⋙ Download Free Cosmonaut Keep Engines of Light Ken MacLeod Books

Cosmonaut Keep Engines of Light Ken MacLeod Books

Download As PDF : Cosmonaut Keep Engines of Light Ken MacLeod Books

Cosmonaut Keep Engines of Light Ken MacLeod Books

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!


Tags : Amazon.com: Cosmonaut Keep (Engines of Light) (9780765340733): Ken MacLeod: Books,Ken MacLeod,Cosmonaut Keep (Engines of Light),Tor Science Fiction,0765340739,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction Science Fiction General,Fiction-Science Fiction,MASS MARKET,Science Fiction,Science Fiction - General,Science FictionAlien Contact

Cosmonaut Keep Engines of Light Ken MacLeod Books Reviews

I think it's called an end. Each book of both series tends to fade away at the end and the last book of both series don't seem to pull it together any better.

That said, the topics are all great reading, the characters all work well, the talent is clearly there. I think it's just a stylistic decision not to wrap the stories up (I didn't say neatly) that leaves me wondering a week or month later if I had actually finished reading them.

Odd. I will still read everything this author puts out there anyway. Maybe I'll develop a taste for the case of the quiet denoument in time. Or out of it.
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.
I am predisposed to like Ken MacLeod and this book did not disappoint. Despite kind of clunky characterization - everyone in the book seems to be either MacLeod or his Scot geek friends, or an amalgam of the two - and a truly woeful grasp of American slang ("Bloody liberals," she said), MacLeod has a knack for creating interesting scenarios and believable worlds
I suspect this is one of those series that gets better as you go along. The opening salvo in a space opera saga is always going to be difficult. There is so much world building going on that there is little room for the story. So the writer faces a challenge, does he produce something on the scale of fellowship of the ring, which is so large it will put many readers off? Or does he write something small enough to attract purchase, but which will never satisfy expectations.
So this Author has gone for a small book as a sampler of things to come. And he has done an excellent job in that regard. The story jumps between two universes, a near future earth, and a distant planetary confederation. And the latter is the more interesting place, reptilian saurs who live thousands of years, Gigants and elegant Pithkies, star travelling merchant traders who are transported on ships belonging to giant squid, and planet bound humans who are somehow descendants of those in the near future earth thread.
A lot of homage is paid to cold war politics, workable communism (as if) and Area 51. There are some good laughs for computer programmers in a world where an archeology degree may include a module on MS-DOS or Windows applications. Technologically this book brings nothing new to the table, and as a result has a certain comfortable familiarity that makes all the technology seem accessible.
I think I'll invest in book 2, and see where it goes from there!
Once again, Ken Macleod has produced an original, intelligent work of science fiction in "Cosmonaut Keep". As usual, he has created a world that is by turns familiar, in other words it has its basis in a plausible future Earth, and completely bizarre. The bizzare aspects, in this isntance, being an earth-like planet that is home to humanoid (and regular) dinosaurs, native humans, and humans from Earth, and starships piloted by giant squid.
Much like his previous books, Macleod has filled this one with quirky, conlicting (and conflicted) politcal theories. It is in this regard that he shines as one of the smartest authors around today. He writes with the authority of a polical scientist, but never comes across as dogmatic. I suspect that in real life he is left of center, but the politcal philosophies his characters espouse are really just vehicles to drive the plot.
Finally, one positive, one negative. On the positive side, the characters in "Cosmonaut Keep" are Macleod's best yet. They show a level of depth that is just amazing; a level I didn't find in his previous works. On the negative side, "Cosmonaut Keep", like Macleod's other novels is told in alternating time periods. This proves to be a very creative way to intertwine seemingly disparite storylines, but it is handled poorly in the first half of this novel. Macleod should have been more careful in the details he reveals, as I found myself hopelessly confused 50 pages in. In the end all becomes clear, but this is a tough novel to get into as a result.
Ultimately, though, "Cosmonaut Keep" is a smart, entertaining beginning to what promises to be a great series. Enjoy!
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!