Customer Reviews

Dark Light

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me start off this review by saying that I really enjoyed "Cosmonaut Keep" both for the political intrigue typical of Macleod, and because of the fascinating circumstances in which it took place. It is therefore with some regret that I can only give the sequel, "Dark Light", three stars. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a bad book, and by the standards of most science fiction it was a great book, but it really wasn't up to Macleod's usual high standards.

The plot picks up where "Cosmonaut Keep" left off: with the familiar cast of characters traveling to the planet Mingulay. Unfortunately, right off the bat the writing gets awkward. Gregor and Elizabeth, the two main characters from the first novel, have a role in the first twenty pages, and then completely disappear for the next 150. Now, I understand that Macleod is looking for an epic feel, with a large cast of characters, but it really interrupts the flow of the novel when two important characters fall completely off the radar.

As the novel continues, we learn of Matt Cairn's quest to solve the mystery behind the origination of the Second Sphere, and later, having received his answer, engaging in political-military intrigue to equip Mingulay to meet its fate. Unfortunately, Macleod's touch isn't as deft as it usually is in this area. The machinations of the characters seem more contrived than meaningful, and I was frequently left wondering why they were even bothering. Motivations in this novel are muddy to say the least. Also, Macleod on several occasions seems to be on the verge of delving into the nature of faith, but then he backs away, leaving interesting, but half formed, ideas on the page.

As I stated earlier, "Dark Light" is not a bad novel, and if you enjoyed "Cosmonaut Keep" you will definitely want to read it (if you haven't don't even attempt to start with this book, you'll be lost from the get go). However, it falls short of Macleod's previous writings, and is somewhat disappointing as a result. Still, it is does have some remarkable moments of adventure and imagination, and if you're looking for a quick, smart read, you won't go wrong with "Dark Light".

Those who have read COSMONAUT KEEP should find this a worthwhile continuation. I liked it better than the first book, myself, because of the increased political and theological speculation.

Especially fascinating is MacLeod's concept of the Gods and their relationship with humanity. Not highly recommended to extreme conservative religionists.

I did find myself mired down a couple of times in the political dissertations. However, MacLeod basically tells a good story. How good a story it is depends, I suppose, on the concluding book in the series. But these first two are interesting enough and I'm getting to better like the characters, and so I will be reading the final installment.

The second of a purported trilogy, Dark Light seems merely okay, much like its predecessor, Cosmonaut Keep. I think its essential flaw is that it focuses too much on political theory and novel low-tech cultures and governments, whereas the triumph of MacLeod's best novels (The Stone Canal and The Cassini Division) are explorations of the merging of HIGH tech and unusual politics, and how the two act on one another.

Most of the high tech in Dark Light is of the pedestrian sort: FTL travel, longevity, powerful and enigmatic aliens. The meat of the book focuses on the city of Rawliston (whose tech is slightly behind modern America's), and the low-tech culture of The Great Vale, beyond the limits of the city. MacLeod introduces some gender-ambiguity issues in the people of the Vale which I found tiresome at best. He does better with Rawliston, with its "democracy through drawing lots" government, and suspicion of the human-navigated spacecraft on which our heroes arrive.

Dark Light turns of the focus of the novel squarely on long-lived Matt Cairns (whereas in Cosmonaut Keep his descendant Gregor shared the spotlight). The quest of Matt and his cohorts to learn why their ship was brought to this sector of space by the powerful aliens is the most arresting element of the book. Unfortunately the threads of this story are spread a little too thinly. There is finally a payoff, but it takes quite a while to get there, and too much time is focused on a supporting cast that didn't engage me.

Just as with the first book, I felt that Dark Light was a good foundation on which to build. Alas, it's this second book in the series should have done a lot of the building!

MacLeod seems strangely interested in human cultures trying to rediscover their past glories, but after three such novels (The Sky Road also had this theme) I feel like I get the idea. He's so adept at showing humans grappling with their FUTURE glories, I wish he'd go back to tackling that. Maybe the next book will finally bring such a payoff to this series.

Oh, those Brits! Having to contend with Banks, Reynolds and Mielville isn't enough. We must have this bloke inflicted on us as well. Surprisingly, unlike his earlier work, I have found 'Cosmosnaut Keep' and this volume, the first two in this series to be 'the real thing'. This is surprising as it is very heavily flavoured with the dead hand of (gasp!) Socialism, the conflict between the classes, the worker's ownership of the means of production and all that. Mind you, the terrain of these two books is so cluttered with all sorts of oddities, a second sphere of worlds seeded by 'ancient Gods', lightspeed travel, dinosaurs, saurs descended from dinosaurs, fun and games with sexuality and relatiosnhips, real live Neandethals. Hang on to your hat and open that volume. Remember 'A female man', 'The dispossessed'? Welcome to the world of immortal cosmonauts and spam in a can. Welcome to the darkness of light.

