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Engines of Light #2
Dark Light
The Second Sphere was founded by gods and populated with a host of kidnapped alien races. For Matt Cairns and the cosmonauts of the Bright Star it is their new home, but their unexpected arrival may trigger disaster. For, hidden among the stars, the gods still watch over their creation... and they do not tolerate dissent.
Following on from COSMONAUT KEEP, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Hugo Award, this is the second book in the dazzling new space opera series by one of SF's most exciting new authors.
Following on from COSMONAUT KEEP, which was shortlisted for the 2002 Hugo Award, this is the second book in the dazzling new space opera series by one of SF's most exciting new authors.
368 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
34 people are currently reading
748 people want to read
About the author
Ken MacLeod
113 books764 followersKen MacLeod is an award-winning Scottish science fiction writer.
His novels have won the Prometheus Award and the BSFA award, and been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He lives near Edinburgh, Scotland.
MacLeod graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics.
His novels often explore socialist, communist and anarchist political ideas, most particularly the variants of Trotskyism and anarcho-capitalism or extreme economic libertarianism.
Technical themes encompass singularities, divergent human cultural evolution and post-human cyborg-resurrection.
His novels have won the Prometheus Award and the BSFA award, and been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards. He lives near Edinburgh, Scotland.
MacLeod graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics.
His novels often explore socialist, communist and anarchist political ideas, most particularly the variants of Trotskyism and anarcho-capitalism or extreme economic libertarianism.
Technical themes encompass singularities, divergent human cultural evolution and post-human cyborg-resurrection.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
August 3, 2012
Better than the previous novel, but very uneven. The shifting perspectives in the last novel was annoying and in this one, the use of the present tense format is often irritating. I stick with this series simply because it is an interesting concept. The last chapter was really the worst of it all, which is unfortunate: highly descriptive with a clear attempt to build to a climax but with a weak payoff.
I've found that the attempt to combine the political aspects and the more science fictional elements is not terribly successful. The case isn't well made that the main characters are sufficiently motivated (personally or otherwise) to be as politically active as they are in this story. One of the main weaknesses to the whole story is that for newcomers on the scene, the cosmonauts are able to place themselves in leadership roles and stimulate political upheaval much too quickly and easily.
I've found that the attempt to combine the political aspects and the more science fictional elements is not terribly successful. The case isn't well made that the main characters are sufficiently motivated (personally or otherwise) to be as politically active as they are in this story. One of the main weaknesses to the whole story is that for newcomers on the scene, the cosmonauts are able to place themselves in leadership roles and stimulate political upheaval much too quickly and easily.
June 4, 2008
I especially loved when gender stereotypes were broken. In one of the societies the books follow, someone is a child or a woman until they pass the test and become a man, which is defined as communing with the gods and hunting. So a young, skilled man remains a woman because he won't take the test, and some women act as men and are called men -- and this is reflected in the sexual situations in the book too. Another thing I didn't care for was the shifting tense parts of the book were written in -- I just flipped through Dark Light and spotted the change shifting from past to present to past again over the course of a few pages. But when I was actually reading it, I barely noticed that. Over the course of the books, alliances shift and change until you don't know who is on whose side -- or whether it really matters.
October 16, 2017
So, sequels. This follows quite directly from the first book in the series, and doesn`t really stand on its own too well. That said, it`s a pretty good follow up. The homemade starship that closes the first book arrives at its destination, interpersonal plotlines that weren`t particularly compelling from the first book are closed off quickly and efficiently and we get to meet another new world in the Second Sphere, a distant volume of space filled with tiers of beings from the space god bacteria to the lowly humans.
This new planet hosts half of the narrative: a retro-primitive society that is roughly based (literally, as Terran literature largely inspired it) on pre Colombian North America. This lets the author play with non-European gender conventions. One of the characters is biologically male, and straight, but considered a woman in his society by virtue of his unwillingness to participate in the rite of manhood. This is a neat subplot, glibly sidestepping the triggers for gender focused writing but effectively undercutting the essentialist notions of gender that are foundational for most readers.
It`s not preachy and it serves to significantly enhance the various subtexts of the social set up on the new planet (Croatan) which appears to be staffed with humans pulled from 16th century Terra. The social and political dynamics of the Second Sphere, the relationship between man and the space bacteria gods is expanded on, and character dynamics are closely intertwined with the political stance of the author, who is clearly playing with revolution as a theme. Indeed, the final act of the book is another revolution, completely upending the expected roles for the various sides established and just feeling profoundly immediate and vibrant. MacLeod can really sell a revolution and this series benefits from this talent.
Again, the book ends with a satisfying conclusion at the book level that expands the scope of the series as a whole. This book ends with the discovery of a war in heaven and the impact of that revelation on the societies that rest under it. It also greatly expands the UFO subtext in the book, and establishes conflicts between the various factions and characters.
But it also moves really quickly, almost too quickly, and this is a weakness the final book is going to greatly expand on.
This new planet hosts half of the narrative: a retro-primitive society that is roughly based (literally, as Terran literature largely inspired it) on pre Colombian North America. This lets the author play with non-European gender conventions. One of the characters is biologically male, and straight, but considered a woman in his society by virtue of his unwillingness to participate in the rite of manhood. This is a neat subplot, glibly sidestepping the triggers for gender focused writing but effectively undercutting the essentialist notions of gender that are foundational for most readers.
It`s not preachy and it serves to significantly enhance the various subtexts of the social set up on the new planet (Croatan) which appears to be staffed with humans pulled from 16th century Terra. The social and political dynamics of the Second Sphere, the relationship between man and the space bacteria gods is expanded on, and character dynamics are closely intertwined with the political stance of the author, who is clearly playing with revolution as a theme. Indeed, the final act of the book is another revolution, completely upending the expected roles for the various sides established and just feeling profoundly immediate and vibrant. MacLeod can really sell a revolution and this series benefits from this talent.
