pointing to Tyler's attitude as a good example of the attitude the original poster was accusing the Matrix series of taking.
  For what it's worth, I also don't think that Fight Club was just about consumerism (although the term "Ikea nesting instinct" struck me close to home). I look at the book as two sections, one flowing into the other as fight club transitions into Project Mayhem. The initial Fight Club portion had some interesting things to say about the diminishing nature of manhood. It points out, and I agree, that the pendulum of society has swung too far towards a classically "woman" oriented society (and I use "woman" for lack of a better term here) which suppresses a lot of the things that Men naturally do and are good at.
  The idea that I took away from that is that there's not necessarily anything wrong with fighting, that society's relentless push to get us to "work out our problems" is in many respects a supression of the natural way things work, and that leads us to the point where we find outselves living a third of our lives in a 8x8' cubicle staring at a CRT, and that this is not necessarily progress in any sense of the work except the one that society has locked us into assuming.
  Anyhow, you're right: Fight Club does have some good stuff to say about consumerism (ask yourself if "the things you own end up owning you" applies to your life). In that vein, since we're talking about summer reading, I would suggest that anyone who hasn't read American Psycho by Bret Ellis do so immediately -- I look A.P.and F.C. as essential to the understanding of each other.
  
  --
  Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
2. Re:Fight Club by Ender+Ryan · 2003-06-20 06:02 · Score: 1
  
  Thank you, that was a very well thought out post. I'll pick up a copy of A.P. to read this summer, although the season makes little difference to me.
  I thought Fight Club raised some excellent points regarding rampant consumerism, as I have seen my share of people who's posessions are actually making them less happy, ie. owning them.
  Anyway, my compile is finished, back to work... in my 8x8' cubicle :)
  
  --
  Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
3. Re:Fight Club by Saint+Aardvark · 2003-06-21 05:12 · Score: 1
  
  Mmm...actually, Fight Club struck me more as a satire of the belief that "the pendulum has swung too far". (And also of the belief that there's a secret They who control everything, but that's not really germane right now.)
  
  --
  Carousel is a lie!
Turned-off by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 04:50 · Score: 0

I was turned off right away as soon as I read the name "Solar Union". This guy is obviously obsessed with the times of Communism, and obviously has his politics and science-fiction mangled up.
Inane by easter1916 · 2003-06-20 04:54 · Score: 1

Nothing says the start of summer like some paperback science fiction.
This is the latest in a long line of inanities from Timothy.
Or not by Exiler · 2003-06-20 04:59 · Score: 1

Could you please explain what place currency has in an anarchy driven society?

--
Banaaaana!
1. Re:Or not by riptalon · 2003-06-20 09:49 · Score: 1
  
  Could you please explain what place currency has in an anarchy driven society?
  
  None. However Ken McLeod's books deal with many different political systems and mixtures thereof, not just anarchism. Things are also confused by the fact that there are many people today that call themselves anarchists, but are not. There are some people (mostly americans) who describe themselves as anarcho-capitalists, but the anarcho bit of it is at best an affectation and often just delusional. The state and capitalism are two sides of the same coin.
  
  However due to the tension between capitalists who want to crush the workers (conservatives) and those that want to buy the workers off with a few scraps (liberals), it has become fashionable for conservatives to critise the state. Some people (not the real capitalists that own most of the world) have taken this critisism out of context (social welfare etc.) and advocate the capitalism without most or all of the state. These people are called "libertarians" in the US. In reality capitalism could not exist without the state but this hardly matters since the main purpose of "libertarians" appears to be to stalking horses for conservatives. Anarcho-capitalists are just rather extreme "libertarians".
  
  Money itself is best viewed as a routing mechanism analogous to IP in the internet. You could destroy all the money on Earth (very easy since most money has no physical form but is just numbers in bank computers) and it would have no effect effect on the amount of resources available. However what it would seriously effect is the ability of the people who previously had all that money to route resources as they desired. In an anarchist society since there are no elite to which the majority of the societies resources must be routed there is no need for money.
Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan by R3 · 2003-06-20 05:05 · Score: 1

Just about to finish it, and it is one wild book. Combine good old detective Raymond Chandler stories with Neil Stephenson and you'll get the idea.
Highly recommended!
(Added The Cassini Division to the list to check out)
What do you do by k1llt1me · 2003-06-20 05:05 · Score: 1

in your spare time?
What a loser! (was Re:Aw, c'mon.) by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 05:08 · Score: 0

You have to recompile your kernel???
In case of slashdotting by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 05:18 · Score: -1, Redundant

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 Malda, whose help is necessary to find a way through the cornhole. 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 Peruvian "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 boobs, but I'll keep an eye out for a chance to borrow them or scam review copies.
1. Re:In case of slashdotting by Daetrin · 2003-06-20 05:31 · Score: 1
  
  In case the slashdot post in case the slashdot article gets slashdotted gets slashdotted:
  At the beginning of the 24th century... oh fuck it, nevermind.
  