A group of ancient cosmonauts from Earth itself squabble amongst themselves and with multiple sapient races on a planet ten thousand light years from Earth. Obscure debates about the virtues of anarchy and socialism and whether a republican form of government is a step away from true democracy seem to interest them almost as much as the true meaning of the 'gods' among the asteroid belts.

Yet the gods are real--if not truly gods. They pursue their own motives and bicker amongst themselves, even as the humans squable on the planet below. They rain gifts on some, but Matt and his fellow cosmonauts wonder whether those gifts have strings attached--strings that may involve yanking occasional light-speed ships into far-distant wars. And suddenly the type of government on this obscure planet matters a great deal. Because if the gods can send humans on a far journey to war on other species, they could also send another species to war on the humans.

Author Ken Macleod has created an interesting world with a seemingly stable coexistence between multiple sapient species and between stone age and early industrial human societies. The space-travelling families who visit worlds once every couple of centuries provide a destablizing yet progress-rich catalyst to the planet dwellers below. Fans of political fiction may enjoy Macleod's concern for the battles between socialist causes. I suspect, however, that many U.S. readers, at least, will find this portion of the novel to be slow going without any unexpected insights.

I enjoyed Cosmonaut Keep, the predecessor to this book, and I thought the ideas presented to be provocative and engrossing. Dark Light, however, adds very little to the previous story. Yes, the same characters exist in the book (although Gregor and Elizabeth have merely bit parts), and it's in the same universe, but the story is droll and not-at-all sci-fi.

If you're interested in how socialism works or the benefits of different styles of democracy, read this book. If you are looking for characters confused by their gender identity (are you a man or a woman? It depends on your actions), you may like this book. If you want interesting SCI FI, however, steer clear.

I found myself actually skimming paragraphs and daydreaming through far-too-long treatises on formation of political parties, all the while waiting for something interesting to happen. There is a very small payoff that continues the story when they visit "the gods", but it is a paltry fraction of the book's text. I don't know if the next book will deliver a more interesting, but I won't be rushing out to buy it. Disappointing.

Matt Cairns, Gregor Cairns and the rest of the crew of the Bright Star have left Mingulay and visited their nearest star system, right next door. But they all have different reasons for going. Not everybody is doing it for the trade.
This second book in a the series is about motivation. What IS Matt after? What are Volkov's plans? What do the saur's want? What are the motivations of the krakens and, more importantly, what do the gods want?
And what happens when Matt decides to go and ask the gods themselves?

Cosmonaut Keep was a steady read, unexceptional in many ways. The characters were many yet the pages were sparse, which confused as to who was who and where allegiances laid. Now with Book 2, the political science fiction goes onto the back burner a little bit while a more generous space opera takes places. Dark Light is a necessary sequel to Cosmonaut Keep and it also improves the storyline, which some sequels nowadays can't seem to do. It's not an epic sequel compared to the likes of his Scottish counterpart Peter F. Hamilton. Altogether, when compared to Hamilton and, fellow Scot, Iain M. Banks, MacLeod pales in their shining light. MacLeod is digging his own little niche with the Engines of Light series however and the stamina that the book produces is sufficient enough to garner some money and time to delve into the third book, Engine City.

Dark Light is the second of a trilogy, and this book is where you see more of the point of having the two different threads in the first book.

The characters in the first novel have a type of immortality treatment, so a few of them are hanging out on a planet that Matt takes the Bright Star ship to, and their destinies becomed intertwined.

Along with the local political manipulation that said long lived guys have been up to in the meantime.

Not as interesting as the first novel.

Sequels are always difficult to write: you want to be fresh yet keep your fans satisfied. MacLeod seems to pull a George Lucas, writing the second book of the "Engines of Light" series only to fill the gap from the better "Cosmonaut's Keep" and the finishing "Engine City". I found "Dark Light" a bit of a let down; the plot and meat of the story could have been told in half the space, that other half filled with stoddy, dated political explorations...it took me twice as long to read this book than I would have normally, finding myself putting the book down mid-chapter as I lost interest.
Another complaint: two of the main characters (and most interesting) also disappear inexplicably from the first quarter of the book, just reappear in the denouement. There is only a throwaway line of where they were and their inactivity through this period was completely out of character.
Here's hoping the third and final installment is more of a page-turner.