Again, the book ends with a satisfying conclusion at the book level that expands the scope of the series as a whole. This book ends with the discovery of a war in heaven and the impact of that revelation on the societies that rest under it. It also greatly expands the UFO subtext in the book, and establishes conflicts between the various factions and characters.
But it also moves really quickly, almost too quickly, and this is a weakness the final book is going to greatly expand on.
November 4, 2014
There’s a lot to like about this franchise. The premise is one of the more exciting I’ve read in a while, namely, the idea that vastly superior alien civilizations, which are god-like in their sophistication relative to us, might be moving humans and other alien races around on a cosmic chessboard of near infinite proportions with a hidden agenda only they can divine. In fact, it’s a premise I utilize in my series, The Hundred Year Clones. So, no surprise, I was looking forward to seeing what another author did with the idea. On this macro level, I wasn’t at all disappointed. Macleod’s imagination is powerful and his speculation always strikes me as realistic as it is prescient, if not inescapable. His ruminations of what god-like civilizations might be like along with what interacting with them might come to, both, solicited a fair amount of head-nodding from this reader. He managed to gain my buy-in, moreover, without once becoming predictable, or failing to shock and delight me.
For me, another highpoint of Dark Light, the second of three in the Engines of Light series, was how well the story treats the middle-level players, one might say the knights and bishops on the gaming board, along with the pawns, or low level players. It’s easy to see humans, relocated to other worlds, for instance, adapting, perverting, and even reliving bits of early Earth culture within entirely fresh contexts. It’s fun to see the mixture of old and new technologies thus coming together in ways that would make no sense on Earth, but had the story been set on Earth, the amalgamation would play with all the flavor and fervor of a steampunk tale. Here, too, as with the macro level speculation, Macleod’s storytelling strikes me as both brutally realistic and highly imaginative at the same time, if it’s possible to allege both without sounding like I’m verbalizing an oxymoron.
The story in hard cover is barely 265 pages, so it’s fair to say the plotting is tight, and the story moves forward at a brisk pace. What’s more, the tale is told from the perspective of one or more individual representatives of the various cultures and civilizations involved in the Second Sphere. The Second Sphere is the term given to the mixed colonization of the heavens by humans, and two other alien civilizations, having some amount of commerce and technological exchange among them. By getting into the heads of each of these emissaries form different worlds, Macleod is able to give us a big picture sense of things very quickly, far more quickly than had he chosen instead to tell the story through the eyes of just one narrator.
So much for the pluses.
And while the pluses were admittedly many, I felt the book had a few damning minuses. For one, I found it hard to relate to or bond with any of the lead characters. The dynamics among the various players and how they were affecting one another in the abstract was fascinating. But the author failed to create any lasting bond between me and any of the characters in the story. There was also a lot of telling rather than showing, or addressing of key plot points with exposition and synopsis rather than with scenes that could bring the ideas encapsulated in these synopses to life. This was particularly true as it had to do with the various distant civilizations of the Second Sphere separated by so many light years, all of which were merely referred to but never actually experienced firsthand. Had the author have chosen the latter path, of showing versus telling, of course, this would have been a far bigger book, but also, I believe, a far more immersive one that wouldn’t just tease, but fully involve and engage the reader. Finally, I felt cheated on the very thing which excited me most about the book initially, the idea of meeting and interacting with these god-like civilizations; the author fails to deliver on the promise of the premise. Instead we get what amounts to a couple brief, passing scenes with the uber-mind civilizations, and a page count commitment that is less than two percent of the overall story. While I get that this is the hardest part of a novel like this to convey, I felt I was entitled to a greater audience with the story’s star players, as it were. One recalls Darth Vader of Star Wars who also gains charismatic appeal by the brief amount of time he’s on camera at any one time. So making the most fascinating players in the series also the most elusive is certainly not without precedent. Still, even Vader racks up a lot more screen time than the god-like civilizations of Dark Light.
By now, you can pretty much tell how I ended up at a 4 rating for this book. At the macro level of high concept, and with regards to the realism of the future-forecasting, the book is 5 star. But at the storytelling level, the tale’s ability to fully involve me in the characters and worlds of tomorrow, it reads more like a 3-star work. Sci-fi being traditionally the genre of ideas, it often forgives a lot of sins when it comes to stories that could have been more smoothly told providing the concepts are mind-blowing and realistic enough. But I’ve read other things by Macleod where he’s balanced the two factors better, to my thinking.
Keeping in mind that this is just the middle part of the series, I’m going to push on to the final book to see if the desire for more in book two turns out to be none other than the perfect setup for the payoff in book three. If that turns out to be the case, then my appetite for meeting with the god-like civilizations and the other major players of the second sphere should ultimately be sated.
For me, another highpoint of Dark Light, the second of three in the Engines of Light series, was how well the story treats the middle-level players, one might say the knights and bishops on the gaming board, along with the pawns, or low level players. It’s easy to see humans, relocated to other worlds, for instance, adapting, perverting, and even reliving bits of early Earth culture within entirely fresh contexts. It’s fun to see the mixture of old and new technologies thus coming together in ways that would make no sense on Earth, but had the story been set on Earth, the amalgamation would play with all the flavor and fervor of a steampunk tale. Here, too, as with the macro level speculation, Macleod’s storytelling strikes me as both brutally realistic and highly imaginative at the same time, if it’s possible to allege both without sounding like I’m verbalizing an oxymoron.
