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The Fall Revolution #3
The Cassini Division
Ellen May Ngewthu is a soldier and leader of the Cassini Division, the elite defense force of the utopian Solar Union. Here in the twenty-fourth century, the forts of the Division, in orbit around Jupiter, are the front line in humanity's long standoff with the unknowable post-humans - godlike beings descended from the men and women who transformed themselves with high technology centuries ago.
The post-humans' capacity are unknown...but we know they disintegrated Ganymede, we know they punched a wormhole into Jovian space, and we know that the very surface of the solar system's largest planet has been altered by them. Worse, we know that they have been bombarding the inner solar system with powerful data viruses for generations.
Now Ellen has a plan to rid humanity of this threat once and for all. But she needs to convince others to mistrust the post-humans as much as she does. Her quest will take her to the mid-Atlantic towers of Solar Union Earth, to the green ruins of London, and, in the farthest reaches of human space, to the long-separated libertarian colony of New Mars. In the process, much will be revealed - about history, about power, and about what it is to be human.
The post-humans' capacity are unknown...but we know they disintegrated Ganymede, we know they punched a wormhole into Jovian space, and we know that the very surface of the solar system's largest planet has been altered by them. Worse, we know that they have been bombarding the inner solar system with powerful data viruses for generations.
Now Ellen has a plan to rid humanity of this threat once and for all. But she needs to convince others to mistrust the post-humans as much as she does. Her quest will take her to the mid-Atlantic towers of Solar Union Earth, to the green ruins of London, and, in the farthest reaches of human space, to the long-separated libertarian colony of New Mars. In the process, much will be revealed - about history, about power, and about what it is to be human.
319 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1998
29 people are currently reading
1243 people want to read
About the author
Ken MacLeod
112 books761 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 94 reviews
December 17, 2012
First of all, I apologize in advance for all the quotations I use in trying to review this book, I just want to give MacLeod credit instead of paraphrasing him. Yes I know its kindof lazy, but I"m in a lazy mood, and I want to get this review out, because its a little gem of
a book that I dont think alot of sci fi readers are aware of.
"Humanity is indeed evil, from any non-human point of view. I hug my human wickedness in a shiver of delight."
Ellen May Ngwethu is a genocidal bitch...and I absolutely loved her! There I said it. What?
There's just something awesome about strong female characters in science fiction that really attracts me- women like Brawne Lamia, Paula Myo, Justine Burnelli, Perostek Balveda, Ana Khouri, Ilia Volyova, Thalia Ng, and Jessica Atreides. Ellen Ngwethu is one another. Love or hate her, she's a bad ass. Just look at her Spartan philosophy:
"Life is a process of breaking down and using other matter, and if need be, other life. Therefore, life is aggression, and successful life is successful aggression. Life is the scum of matter, and people are the scum of life. There is nothing but matter, forces, space and
time, which together make power. Nothing matters, except what matters to you. Might makes right, and power makes freedom. You are free to do whatever is in your power, and if you want to survive and thrive you had better do whatever is in your interests. If your interests
conflict with those of others, let the others pit their power aganst yours, everyone for themselves. If you interests coincide with those of others, let them work together with you, and against the rest. We are what we eat, and we eat everything."
The entire story is told from Ellen's point of view. She is a vicious soldier and leader of the Division that is bent on destroying the Outwarders (post humans). There are two other characters that seem to serve the functions of balance and counterpoints to Ellen's obstinate
position
There's a challenge MacLeod undertook in having the reader experience the story through the point of view of someone who basically wants to erase every last post human in existence. You aren't really sure whether you should like her or not, but you tend to sympathize a bit more with her because you are doing the literary equivelant of walking step by step in her shoes and seeing through her eyes.
The Cassini Division is an elite military force in the 24th century, on a front-line station around Jupiter, with the uneviable task of protecting the Solar Union from post-humans, who appear to be dangerously close to becoming gods- a faction of humans that has decided that would rather transform themselves with advanced technology over generations, than stay in the flesh as the rest of the inner Solar System has. After all, the Outwarders would argue, who
is in a better state to explore and colonize space, machines or bags of seawater?