  --
  This Space Intentionally Left Blank
Re:Matrix review by Dr_LHA · 2003-06-20 05:20 · Score: 1

OK, but no spoilers...

We're all coppertops.

Sorry if I ruined it for you.

Oh and I suggest you don't watch the film at all. It'll make you all excited about the sequel and that's just going to piss you off. I also suggest not watching Star Wars.
More MacLeod reviews by tcdk · 2003-06-20 05:23 · Score: 1

[shameless plug on]
I've review everything MacLeod has written:

http://sfbook.com/modules.php?authorid=30
[All done...]

--
TC - My Photos..
Cassini Oval? by termos · 2003-06-20 05:27 · Score: 1

I couldn't help noticing, but does this have something to do with the object "Cassini Oval"?

--
Note to self: get smarter troll to guard door.
Oof by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 05:50 · Score: 0

I think of 2001 and the fact, as much I did enjoy reading the book, the movie was too boring.

In movies you have two hours to get the story done, a luxury that books have. In a book you can develop characters in much greater detail.

Do XXX movies instead?
Not at slashdot, it doesn't by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 06:01 · Score: 0

Michael wears them all the time.
That's odd... by Idarubicin · 2003-06-20 06:04 · Score: 1

...We're 84 comments in to a discussion about science fiction, and nobody has mentioned Ender's Game or Orson Scott Card.
Is this still Slashdot?

--
~Idarubicin
1. Re:That's odd... by Anonymous Coward · 2003-06-20 07:10 · Score: 0
  
  and on the reading list for USMC NCOs and junior zeros...
Political SF: another suggestion by aequivoca · 2003-06-20 06:06 · Score: 2, Insightful

I find Ken MacLeod interesting, but for really well-written political SF, you can't beat Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars Trilogy. He really fleshes out his ideas, taking them to their logical conclusion and beyond without ever seeming implausible. And his writing is beautiful, where MacLeod's is merely functional.
1. Re:Political SF: another suggestion by Ella+the+Cat · 2003-06-20 06:41 · Score: 1
  
  his writing is beautiful, where MacLeod's is merely functional.
  
  regolith regolith regolith regolith regolith regolith regolith regolith regolith regolith ???
Good Book -- Led me to read other's of his by Nom+du+Keyboard · 2003-06-20 06:17 · Score: 2, Insightful

I really like The Cassini Division. It got me to read more of Ken MacLeod's books, which I have also enjoyed almost as much.
My take on him is that he writes a lot of words and progresses slowly with great detail. It reminds me a lot of David Brin's novel-length writings in this regard.
Conclusion: He is worth bringing to the attention of /. readers who haven't already heard of him, and The Cassini Division is definitely one of his best so far.

--
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Reality Dysfunction: Space opera at its best... by RevAaron · 2003-06-20 06:39 · Score: 2, Informative

For those looking for some books to read this summer, check out Peter Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" "trilogy." In paperback, its actually 6 books- The Reality Dysfunction (Parts 1 and 2), the Neutronium Alchemist (Pts 1 and 2), and the Naked God (parts 1 and 2). The series probably totals about 4000 pages in paperback, and is really just one huge book. It'd do someone little good to read the first and give up.

However, do not be dismayed- it may be a huge read, but it is worth it. Hamilton's universe is vast and very detailed; a million subplots that aren't just filler.

It takes place in the 27th century; humanity is basically divided into two camps- Adamists and Edenists. Adamists are what most folks would think of as the natural progression of today's society; and Edenists are a group of commies that have a form of genetically-engineered telepathy (called "affinity") and rely on organic technology. Humanity really only knows of two other sentient species other than themselves. It sounded cheesy to me at first, but it is an amazing series. I only finished it 6 months ago, and I'm having to stop myself from reading it again...