The story in hard cover is barely 265 pages, so it’s fair to say the plotting is tight, and the story moves forward at a brisk pace. What’s more, the tale is told from the perspective of one or more individual representatives of the various cultures and civilizations involved in the Second Sphere. The Second Sphere is the term given to the mixed colonization of the heavens by humans, and two other alien civilizations, having some amount of commerce and technological exchange among them. By getting into the heads of each of these emissaries form different worlds, Macleod is able to give us a big picture sense of things very quickly, far more quickly than had he chosen instead to tell the story through the eyes of just one narrator.
So much for the pluses.
And while the pluses were admittedly many, I felt the book had a few damning minuses. For one, I found it hard to relate to or bond with any of the lead characters. The dynamics among the various players and how they were affecting one another in the abstract was fascinating. But the author failed to create any lasting bond between me and any of the characters in the story. There was also a lot of telling rather than showing, or addressing of key plot points with exposition and synopsis rather than with scenes that could bring the ideas encapsulated in these synopses to life. This was particularly true as it had to do with the various distant civilizations of the Second Sphere separated by so many light years, all of which were merely referred to but never actually experienced firsthand. Had the author have chosen the latter path, of showing versus telling, of course, this would have been a far bigger book, but also, I believe, a far more immersive one that wouldn’t just tease, but fully involve and engage the reader. Finally, I felt cheated on the very thing which excited me most about the book initially, the idea of meeting and interacting with these god-like civilizations; the author fails to deliver on the promise of the premise. Instead we get what amounts to a couple brief, passing scenes with the uber-mind civilizations, and a page count commitment that is less than two percent of the overall story. While I get that this is the hardest part of a novel like this to convey, I felt I was entitled to a greater audience with the story’s star players, as it were. One recalls Darth Vader of Star Wars who also gains charismatic appeal by the brief amount of time he’s on camera at any one time. So making the most fascinating players in the series also the most elusive is certainly not without precedent. Still, even Vader racks up a lot more screen time than the god-like civilizations of Dark Light.
By now, you can pretty much tell how I ended up at a 4 rating for this book. At the macro level of high concept, and with regards to the realism of the future-forecasting, the book is 5 star. But at the storytelling level, the tale’s ability to fully involve me in the characters and worlds of tomorrow, it reads more like a 3-star work. Sci-fi being traditionally the genre of ideas, it often forgives a lot of sins when it comes to stories that could have been more smoothly told providing the concepts are mind-blowing and realistic enough. But I’ve read other things by Macleod where he’s balanced the two factors better, to my thinking.
Keeping in mind that this is just the middle part of the series, I’m going to push on to the final book to see if the desire for more in book two turns out to be none other than the perfect setup for the payoff in book three. If that turns out to be the case, then my appetite for meeting with the god-like civilizations and the other major players of the second sphere should ultimately be sated.
July 27, 2014
‘The Second Sphere was founded by gods and populated with a host of kidnapped alien races. For Matt Cairns and the cosmonauts of the Bright Star it is their new home, but their unexpected arrival may trigger disaster. For, hidden among the stars, the gods still watch over their creation… and they do not tolerate dissent.’
Blurb from the 2002 Orbit paperback edition
Macleod’s rather disjointed sequel to ‘Cosmonaut Keep’ suffers mainly from having no clear structure and rambles a little through a narrative which introduces new characters at the expense of exploring the ones introduced in the first book.
Gregory and Elizabeth, for instance, have little to do in this book and are pushed to the sidelines.
The Bright Star has now arrived on the planet Croatan, much to the consternation of the Saurs (who feel that the humans are blaspheming against the Gods by piloting their own ships and should remember their proper place in the scheme of things) and the local Port Authority.
Their arrival precipitates a sea-change within Croatan society, not helped by Volkov (Matt’s immortal shipmate from the original crew of the Bright Star who flew to Mingulay) and his preaching of communist dogma which spreads like a virus through the disaffected of the world.
When the Bright Star crew let it be known that they wish to explore the system (in reality, to talk to the ‘gods’ of the local Oort cloud) the ship is impounded.
Eventually, Matt and Volkov manage to communicate with a ‘god’ who lets them into a dark secret regarding their society.
Macleod’s world-building is sound, and the historical basis of the relationship between the residents of Rawliston and the ‘Heathens’ has the cold ring of truth about it.
It is also refreshing to see gay and lesbian characters used unpatronisingly without their sexual orientation being turned into a shock or major plot device.
What is interesting, in the wake of 9/11 is the Heathens’ use of ‘low-tech technology’ in their attack on Rawliston, thus befuddling their technologically-minded superiors. The attack in the main consists of hot-air-balloons and hang-glider bombers, and though the Heathens suffer some casualties they strike a decisive blow against Rawliston, or at least its most right-wing and belligerent element.
The denouement is a little rushed, the political nuances being a tad too complicated and burdening a novel which was already struggling with two or three different narratives.
Blurb from the 2002 Orbit paperback edition
Macleod’s rather disjointed sequel to ‘Cosmonaut Keep’ suffers mainly from having no clear structure and rambles a little through a narrative which introduces new characters at the expense of exploring the ones introduced in the first book.
Gregory and Elizabeth, for instance, have little to do in this book and are pushed to the sidelines.
The Bright Star has now arrived on the planet Croatan, much to the consternation of the Saurs (who feel that the humans are blaspheming against the Gods by piloting their own ships and should remember their proper place in the scheme of things) and the local Port Authority.
Their arrival precipitates a sea-change within Croatan society, not helped by Volkov (Matt’s immortal shipmate from the original crew of the Bright Star who flew to Mingulay) and his preaching of communist dogma which spreads like a virus through the disaffected of the world.
When the Bright Star crew let it be known that they wish to explore the system (in reality, to talk to the ‘gods’ of the local Oort cloud) the ship is impounded.
Eventually, Matt and Volkov manage to communicate with a ‘god’ who lets them into a dark secret regarding their society.
Macleod’s world-building is sound, and the historical basis of the relationship between the residents of Rawliston and the ‘Heathens’ has the cold ring of truth about it.