This is a great book of great ideas. I found myself thinking back on my comparative genocide course in college. I remember that one of the first steps that a society takes in justifying genocide is dehumanizing their target. In this book there is a great debate whether post humans are alive and deserving a place in this universe along with "traditional humans" or whether or not they are just sentient viruses that deserve no rights or consideration. It is
widely acknolwedged that in just a few years, post humanity will surpass us, and view the rest of humanity in this way:
"Of course we'll allow you to live...On wildlife reserves, like the other interesting animals. Some of us may prefer to think of you as pets. Sentimental post-humans will no doubt campaign for "human rights" - it'll be one of those fluffy causes, like old-growth forests
and spotted owls."
It was kindof scary reading this because I felt I may have sided with Ellen and just eradicated those monsters. It's quite chilling though, if you extrapolate this following statement and picture yourself as a German citizen in the 1930s, or a Turk in the early 20th Century, or at Angor Wat in the 70s, or a Hutu in Rwanda in the 90s:
"I think about being evil. To them, I realize, we are indeed bad and harmful, but- and the thought catches my breath - we are not bad and harmful to ourselves. and that is all that matters, to us. So as long as we are actually achieving our own good, it doesn't matter how
evil we are to our enemies. Our Federation will be, to them, the evil empire, the domain of dark lords; and I will be a dark lady in it."
Scary aint it? Its why I read this stuff.
July 29, 2019
A fresh look at future politics, married to solid hard-sf extrapolation. Short & sweet, fast & funny, but with an appalling protagonist and a weak, pat ending. Even so, highly recommended. I had a great time reading (and re-reading) "The Cassini Division." I found myself deliberately slowing down to savor the book, And it makes you think. A definite keeper, highly recommended despite the appalling genocidal "heroine."
My 1999 review (Caution -- Heavy SPOILERS):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
My 1999 review (Caution -- Heavy SPOILERS):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
October 28, 2016
What happens when the Singularity leaves you behind--or worse, forcibly uploads a copy of your mind state and then goes off and builds a wormhole using your mind as forced labour?
The Cassini Division asks just these sorts of mind-boggling posthuman questions. Ellen May Ngwethu is a few centuries old, thanks a telomere hack, and living in a post-scarcity society, thanks to nanomachine manufacturing. She has chosen to live on the front lines, literally, and is now a senior member of the eponymous group that watches over the slumbering AIs who built a wormhole out near Jupiter and then lapsed into senescence. Now there are signs that they are back, evolving (or re-evolving), and Ellen and her colleagues aim to do something to stop that.
Ken MacLeod pits humans against machines here, where machines are the evolved intellects of other humans. But this is also a book that attempts to get at heavy issues of philosophy of mind and even economics. MacLeod's characters debate everything from the most efficient decision-making structure to the nature of morality. It's a lot to squish into a three-hundred-some page book, and MacLeod isn't always successful. That being said, it's not a bad effort, and I could see someone else really getting a kick out of this. As far as posthuman SF goes--and you know how lukewarm I feel about that subgenre these days--this is a good one.
Everything regarding the Singularity, AI, mind uploading, etc.--this is where The Cassini Division shines. MacLeod is great at portraying the different opinions regarding mind uploading through his characters. Ellen and many of her allies look down on the idea that consciousness can exist independently of a biological, human brain. To her, an "upload" is just a copy, a stored state, and if it is run on a machine, it is a simulation of a person rather than that actual person's consciousness. Although Ellen and the Division make use of "backups" before they go into dangerous situations, they only load those backups into cloned bodies--and even then, Ellen acknowledges that entity is a copy of the "original" rather than a continuation of that original's identity. The posthumans who became the Outwarders disagree. They believe that consciousness is preserved, that a mind running on a computer (even one where computation speeds up the experience of "consciousness" thousands of times over) is actually conscious and living. Hence, they see this existence as generally superior, although it leads to an evolution in mental capacity and state--the Singularity.