--

Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
1. Re:Reality Dysfunction: Space opera at its best... by SysKoll · 2003-06-20 12:46 · Score: 1
  
  I disagree. I read the whole series. The end is a huge disappointment.
  Make no mistakes, the book has some of the coolest augmented reality and artificial beings that I have ever seen. But it has a major flaw. After spending 4000 pages describing how worthless religions are, the author, having painted himself into a corner, now has to use the oldest, dirtiest tricks of all suspense books:...
  a deus ex machina.
  in other words, Hamilton throws a genuine miracle in order to save a helpless situation, a trick that is about as highly regarded as the "it was just a dream" surprise ending. Most publishers beat authors into a pulp when they caught them doing that, and for a good reason: The reader cannot help but feel cheated.
  So you can read the novel to wow at the cool technology depiction, but be warned that the end is a total let-down.
  Me, I was so infuriated that I'll never buy another Hamilton book.
  -- SysKoll
  
  --
  --
  Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
2. Re:Reality Dysfunction: Space opera at its best... by RevAaron · 2003-06-21 08:18 · Score: 1
  
  With a book series so huge, there has to be a lot more worth while throughout 4000 pages than the ending. I agree that the ending was a bit weak- and abrupt. I think there area lot more things that could've been done, but I had derived so much enjoyment out rest of the book that I didn't feel jacked because something more flashy didn't happen in the end.
  
  --
  
  Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Re:Not bad [OT] by ender- · 2003-06-20 07:10 · Score: 1

I know it's bad for to comment on sigs, but yes, I do like soggy frosted flakes. Why do you ask?

It's just a random statement. There is a story behind it. I guess I will make a journal entry regarding it....

--
Nothing to see here
This Just In - Ken MacLeod - dead by dbretton · 2003-06-20 07:41 · Score: 1

Ken MacLeod, famous fiction writer, was found dead at in his home this morning.
He had been decapitated whilst sitting at his computer, working on his latest sci-fi novel.

Witnesses state seeing unusual electrical activity in the vicinity of his home the morning of the incident.

Police are currently looking for a "long-haired, sword-wielding hottie" in a trenchcoat.
1. Re:This Just In - Ken MacLeod - dead by FenderGeek · 2003-06-20 08:20 · Score: 1
  
  I think I saw someone else skulking around there. He was an Egyptian with a Spanish sounding name and a Scottish accent, who seemed to vaguely resemble James Bond.
  
  Er, sorry. Wrong MacLeod.
  
  Coincidentally, I happen to belong to the MacLeod clan, but I seem to have lost my sword somewhere...
  
  --
  One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duck tape to make them stop. ~G.M. Weilacher
Re:Matrix review by TaliesinWI · 2003-06-20 07:47 · Score: 1

Won't be much of a wait, considering it came out the same day the DVD did - I own a copy. Probably one of the last, if not THE last, major movie pressed in that format.
I read this book just last year, but... by budalite · 2003-06-20 07:50 · Score: 1

I can't seem remember a thing about it. Must be a forgettable book. He has a few good ideas, but His other books are pretty forgettable, too.
Sorry . No much out there worth buying these days.
cubicle envy by Damek · 2003-06-20 08:14 · Score: 2, Funny

You guys have 8x8' cubicles? Wow! I wish I could get one that big; mine's only about 5x5' - if only I had a bigger one, I'd be happy!
Oh, it's a book review... by M$+Mole · 2003-06-20 08:42 · Score: 1

When I first looked at the title I thought this was about that group at M$ that wrote the Cassini web server.

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Karma: Non-existant. Due mostly to the fact that you smell funny and nobody likes you.
Vernor Vinge is so dated... by hughk · 2003-06-20 09:28 · Score: 1

His stuff was written some time ago, before Spammers discovered the Usenet. More recently the discussion groups and the intelligences would have been more concerned about multi-species herbal viagra.
Actually, I do agree he is a good read.

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See my journal, I write things there
Gibson's grammar by alienmole · 2003-06-20 09:54 · Score: 2, Informative

I've read every Gibson - his concepts are great, but I find his language appauling (grammar errors, spelling errors, concorde errors);
Hmm, I suspect as far as the grammar and concord errors go, you're talking about Gibson's writing style, which is deliberate - the kind of thing you can learn if you study creative writing at university and you get very, very good at it.
There are quite a few literarily-admired non-SF authors who write in some variation on this style. One that comes to mind is E.L. Doctorow. At its best, this kind of writing borders on poetry: a stream of words communicates ideas, feelings, sensation, mood, not necessarily by following purely grammatical and factual communication techniques, but for example by using words that have certain connotations, using unusual sentence structures and punctuation that - ideally - forces the reader to look past the superficial meaning of the sentence itself, past its structure and presentation, to the ideas that the author is trying to communicate. Typical grade-school or business communication grammatical no-nos - like the previous run-on sentence - are not necessarily a bad thing, if they serve a purpose and don't make the text unreadable.
All that an author can ever do is try to communicate ideas from his head to his readers' heads. You can do that with plain, matter of fact language, in the Hemingway-inspired way someone like Tom Clancy tends to do: "The man fired." In this mode, much of the flavor of a story is actually filled in by the reader, since the author may not do much to help communicate anything other than facts and dialog, with some basic descriptive filler. Or you can paint an impressionistic word picture, which is what Gibson does. The Gibsonesque style is much more ambitious, but also therefore more risky. Gibson is good because a lot of the time, he pulls it off - but at times, it can instead seem forced.
As for spelling errors, I'd love to see some examples. I didn't notice many in the editions I've read, and I'm an excellent speller.
1. Re:Gibson's grammar by Saint+Aardvark · 2003-06-21 05:14 · Score: 1
  
  Pardon my ignorance, but what's a concord error?
  
