The future of humanity depends on the asteroid Ceres, where children can grow up in Earth-normal gravity. But when an engineering crew lands on Ceres, they realize that they are not alone-and not welcome...
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Editorial Reviews
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Fast-paced. -- The Washington Post
Provocative. -- The New York Times Book Review
Stunning. -- The Globe and Mail, Toronto
[Mackay] writes with impressive grace and clarity. -- Locus
Provocative. -- The New York Times Book Review
Stunning. -- The Globe and Mail, Toronto
[Mackay] writes with impressive grace and clarity. -- Locus
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting background, poor execution,
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This review is from: The Meek (Paperback)
The author has seen fit to provide his own book with a five-star review, and I'm sure he feels he did an excellent job. I beg to differ. Although the background is intriguing, it seemed to me like all these characters suffered from (to use a psychological term) a lack of affect. No one seems to really get excited about anything, nobody ever panics or even feels a sense of urgency when confronted with a life-threatening situation, everyone is always completely level-headed and matter-of-fact. When nobody else seems interested by the goings-on in a story, it's hard for the reader to find them interesting either. A strange blue woman giving you telepathic powers by kissing you? That would seem miraculous to me, but the characters might have well have yawned for all the real interest they displayed in this remarkable development. The lead character blithely makes the decision to abandon the world he knows and lie to his parents about it without even a hint of inner turmoil. These characters aren't merely cardboard, as you would find in even well-regarded hard SF by e.g. Asimov or Hogan -- they barely react to anything at all. It is difficult to care whether these people live or die because they never seem alive to begin with. On the whole the novel just can't rise above the cold, dead weight of its characters. I really hate writing a bad review... but this just isn't the quality of SF I'd expect to read after seeing five-star reviews... Sorry, Mr. Mackay.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
scince fiction exotica,
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This review is from: The Meek (Paperback)
I enjoyed "The Meek" right from the start. The chief protagonists are all burnt out whether by disappointments, personal loss or the struggle to survive. The arriving engineers engage an environment in Ceres which is completely unenvisaged by anyone. Here they meet a human derived /designed race who call themselves, the Meek. The Meek are not only alien but possess a proven and very worrying pedigree of savagery. Yet, despite their motivations, their responses, and even their physiology and appearance, it is the achievement of this author that they are revealed as fully human.The last portion of the book takes the characters to another very different world where the coalition of new and old humans discover their dependence on each other. Thoughtful, excellent (but never preachy) SF.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Part technothriller and part evolutionary detective story,
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This review is from: The Meek (Paperback)
"The Meek" by Scott Mackay is an incredible science fiction novel that uses shopworn genre concepts to create a fresh narrative of sometimes unbearable suspense. "The Meek" is SF in the old-fashioned tradition: When a survey ship is sent to inspect an asteroid habitat thirty years after a bloody civil uprising and attempted extermination, the crew finds that the habitat is populated by genetically modified humans with superior strength and intelligence. Stranded and unsure whether the unsuspected inhabitants can be trusted, the central characters are pitted against time as the government demands the asteroid's unconditional surrender. Part technothriller and part evolutionary detective story, "The Meek" builds to a rousing climax that shows Mackay is every bit as good at writing about humans as he is at depicting alien landscapes and the consequences of biotechnology.
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