Far from being philosophical discussion without any purpose, this all has very real implications within the story. MacLeod points out that the descendants of Singularity-uploaded humans may not regard regular ol' humans as all that necessary to keep around. We're just taking up space, using valuable matter that can be gobbled up and converted to smart matter. So for Ellen and crew, stopping the posthumans by any means necessary is simply a preemptive means of survival. Her disdain for anything involving electronics and AIs, the way that the Solar Union has stuck with chemical and mechanical computing, despite its speed trade-offs, to avoid computer viruses from the posthumans, is all very fascinating. MacLeod has created a possible future that is interesting, original, but also believable within the Singularity conceit.
Where The Cassini Division starts to falter is its dichotomous depiction of an anarcho-communist Solar Union and the anarcho-capitalist New Martians (along with similar non-cooperatives, nor "non-cos" scattered throughout the Union). It's not so much that I find these social setups unrealistic. But I find the way in which the members of these societies engage in offhand philosophical and economical debates about the relative merits of their systems somewhat stifling. It's almost Heinleinian. I get that you're excited because you have no money any more, but you don't have to point it out all the time. And why is everyone so obsessed with free love? Oh my god, it is a Heinlein novel! Run!
I also didn't care for Ellen all that much. She's not a sympathetic character. Her hard-line stance regarding AIs is interesting, but she just strikes me as uncomfortably genocide-happy. Her amoral adherence to the "True Knowledge" is creepy. I want to think this is intentional on MacLeod's part, just another way of depicting how different this society is. Still, it made me difficult to cheer for Ellen. The rushed resolution, the way she turns out to be right about everything after all and just conveniently manages to "fix" things (maybe) adds to my dissatisfaction.
The Cassini Division is the third book in a series. Nevertheless, it reads fine as a standalone. MacLeod lets you in on the historical details without hitting you over the head with them. I see now that I have the earlier books on my to-read list--but I don't think I'll bother, to be honest. This is the third MacLeod book I've read and the third I haven't enjoyed all that much. It's not the books so much as just my personal experience with his writing and his style, so you might enjoy them. Third time for me, however, proves not to be the charm.
The Cassini Division asks just these sorts of mind-boggling posthuman questions. Ellen May Ngwethu is a few centuries old, thanks a telomere hack, and living in a post-scarcity society, thanks to nanomachine manufacturing. She has chosen to live on the front lines, literally, and is now a senior member of the eponymous group that watches over the slumbering AIs who built a wormhole out near Jupiter and then lapsed into senescence. Now there are signs that they are back, evolving (or re-evolving), and Ellen and her colleagues aim to do something to stop that.
Ken MacLeod pits humans against machines here, where machines are the evolved intellects of other humans. But this is also a book that attempts to get at heavy issues of philosophy of mind and even economics. MacLeod's characters debate everything from the most efficient decision-making structure to the nature of morality. It's a lot to squish into a three-hundred-some page book, and MacLeod isn't always successful. That being said, it's not a bad effort, and I could see someone else really getting a kick out of this. As far as posthuman SF goes--and you know how lukewarm I feel about that subgenre these days--this is a good one.
Everything regarding the Singularity, AI, mind uploading, etc.--this is where The Cassini Division shines. MacLeod is great at portraying the different opinions regarding mind uploading through his characters. Ellen and many of her allies look down on the idea that consciousness can exist independently of a biological, human brain. To her, an "upload" is just a copy, a stored state, and if it is run on a machine, it is a simulation of a person rather than that actual person's consciousness. Although Ellen and the Division make use of "backups" before they go into dangerous situations, they only load those backups into cloned bodies--and even then, Ellen acknowledges that entity is a copy of the "original" rather than a continuation of that original's identity. The posthumans who became the Outwarders disagree. They believe that consciousness is preserved, that a mind running on a computer (even one where computation speeds up the experience of "consciousness" thousands of times over) is actually conscious and living. Hence, they see this existence as generally superior, although it leads to an evolution in mental capacity and state--the Singularity.
Far from being philosophical discussion without any purpose, this all has very real implications within the story. MacLeod points out that the descendants of Singularity-uploaded humans may not regard regular ol' humans as all that necessary to keep around. We're just taking up space, using valuable matter that can be gobbled up and converted to smart matter. So for Ellen and crew, stopping the posthumans by any means necessary is simply a preemptive means of survival. Her disdain for anything involving electronics and AIs, the way that the Solar Union has stuck with chemical and mechanical computing, despite its speed trade-offs, to avoid computer viruses from the posthumans, is all very fascinating. MacLeod has created a possible future that is interesting, original, but also believable within the Singularity conceit.