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  Carousel is a lie!
2. Re:Gibson's grammar by alienmole · 2003-06-21 07:35 · Score: 1
  
  Concord refers to agreement between different parts of a sentence, such as subject and verb. A concord error is when those parts don't agree. A couple of examples are "the dog are barking", or "you and me are going to have fun". Although the latter is pretty common colloquially, technically, it's just as bad as "me am going to have fun"; either way, it's a concord error.
The Cassini Division by molay · 2003-06-20 10:53 · Score: 1

This review brought to my memory an Isaac Asimov's Book: "Lucky Starr and The Ring of Saturn".
I enjoyed a lot reading it. One of the things I lov in Asimov's stories is the idea he had about what the robots would be in the future.
One of the few books I got a refund on. by mrmeval · 2003-06-20 14:47 · Score: 1

I appreciated the money more than this book.

It was a combination of his dedication and the first two chapters that convinced me it would be better to buy a cup of coffee with the money.

The coffee was very good.

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I'd go on a Vegan diet but the delivery time from Vega is too long. --brownkitty
What??!?? by yosemite · 2003-06-20 15:10 · Score: 1

"Nothing says the start of summer like some paperback science fiction."
hehe thats a pretty nerdy thing to say. I did read the book though about 2 years ago so I must be a bit of a nerd. Anywho, in a word the book sucked a big one. Basically it comes down to the idealistic inhabitants of the earth and solar system, who sustain their society with friendly dedicated volunteers, are fighting some bullshit menace; then they are warped over to the "american" (capitalists) world where every one has computer gear shoved up their asses. I dont remember how the book ended but I vaguely remebered that it was not worth reading-whatsoever. So moderate this how you will, but I read the book when it came out and boy, it was not worth reading. Take the time that you would have spent reading this book and pick up something that you liked and re-read that instead.
Cheap writer tricks by SysKoll · 2003-06-21 10:38 · Score: 1

Yes, you're right, nifty things happen. However, the writer falls into the capital sin of authors people who build a wide and deep saga: he falls in love with his characters and gets sidetracked on secondary stories that are of no interest for the advancement of the plot.
This and the weak ending explained my disappointment. You get interested in a character and then you realize that he dies or is obliterated without any impact on the main line story - that's called a cheap filler. Editors used to cut them mercilessly until TV writers started using them. Now writers feel it's OK to use them because it feels "like a TV plot". Sorry, cheap tricks don't become good because they get air time between commercial breaks.
That said, I don't know if I could ever imagine augmented reality and man-machine interfaces cooler than in this book. Kudos to Hamilton on this account.
Tell me, have you read the 2-volume "Moonbase" series by Ben Bova? Talk about great space opera... complete with absolute realism.
-- SysKoll

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Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/
1. Re:Cheap writer tricks by RevAaron · 2003-06-21 14:04 · Score: 1
  
  Nope, not read any Ben Bova. I'm fairly new to sci-fi, having only starting reading anything other than non-fiction a few years ago. I'll check that series out- I'm always interested in hearing about books and series that are good. :)
  
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  Working toward a usable PDA environment in the spirit of Newton OS: Dynapad
Recommended authors by SysKoll · 2003-06-24 10:19 · Score: 1
Welcome to the world of SF then! If you are new, you cannot avoid reading the Great Classics:
- "I Robots" and "More Robots" by Isaac Asimov. Asimov has also written a lot of whodunnits where SF is accessory at best, and they aren't very good unless you enjoy pulp mysteries.
- Robert A Heinlein, the Grand Daddy of SF. Read "Citizen of the Galaxy", "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel", "Friday" and the hilarious "Glory Road". "The Puppet Masters" has been plagiarized in movies countless times, read the original. "Starship Troopers" has no relationship whatsoever with the movie of the same name.
- Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye"
- David Niven "Ringword saga".
- And if you want to see where Lucas pilfered most of Star Wars, read the Lensman saga by E.E "Doc" Smith.
The problem is that after reading good, well-written classics such as Heinlein's, you'll have little patience for the run-of-the-mill crud out there.
Welcome and enjoy!
-- SysKoll
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Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/