It is also refreshing to see gay and lesbian characters used unpatronisingly without their sexual orientation being turned into a shock or major plot device.
What is interesting, in the wake of 9/11 is the Heathens’ use of ‘low-tech technology’ in their attack on Rawliston, thus befuddling their technologically-minded superiors. The attack in the main consists of hot-air-balloons and hang-glider bombers, and though the Heathens suffer some casualties they strike a decisive blow against Rawliston, or at least its most right-wing and belligerent element.
The denouement is a little rushed, the political nuances being a tad too complicated and burdening a novel which was already struggling with two or three different narratives.
November 20, 2017
Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 2/5
Ever heard a band's early version of a song? Before they signed with a label and the producer (or whoever it is that does these things) help them clean it up? The difference can be shocking. The cleaned-up version keeps the distinctiveness of the band or the song, but it finds the right place for all the instruments, adjusts the timing, weeds out the distracting elements, and produces a final product that resounds with professionalism. Whenever I read MacLeod books, I feel like I'm reading the volume that has yet to get through the editors and professional colleagues. It is not a draft anymore than a band who has been playing their song for years can be said to be still learning it. It reads like a finished work that needs objectivity, someone to take it and offer comments from a fresh perspective. I don't know why the publication process didn't work for this volume. I can see the parts that make MacLeod distinctive. I like the chunks - the ideas - he has floating around in the story, but they never seem to be in the right spot, never seem to build up properly or resonate. MacLeod is fond of revolution - political, social, spiritual. He plays with these in far-away space and time. This was also MacLeod at his least pedantic. Those chunks just never fit in a way that I could approach and appreciate, however.
I found this and the last more confusing that seems warranted. A lot of parties and timelines that were fuzzy from the last book finally made sense here. I often came to later parts where I finally realized what MacLeod had been talking about, what he had been doing, only then understanding what I was supposed to have been feeling and thinking all along. So I completely missed a lot of the suspense because I didn't recognize that MacLeod was being suspenseful. I didn't understand the difficulties and consequences of choices until far late because I hadn't understood that the information provided was supposed to be integral to that decision or to explaining the motives of those parties. I never really entered into and experienced this world. Something about the arrangement and presentation was always off-pace, out-of-shift, or skewed. That's really too bad because it seems like it could have been an awesome experience with some final rearranging and cleaning up.
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 2/5
Ever heard a band's early version of a song? Before they signed with a label and the producer (or whoever it is that does these things) help them clean it up? The difference can be shocking. The cleaned-up version keeps the distinctiveness of the band or the song, but it finds the right place for all the instruments, adjusts the timing, weeds out the distracting elements, and produces a final product that resounds with professionalism. Whenever I read MacLeod books, I feel like I'm reading the volume that has yet to get through the editors and professional colleagues. It is not a draft anymore than a band who has been playing their song for years can be said to be still learning it. It reads like a finished work that needs objectivity, someone to take it and offer comments from a fresh perspective. I don't know why the publication process didn't work for this volume. I can see the parts that make MacLeod distinctive. I like the chunks - the ideas - he has floating around in the story, but they never seem to be in the right spot, never seem to build up properly or resonate. MacLeod is fond of revolution - political, social, spiritual. He plays with these in far-away space and time. This was also MacLeod at his least pedantic. Those chunks just never fit in a way that I could approach and appreciate, however.
I found this and the last more confusing that seems warranted. A lot of parties and timelines that were fuzzy from the last book finally made sense here. I often came to later parts where I finally realized what MacLeod had been talking about, what he had been doing, only then understanding what I was supposed to have been feeling and thinking all along. So I completely missed a lot of the suspense because I didn't recognize that MacLeod was being suspenseful. I didn't understand the difficulties and consequences of choices until far late because I hadn't understood that the information provided was supposed to be integral to that decision or to explaining the motives of those parties. I never really entered into and experienced this world. Something about the arrangement and presentation was always off-pace, out-of-shift, or skewed. That's really too bad because it seems like it could have been an awesome experience with some final rearranging and cleaning up.
December 28, 2013
This seemed familiar. Checking my notes, I found I'd read it before. That tells you how much it stuck with me.
In a word: Disappointing.
There are some interesting ideas here, especially the meanings of "man" and "woman," and the probable culture clash that's building. But they soon bog down in the uninteresting lead characters, the high-school-level politics, the weak and implausible plot developments, and more.
Lydia swoons like a Jane Austen sidekick whenever she sees Volkov, despite abundant evidence that he's a Grade-A pr... jerk. Grrr.
Matt starts out a bit weird, then turns into, like, a stoner, man, and starts tossing random ideas into the political mix.
And then .. .the Bright Star. OK, sure, it can do all kinds of hotsy-totsy interstellar time-space stuff. And that was fine. But when things get tight at the spaceport, suddenly it's a flying sports car. And Gail, who only boarded it for the first time 20 minutes ago, can fly it single-handed, quickly bringing an Intergalactic %#$@ multi-person ^@$# STARSHIP right up to a window with an open hatch that our heroes can step into. WTF is this, 1955? Is this Tom Swift's ship, piloted by Lazarus Long?
Bleagh.
In a word: Disappointing.
There are some interesting ideas here, especially the meanings of "man" and "woman," and the probable culture clash that's building. But they soon bog down in the uninteresting lead characters, the high-school-level politics, the weak and implausible plot developments, and more.
Lydia swoons like a Jane Austen sidekick whenever she sees Volkov, despite abundant evidence that he's a Grade-A pr... jerk. Grrr.
Matt starts out a bit weird, then turns into, like, a stoner, man, and starts tossing random ideas into the political mix.
