I missed this one when it was published, two decades back. It's the familiar KenMac two-track narrative, with his familiar politically-charged SF. Starts out very well indeed: a sweet romance in an alt-future Scotland, preparing to regain the stars. The "past" thread is set in the International Scientfic and Technical Workers' Republic, an odd microstate surrounding an alt-Baikonur, and an ally of Kazakhstan. A hostile Sino-Soviet remnant state is preparing to invade the ISTWR. In one of MacLeod...

This is the second MacLeod book that I've read; the first was The Cassini Division. I picked up Cassini in hardcover almost immediately because so many people were raving about it, and it left me completely cold. A perfectly adequate book, as to plot, world-building, writing, etc., but absolutely nothing about it engaged me sufficiently to really overcome the fact that the protagonist is the villain of the piece, and she's not all that interesting a villain. I preferred to see her be defeated, b...

I've come to the end of Ken MacLeod's 4 volume The Fall Revolution. Yet again, we meet a set of new characters, Clovis, a decorate student working to earn money on the construction of the first space vessel for centuries, his to be girlfriend, Merrial, a 'tinker' girl, and a host of other characters based around the construction site on Loch Carron in the Highlands of Scotland. Time? Not made totally clear, but the distant future. Clovis is studying The Deliverer who is seen as having delivered

This is one of those books that has both a "back story" and "current story" parts - but presents them as alternating chapters. I don't care for that style.The back story takes place in the mid-21st century as modern capitalism and its associated economics and politics are convulsing. As things develops, it becomes necessary to make choices on which of the bad choices is least bad.Several centuries later, we see people living a comparatively simpler life, with society divided between regular work...

MacLeod also has a way with words, similar to but possibly not as witty as, his Scots counterpart Banks. MacLeod's world is also more dystopian, more dour, and more overtly political. If we were talking of cities, Banks's world would possibly be London or Edinburgh, while MacLeod would be Manchester or Glasgow. Oh, I should mention that this is part of a series and, unless you've read the earlier books, you are likely to be confused about where all this is coming from/heading. This particular on...

Perhaps I made a mistake in reading this book first (rather than any of the others), so it's possible I missed out on some sorely needed context, but this book was, to say the least, dull.

Didn’t like it. So hard to understand

Whoops. It turns out this is the last book in a series and I read it first. I enjoyed it, but I think I will not read the first books, since I already know how the story ends. Not a bad book though I would most likely recommend reading them in order so the maybe the beginning will not seem as confusing as it did for me. You can still understand everything going on without reading the first ones, but it is probably better to read them in order.

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3488524.htmlHere the setting shifts between a near-future Central Asian statelet, run by one Myra Godwin-Davidov; and a utopian anarcho-communist Scotland centuries hence, where young historian Clovis is working out what exactly Myra did to change human society and is seduced by the "tinker" Merrial (actually a member of a technologically advanced separatist tribe). MacLeod is a political writer whose interest is in the overthrow of the class structre as a means t

I read this some months ago but I am just getting around to adding it. This is by far the best of this series. The political and ideological themes are more subtle than the first three, and are far better for it, and the characters are much richer and more believable. I thought was going to be annoyed at it being an alternative future to that presented in the first three books in the series but actually it worked rather well.

Clovis colha Gree is a historian. A scholar spending the summer term as a labourer in the space ship yard because he didn't quite manage to secure sponsorship for his continuing studies at the University. The staff of the ship yard work hard during the day and play just as hard at night, and it is in the town square, looking for a dance and a drink and perhaps a warm embrace for the night that Clovis first encounters the mysterious Merrial.Merrial is a rare beauty, but more surprising than her l...

Jesus...it's hard for me to review this book, but I'll try my best.When you look at the cover, its tempting to think that the story will be about "men reaching into the skies" for the first time, like what the blurb seems to imply.This is a science fiction book where the science fiction takes a back seat to the politics, and dear God is there a lot. I can't say I care much for it.The gist of the book is alternating chapters between the past (during the Sino-Soviet war) and the present (in which

Storyline: 2/5Characters: 3/5Writing Style: 3/5World: 2/5An odd inclusion to the Fall Revolution series, The Sky Road offers a more capable MacLeod, much more in control of pacing and buildup. It also was the least original of the four installments, lacking the verve and technological, science fiction ambitions of the rest.What was really enjoyable here was the incremental revelation of the post apocalyptic future. The hints and glimpses were tantalizing, keeping the reader engaged and contempla...

I was in a continual state of confusion while reading The Sky Road, unsure of how it connected to the previous books. Events didn't quite match up. Afterwards I discovered from online reviews that it was an "alternate future" to events that happened after The Star Fraction. I thought this was pretty clever after realizing this. Part of me wishes I was warned of it so I could have relaxed and read it as it's own story, without thinking I was developing Alzheimer's.I liked Myra's back story, about...

The future can be a lot of things, but an odd Scottish fantasy/communism mashup? Not for me. ‘The Sky Road’ is book four of a popular series by Ken Macleod, but I for one just did not get pulled in. The world itself is very intriguing and different from most science fiction futures out there, but it is painted rather opaquely. You are given hints, rather than full explanations, as to what the relationships are between Scotland and the rest of the world. For those that read books one through to t...

I like Ken Macleod's work - which always poses important questions set in challenging environments - but this is the only one I have re read. Whether you know the Fall Revolution series or not, this is a curiously engaging and timely read in terms of its critique of consumer capitalism (here known as 'the Possession') and the controlling potential and destructiveness of AI. The book sets out to explain how humanity might rise to these problems before obliterating itself and does this through a c...

The Sky Road is one of my favorite books. It may not scrape the top of my all-time list, if assembling such a list would be possible but it ranks right up there. First of all, it's Ken Macleod. Talk about a great writer- I just posted a review of The Cassini Division that pretty much detailed some of the many reasons why he's awesome. I'm not going to bother repeating myself again here. (Just to say again: for serious sci-fi fans, this guy is a MUST read at some point... for people who just like...

Stuff happened.

15 February 2009 – *****. This is the fourth novel in the Fall Revolution series, although it is not strictly a sequential series. The books are:#1 The Star Fraction (1995) - Prometheus Award winner 1996.#2 The Stone Canal (1996) - Prometheus Award winner 1998.#3 The Cassini Division (1998) – Nebula Award nominee 1999.#4 The Sky Road (1999) – British SF Award winner 1999.Be aware that Ken Macleod's Fall Revolution books are not set sequentially, but still should be read in the order they were wr...

This whole series is way better than it has any right to be, considering you could describe it as "Trostkyists in space!". This, the final book, is my favourite along with the 1st one, but they are all good.