The Star Fraction (Fall Revolution) (Paperback)

MacLeod is a very politically savvy writer, and his books are full of politics, but the politics is almost always expressed through action, or it is an integral part of the setting. In other words, the books aren't lectures: they are, rather, books that are about politics in interesting ways, ways that are integral to their themes. And I should add that besides being about politics, the books concern interesting future technology (especially computer technology and Artificial Intelligence), and they are centered on believable and likable characters. And they have rollicking plots, as well.

The Star Fraction follows several characters through a revolution of sorts in 21st Century Great Britain. As the novel opens, the UK of our time has undergone several political upheavals, and is now "balkanized" into quite a few different, nominally independent, political divisions. These include the "Hanoverians", apparently the closest thing to a controlling force on the island; the "Army of the New Republic", the remnants of a liberal/socialist republic which apparently succeeded the Kingdom of our present time; a number of basically independent "mini-states", some occupying only a few blocks of territory, with wildly different political organizations. Furthermore, the whole world seems to be under the loose control of some combination of the US and UN, and such organizations as Stasis, which proscribes certain technology, and Space Defense, which controls the orbital anti-nuclear lasers. This society is fascinating, and the details are well portrayed, with off the cuff hints, and only the occasional well-done infodump.

The main characters are Moh Kohn, a basically Trotskyite mercenary; Janis Taine, a scientist studying memory enhancement; and Jordan Brown, a young atheist computer expert, fleeing from his upbringing in the Fundamentalist Christian enclave Beulah City. Their paths intersect when one of Moh's jobs involves defending Janis' lab: Stasis seems to have decided that Janis' research is dangerous, and Moh takes her to Norlonto, in the process becoming infected her new memory drug. At the same time Jordan encounters the mysterious "Black Planner", an entity of the net, who some think may be the long-feared "Watchmaker": an AI coalesced from the combined networked computing power of the world. Jordan also flees to Norlonto, and hooks up with Janis and Moh. Moh soon begins to remember details about his late father's work, which involved a freeware program called (cleverly) Dissembler, which has become omnipresent on the world's computers. And people are beginning to ask Moh what he knows about a mysterious organization called The Star Fraction.

The novel is fast moving and clever throughout. The action is resolved intelligently: none of the characters really know what they're doing, or necessarily why. This results in some wonderful irony, and in a believable and honest plot. The villains have believable, even defensible, motives; and the heroes, while they are virtuous, may not be right. (Or, better, what is "right" is ambiguous.)

MacLeod's writing is also strong. He is a clear and elegant writer, with a great ear for clever brand names and other phrases, which subtly illuminate the nature of this future world. In this he is like Greg Egan and perhaps most of all Bruce Sterling. As with those two writers, MacLeod's near futures seem fully furnished, real. This is an excellent book, and all the more remarkable for being a first novel. Iain Banks' jacket quote says "this man's going to be a major writer": for my money, he already is.

The plot and character development felt rushed and erratic at times. At a few points I found myself wondering what was going to happen next, and asking myself if I really cared or not. It all felt a bit thin and two dimensional. Perhaps it was me, but I made an assumption that the length and detail at which the politics were explored would have some impact in the end-game. They didn't, unless I missed something blindingly obvious. Or perhaps that was the point - that the politics were irrelevant to the outcome (in which case, why bother with them at all).
I also thought that he failed to capture the 'feel' of north London, even allowing for the fact that it had become something of a splintered entity.

There were parts which reminded me of William Gibson, and a lot of the style was more than a little reminiscent of the great Iain M. Banks. I think that Ken would be better trying to concentrate on a style of his own and attempt to leave behind the large influence of other (and IMO, better) sci-fi authors.
I honestly believe this guy does have some talent, and this will flourish with a little more focus, but then ... what do I know.

So Mr. MacLeod, for your end of book report you get an average grade C, and a "Kenneth is capable of better".

The good things about it would first be the ability to really shape a very interesting reality, very well built characters, many thought-provoking discussions, in the political, social and technological fields. In a way the story is very believable (maybe not in 40 years), and very fast paced.

Now the reason why I didn't rate it a 5 stars is that sometimes it becomes too "thick". Too many things happen without much explanation, and the author seems to be looking for that. I remember finishing the first chapter of the book and just thinking to myself "What? What is going on here?". Little by little you start to get used to the acronyms, the political system, and the pace of the book and then it becomes really interesting. Just be ready for this "shock" if you plan on reading it.

For now I'll move into a new book and then go back and read another of his Fall Revolution series books. Now that I know what he is talking about maybe it will be easier to finish the next one.