And then .. .the Bright Star. OK, sure, it can do all kinds of hotsy-totsy interstellar time-space stuff. And that was fine. But when things get tight at the spaceport, suddenly it's a flying sports car. And Gail, who only boarded it for the first time 20 minutes ago, can fly it single-handed, quickly bringing an Intergalactic %#$@ multi-person ^@$# STARSHIP right up to a window with an open hatch that our heroes can step into. WTF is this, 1955? Is this Tom Swift's ship, piloted by Lazarus Long?
Bleagh.
August 26, 2014
What were very intriguing premises in the first book get lost in flat characters and their foibles. Whether the characters were there or not make very little difference in whether the plot would have unfolded as described.
October 31, 2018
Not gonna lie, this one was a chore to read, and I nearly chucked it in less than halfway through the book.
The main storyline, such as it is, is somewhat engaging. This volume delves a little deeper into the 'gods' lifing various species from Earth at various epochs, and the possible ramifications of this. Chasing this story are characters from the first volume, 2 of which seemingly inexplicably disappear from the majority of the story (or if it was explained, I missed it), leaving us with some of the 'immortal' cosmonauts introduced in the first volume. These cosmonauts start stirring up trouble on their current 'bus stop', the planet Croatan, pitting their comunist vs anarchist sensibilities via the local inhabitants, (chasing that etenal dream that 'somewhere' out there, there's a right time and set of social conditions for communism to be adopted successfully...) which brings something of a party split, the ship Bright Star leaving with some of the party but not others.
Meanwhile, the story of the Croatan locals was a serious struggle to push through, as I felt no engagement with it at all, and the speculations about sex vs gender, while of interest to some I'm sure, was largely a snore-fest for myself. While there is only the final volume of this trilogy to read, I'm unsure whether to pursue it for the sake of completion, or dive into some other book to regain some joy in reading. This trilogy, I suspect, would have made a much tighter, and engaging one volume story, rather than padding it out to a trilogy. But, alas, that's what publishers seem to push for with the current trend of decompressed storytelling.
I get that the focus of this sci-fi trilogy is largely social, but the idea of simply 'catching the next ship' travelling at light speed to the next planet, and taking up relationships with people whom characters has just parted with, seemed to me to be very optimistic, particularly with accidents, unreliable or barely reliable navigation technology (seemingly just worked out in the previous volume, now suddenly reliabe, it would seem), where even slight errors could concevably result in years or decades passing from projected eta's. While I applaud the recognition of this feature of light speed travel, it does seem to be treated rather like 'bus stops' with departing next ships. Perhaps the kraken and the saurs and their ships are that accurate. I'm not as confident with the ad hoc Bright Star. It annoyed me more than it should, even, as I said, I realise the focus is more on the social rather than the technological. Even the 'revolution' push in this story seemed trite and by the numbers. And as for that interminable final chapter, could I be any less engaged?
In all honesty, I'm hankering for a switch back to Fantasy, after Robert Jordan largely drove that out of my system with his 'Wheels of Time' saga. Do I push through and read the final volume, hoping it picked up? Flip a coin? Read something entirely different again? Re-read a favourite? Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi...
The main storyline, such as it is, is somewhat engaging. This volume delves a little deeper into the 'gods' lifing various species from Earth at various epochs, and the possible ramifications of this. Chasing this story are characters from the first volume, 2 of which seemingly inexplicably disappear from the majority of the story (or if it was explained, I missed it), leaving us with some of the 'immortal' cosmonauts introduced in the first volume. These cosmonauts start stirring up trouble on their current 'bus stop', the planet Croatan, pitting their comunist vs anarchist sensibilities via the local inhabitants, (chasing that etenal dream that 'somewhere' out there, there's a right time and set of social conditions for communism to be adopted successfully...) which brings something of a party split, the ship Bright Star leaving with some of the party but not others.
Meanwhile, the story of the Croatan locals was a serious struggle to push through, as I felt no engagement with it at all, and the speculations about sex vs gender, while of interest to some I'm sure, was largely a snore-fest for myself. While there is only the final volume of this trilogy to read, I'm unsure whether to pursue it for the sake of completion, or dive into some other book to regain some joy in reading. This trilogy, I suspect, would have made a much tighter, and engaging one volume story, rather than padding it out to a trilogy. But, alas, that's what publishers seem to push for with the current trend of decompressed storytelling.
I get that the focus of this sci-fi trilogy is largely social, but the idea of simply 'catching the next ship' travelling at light speed to the next planet, and taking up relationships with people whom characters has just parted with, seemed to me to be very optimistic, particularly with accidents, unreliable or barely reliable navigation technology (seemingly just worked out in the previous volume, now suddenly reliabe, it would seem), where even slight errors could concevably result in years or decades passing from projected eta's. While I applaud the recognition of this feature of light speed travel, it does seem to be treated rather like 'bus stops' with departing next ships. Perhaps the kraken and the saurs and their ships are that accurate. I'm not as confident with the ad hoc Bright Star. It annoyed me more than it should, even, as I said, I realise the focus is more on the social rather than the technological. Even the 'revolution' push in this story seemed trite and by the numbers. And as for that interminable final chapter, could I be any less engaged?
In all honesty, I'm hankering for a switch back to Fantasy, after Robert Jordan largely drove that out of my system with his 'Wheels of Time' saga. Do I push through and read the final volume, hoping it picked up? Flip a coin? Read something entirely different again? Re-read a favourite? Help me, Obi-wan Kenobi...
August 20, 2012
2nd book in series. Maybe I'd have appreciated it more if I remembered the first book better. Premise: A galaxy where some races manage to become space-faring, but there is a more powerful race which manipulates the space-faring races (including wars between them) so none of the space-farers advance too far. However, the book is mostly about the repercussions of the first trader starship run by humans to arrive at a planet with several human societies at different tech levels, conflicts between business interests and a fragile political system. The traders become mixed up in the ensuing events affecting the local societies. While the plot isn't entirely disconnected from the premise, the plot could fairly easily occur without the premise. I'd say the premise gets little exploration. This book may more appeal to readers who (1) like stories of colonies on other planets where the planet's society is pre-space age and/or (2) SF with intrigue.
May 6, 2013
The Engines of Light is comprised of 3 books.
I must admit that it didn't sound too much fun at the beginning and it's a little confusing when you start reading the first book, but it quickly becomes interesting. In every book there's a clash between different social ideas, individualistic vs colectivistic societies.
The story is well told and and the plot isn't easy to predict. I liked the way it simulates societies that have lived centuries with a particular thought on life and the way they develop.
In short: It's a nice sci-fi book with aliens, spaceships and war, but told in a non exhausting way.
I must admit that it didn't sound too much fun at the beginning and it's a little confusing when you start reading the first book, but it quickly becomes interesting. In every book there's a clash between different social ideas, individualistic vs colectivistic societies.
The story is well told and and the plot isn't easy to predict. I liked the way it simulates societies that have lived centuries with a particular thought on life and the way they develop.
In short: It's a nice sci-fi book with aliens, spaceships and war, but told in a non exhausting way.
March 22, 2020
the characters are kind of thin, I don't really know what's going, but I WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
November 16, 2022
Dark Light est le deuxième tome de la trilogie de science-fiction Engines of Light de l’écrivain écossais Ken MacLeod. J’avais beaucoup aimé le premier tome Cosmonaut Keep qui était riche en promesses pour la suite de la trilogie. J’ai donc enchainé directement avec le suivant, et je ne vais pas vous faire attendre plus longtemps : je n’ai pas été déçu !
Par rapport au premier roman qui proposait une structure narrative avec deux lignes temporaires, l’une dans le futur proche et l’autre dans un futur et un espace très loin, celui-ci est plus simple : l’action se déroule dans le futur lointain, à des milliers d’années-lumières de notre système solaire, dans la continuité des événements du premier tome. Nous y retrouvons les personnages que nous avions suivi dans Cosmonaut Keep, cette fois réunis au même endroit, au même moment. Cela permet un récit relativement plus simple, maintenant que les bases ont été posées.
Ce récit s’attarde principalement sur les conséquences de l’arrivée de voyageurs interstellaires humains sur la planète Croatan, où des sociétés distinctes vivaient jusque là de façon relativement harmonieuse. Cette arrivée risque de bouleverser des équilibres précaires.
Avec ce roman, Ken MacLeod nous propose d’explorer la rencontre entre des sociétés différentes, avec leur histoire, leur mythologie, leur organisation sociale, leur rapport à la technologie, leur mode de vie. Il y a bien sûr le choc de culture entre les autochtones et les voyageurs venus de l’espace, mais aussi des différentes entre les différentes cultures qui cohabitent déjà sur la planète. Pour l’auteur, dont on connait la fibre politique, c’est l’occasion d’explorer des modèles de société différents.
Il y a notamment toute une réflexion au sein d’une des cultures présentées sur la distinction entre sexe biologique et genre social. Ainsi, nous rencontrons deux personnages qui illustrent cette approche : Stone est né(e) homme mais se reconnait et est socialement reconnu comme une femme car il refuse de se battre ; Gail est né(e) femme mais est socialement reconnu(e) comme homme car elle exerce la profession de mécanicien(ne) considérée comme exclusivement masculine. Bien sûr, cette approche n’est pas exempte de de stéréotypes et de défauts, que l’auteur ne manque d’ailleurs pas de mettre en scène dans le roman.
Par rapport au premier tome qui était principalement centré sur l’aspect technologique de la science-fiction, celui-ci m’a semblé plus politique. Certains personnages parmi les cosmonautes et leurs alliés autochtones illustrent parfaitement la tension entre d’une part le désir d’une démocratie directe avec des assemblées populaires autonomes (sur le modèle de communes en auto-gestion) et d’autre part la volonté d’instaurer un Etat central pseudo-démocratique, dont la principale mission serait de garantir le libre-échange et l’aboutissement serait l’instauration d’un modèle capitaliste étatiste industriel. Ken MacLeod rejoue ainsi, avec plus ou moins de subtilité même si cela ne m’a pas du tout dérangé, bien au contraire, le vieil antagonisme entre communistes et anarchistes, ou plus précisément entre communistes autoritaires et libertaires.
J’ai beaucoup parlé ici des aspects sociaux et politiques du roman, mais cela ne doit pas cacher le récit lui-même, qui tourne autour des inévitables transformations que l’arrivée du vaisseau interstellaire provoque sur la planète Croatan. Entre intrigues politiques, complots commerciaux, révoltes sociales, et tensions raciales, il y a de quoi s’occuper dans ce roman riche mais passionnant, d’autant que la galerie de personnages offre des personnalités originales et mémorables. Une mention spéciale pour Stone, mon personnage coup de coeur de ce roman.
Au moment de terminer ce deuxième tome, j’ai déjà très envie de me plonger dans le suivant, en espérant qu’il clôture en beauté cette trilogie qui a jusque là su me séduire et m’enchanter. On en reparle certainement très vite ici !
Par rapport au premier roman qui proposait une structure narrative avec deux lignes temporaires, l’une dans le futur proche et l’autre dans un futur et un espace très loin, celui-ci est plus simple : l’action se déroule dans le futur lointain, à des milliers d’années-lumières de notre système solaire, dans la continuité des événements du premier tome. Nous y retrouvons les personnages que nous avions suivi dans Cosmonaut Keep, cette fois réunis au même endroit, au même moment. Cela permet un récit relativement plus simple, maintenant que les bases ont été posées.
Ce récit s’attarde principalement sur les conséquences de l’arrivée de voyageurs interstellaires humains sur la planète Croatan, où des sociétés distinctes vivaient jusque là de façon relativement harmonieuse. Cette arrivée risque de bouleverser des équilibres précaires.
Avec ce roman, Ken MacLeod nous propose d’explorer la rencontre entre des sociétés différentes, avec leur histoire, leur mythologie, leur organisation sociale, leur rapport à la technologie, leur mode de vie. Il y a bien sûr le choc de culture entre les autochtones et les voyageurs venus de l’espace, mais aussi des différentes entre les différentes cultures qui cohabitent déjà sur la planète. Pour l’auteur, dont on connait la fibre politique, c’est l’occasion d’explorer des modèles de société différents.
Il y a notamment toute une réflexion au sein d’une des cultures présentées sur la distinction entre sexe biologique et genre social. Ainsi, nous rencontrons deux personnages qui illustrent cette approche : Stone est né(e) homme mais se reconnait et est socialement reconnu comme une femme car il refuse de se battre ; Gail est né(e) femme mais est socialement reconnu(e) comme homme car elle exerce la profession de mécanicien(ne) considérée comme exclusivement masculine. Bien sûr, cette approche n’est pas exempte de de stéréotypes et de défauts, que l’auteur ne manque d’ailleurs pas de mettre en scène dans le roman.
Par rapport au premier tome qui était principalement centré sur l’aspect technologique de la science-fiction, celui-ci m’a semblé plus politique. Certains personnages parmi les cosmonautes et leurs alliés autochtones illustrent parfaitement la tension entre d’une part le désir d’une démocratie directe avec des assemblées populaires autonomes (sur le modèle de communes en auto-gestion) et d’autre part la volonté d’instaurer un Etat central pseudo-démocratique, dont la principale mission serait de garantir le libre-échange et l’aboutissement serait l’instauration d’un modèle capitaliste étatiste industriel. Ken MacLeod rejoue ainsi, avec plus ou moins de subtilité même si cela ne m’a pas du tout dérangé, bien au contraire, le vieil antagonisme entre communistes et anarchistes, ou plus précisément entre communistes autoritaires et libertaires.
J’ai beaucoup parlé ici des aspects sociaux et politiques du roman, mais cela ne doit pas cacher le récit lui-même, qui tourne autour des inévitables transformations que l’arrivée du vaisseau interstellaire provoque sur la planète Croatan. Entre intrigues politiques, complots commerciaux, révoltes sociales, et tensions raciales, il y a de quoi s’occuper dans ce roman riche mais passionnant, d’autant que la galerie de personnages offre des personnalités originales et mémorables. Une mention spéciale pour Stone, mon personnage coup de coeur de ce roman.
Au moment de terminer ce deuxième tome, j’ai déjà très envie de me plonger dans le suivant, en espérant qu’il clôture en beauté cette trilogie qui a jusque là su me séduire et m’enchanter. On en reparle certainement très vite ici !
September 23, 2023
This carries on right where the first novel ends.
Certain long lived characters manipulating a society so it can supposedly be ready for an invasion from unknown parts.
Another long lived character trying their best to put a spanner in the works and the locals caught in the crossfire.
Lots of hot sex and drug taking occur in between large amounts of characters info dumping and expository narrative.
When the plot got to the action parts it was betterer.
Absolutely great world building with believable inhabitants.
I'm obviously not the best reviewer and am basically rambling here and throwing in various big words that sound good but I've no idea really.
I enjoyed this enough to actually go out and buy the trilogy as a physical set of paperbacks that are even now collecting dust on the shelf.
Certain long lived characters manipulating a society so it can supposedly be ready for an invasion from unknown parts.
Another long lived character trying their best to put a spanner in the works and the locals caught in the crossfire.
Lots of hot sex and drug taking occur in between large amounts of characters info dumping and expository narrative.
When the plot got to the action parts it was betterer.
Absolutely great world building with believable inhabitants.
I'm obviously not the best reviewer and am basically rambling here and throwing in various big words that sound good but I've no idea really.
I enjoyed this enough to actually go out and buy the trilogy as a physical set of paperbacks that are even now collecting dust on the shelf.
May 31, 2018
Same problem with the first book, so very little actually happens. The exciting premise mentioned on the back cover, occurs midway through the book and then is dismissed for more exciting talk of communism, socialism and revolutionaries! Dull, and not nearly enough of an emphasis on 'science fiction'
October 6, 2019
So so science fiction. This is second book in a series, I haven't read the first and wish I had as it's necessary to understand the background. I wish the author had kept off politics. Even though he's a Scot, he doesn't seem to understand the difference between communism and socialism.
October 22, 2025
It was fine, a solid 7/10. I think the weirdest part is the assumption that the EU would be dominated by a Communist Russia, which is completely the opposite of what happened. Nowadays, it seems like Russia has soured on the EU while the EU is busy committing economic suicide by excluding Russia.
December 25, 2025
While it started off slow and may not be MacLeod's best book, I enjoyed this latest installment in this trilogy which explores life in the Second Sphere. Creative with a dash of socialist politics, I highly recommend anyone who wants to read thoughtful sci-fi with complex, rounded characters.
November 9, 2017
good story, ending is too abrupt... give it 3.5/5....
December 8, 2024
01 March 2003 - ***. I bought this book in January 2003, and read it two months later. It seemed quite different from the first book in the series - Cosmonaut Keep.
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October 25, 2025Why you might like it: Continuation of Engines of Light. Rubric match: not yet scored. Uses your engineering/rigor/first-contact/world-building rubric. Tags: space-opera, politics
February 24, 2025
I found that the Engines of Light trilogy was not as strong as The Fall Revolution. Nonetheless, this middle book of the trilogy made for good reading and has some great ideas in terms of hard sci-fi.
December 9, 2016
This is the second book in the "Engines of Light" series. In this Gregor Carnes and his group o0f associates have finally cracked the problem of Faster-Than Light travel and they travel in their ship the "Bright Star" to the planet Croatan. They immediately contact the trader family from Cosmonaut Keep who have arrived weeks earlier in a Kraken ship. Their ship is impounded by the Port Authority. Gregor Carnes and Elizabeth who are the main characters in Cosmonaut Keep only have small parts in this book. Matt Carnes , Volkvov and Salasso the Saur are the main characters in this one. They have decided to get their ship back by any means so they can talk to the "Gods" who are highly intelligent beings who live in the outer reaches of most solar systems. They foment social upheaval in order to over throw the Port Authority and then steal their ship back. This book wasn't as good as the first but I am vested in this series now so I will read the third book "Engine City". Unless you are a big fan of Ken MacLeod I wouldn't recommend starting this series but I keep hoping it will improve because I have read several of his other books and enjoyed them very much.
August 9, 2016
I skipped a bunch of pages but I'm sure they would not have rescued this disaster.
Characters are shallow and not well developed but rather just thrown into the mix.
Plot line is confusing and made no sense.
As this is book two in the series it appeared that you had to read book one to understand what was going on as it was not revealed in this book two.
Unfortunately this is not how to write a series of books. Each book must be able to stand on it's own without the reader having to go back to previous books. In this regard this book is a total disaster.
To see how a series ahould be written you can pick up any series book from Jack Campbell or Ian Douglas and immdediately you are engaged with the characters and plot line regardless of having read any previous books in the series.
NOT recommended
Characters are shallow and not well developed but rather just thrown into the mix.
Plot line is confusing and made no sense.
As this is book two in the series it appeared that you had to read book one to understand what was going on as it was not revealed in this book two.
Unfortunately this is not how to write a series of books. Each book must be able to stand on it's own without the reader having to go back to previous books. In this regard this book is a total disaster.
To see how a series ahould be written you can pick up any series book from Jack Campbell or Ian Douglas and immdediately you are engaged with the characters and plot line regardless of having read any previous books in the series.
NOT recommended
November 30, 2014
I thought this book would cut straight to the chase and we'd learn more about the Galaxy-spanning war of the gods. Instead it gets massively bogged down in the politics of yet another pre-industrial Second Sphere world, and tries a little too hard to be a satire on the futility and inevitability of revolution. The "heathen" society is a really fun thought experiment, but I suspect it doesn't hang together if you really think about it. Picks up a little toward the end, but generally plods along with fairly dull politics and a few predictable love triangles / romances sprinkled over. Will read the third book if only because it's half the length of this one, and maybe we can leave these boring fringe planets at last!
(Also, why is about 10% of the book in the present tense, and the rest in the past tense? It is very jarring.)
(Also, why is about 10% of the book in the present tense, and the rest in the past tense? It is very jarring.)
April 18, 2016
Knocking off 2 stars because frankly the fact that he kept just straight up mocking the otherwise really interesting gender stuff of the Sky People was absurdly annoying. Haha, we get it, Stone "isn't a woman," keep driving that point home and never interrogating why, you chucklefucks. It'd be one thing if it was assholes like Volkov saying that and getting taken to task for it but ALL the characters do it, and are never questioned on it, which makes it clear that it's more the author's position coming through than anything else. Boo. Could have been a really interesting look at colonialism/the gender binary from what is otherwise a fairly materialist perspective, but nah. It's just boring mockery like every other sci-fi dude writes. Which sucks because it was fairly entertaining and good otherwise.
August 6, 2014
2.5 stars. At the end of the previous book, one story line had been resolved and the other was ready to take off. This second book focuses on a small step in that story line - as characters zip off to another world at light speed. The scope of the book is pretty small, covering a few months on one planet. Unfortunately, I didn't find it to be a particularly interesting few months. There are a few reveals we can expect to be important in the next book, but most of the book is spent on a personal conflict played out through politics and some goofy people with an interesting take on gender that just didn't gel for me.
December 17, 2015
Unlike the first book, _Dark Light_ is one continuous time line. But if you are looking to learn more about Gregor & Elizabeth, the main characters from book 1, they are pushed to the background. Matt takes a central role, along with other Cosmonauts. Plus a couple new characters.
We learn a bit more about the gods, the saurs and how the human second sphere works. But it bogs down into politics. Somehow the primary Cosmonauts will be able to shift the human population in how they govern in a short amount of time. I wanted to see more of the adventure of the first book, but once they talk to the gods, its political posturing. ick.
We learn a bit more about the gods, the saurs and how the human second sphere works. But it bogs down into politics. Somehow the primary Cosmonauts will be able to shift the human population in how they govern in a short amount of time. I wanted to see more of the adventure of the first book, but once they talk to the gods, its political posturing. ick.
April 26, 2009
There's an impressive amount of ideas considering it's only 300 pages long. It's not quite as impressive as Mcleod's earlier books but there's a bit less politics and no jumping between time streams this time so it's a bit quicker to read. In short, entertaining to read and interesting human and alien
cultures although some of his characters seem a bit too similar to those in his previous series.
cultures although some of his characters seem a bit too similar to those in his previous series.
December 9, 2011
When the human-crewed spaceship from Mingulay, the Bright Star, arrives at Croatan, it triggers social and political upheaval. And when the Bright Star's crew fly out to an asteroid to communicate with the gods, they find out more about the gods' intentions in setting up the Second Sphere.
"Dark Light" was even more exciting and fast-moving than "Cosmonaut Keep", and has set the scene for a dramatic conclusion to the trilogy in "Engine City".
"Dark Light" was even more exciting and fast-moving than "Cosmonaut Keep", and has set the scene for a dramatic conclusion to the trilogy in "Engine City".
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