Where The Cassini Division starts to falter is its dichotomous depiction of an anarcho-communist Solar Union and the anarcho-capitalist New Martians (along with similar non-cooperatives, nor "non-cos" scattered throughout the Union). It's not so much that I find these social setups unrealistic. But I find the way in which the members of these societies engage in offhand philosophical and economical debates about the relative merits of their systems somewhat stifling. It's almost Heinleinian. I get that you're excited because you have no money any more, but you don't have to point it out all the time. And why is everyone so obsessed with free love? Oh my god, it is a Heinlein novel! Run!
I also didn't care for Ellen all that much. She's not a sympathetic character. Her hard-line stance regarding AIs is interesting, but she just strikes me as uncomfortably genocide-happy. Her amoral adherence to the "True Knowledge" is creepy. I want to think this is intentional on MacLeod's part, just another way of depicting how different this society is. Still, it made me difficult to cheer for Ellen. The rushed resolution, the way she turns out to be right about everything after all and just conveniently manages to "fix" things (maybe) adds to my dissatisfaction.
The Cassini Division is the third book in a series. Nevertheless, it reads fine as a standalone. MacLeod lets you in on the historical details without hitting you over the head with them. I see now that I have the earlier books on my to-read list--but I don't think I'll bother, to be honest. This is the third MacLeod book I've read and the third I haven't enjoyed all that much. It's not the books so much as just my personal experience with his writing and his style, so you might enjoy them. Third time for me, however, proves not to be the charm.
June 12, 2012
I loved this book. It made me so glad I stuck with the Fall Revolution series to the end. The series actually hooked me with MacLeod's last line of his preface to the first book, The Star Fraction, when he says that the theme of the series is that, in contrast to so many other pessimistic novels about the future, that humanity does have a future and in the long run, it's even a good one. In this book, we get the pay-off.
It's the 24th Century and the human race has expanded to 30 billion people across the solar system and evolved a stateless communism in the form of the Solar Union. For MacLeod, it took 300 years and three books to get there, but I have to say it was worth it. As an aside concerning the back story, I have to say that the idea of a "Green Death" and a sort of Dark Ages brought on by irrational, anti-technology green mobs was a nice touch. ;)
As usual MacLeod throws in plenty of easter eggs for his lefty readers, plenty of details about how the Solar Union works, naming his chapter titles after classic socialist and utopian fiction ("The Iron Heel," "Looking Backward," etc.), jabs at greens, off hand references to obscure ideological debates and Marxist philosophy, etc. I've heard this sort of element in his writing referred to as "commie porn," and as a "commie" I must say that I get a kick out of it. What does that say about me? Are a few references to Lenin and a battle against capitalists in space all it takes to entertain me? Maybe.
I also like the way the book ends, not to give anything away, but separated from the Solar Union by thousands of light years and thousands of years in the future... watching a group of capitalists on a talk show, our protagonist thinks to herself: "Just you wait! Our day will come, again." Yeah, I think I am just that easy to entertain.
It's the 24th Century and the human race has expanded to 30 billion people across the solar system and evolved a stateless communism in the form of the Solar Union. For MacLeod, it took 300 years and three books to get there, but I have to say it was worth it. As an aside concerning the back story, I have to say that the idea of a "Green Death" and a sort of Dark Ages brought on by irrational, anti-technology green mobs was a nice touch. ;)
As usual MacLeod throws in plenty of easter eggs for his lefty readers, plenty of details about how the Solar Union works, naming his chapter titles after classic socialist and utopian fiction ("The Iron Heel," "Looking Backward," etc.), jabs at greens, off hand references to obscure ideological debates and Marxist philosophy, etc. I've heard this sort of element in his writing referred to as "commie porn," and as a "commie" I must say that I get a kick out of it. What does that say about me? Are a few references to Lenin and a battle against capitalists in space all it takes to entertain me? Maybe.
I also like the way the book ends, not to give anything away, but separated from the Solar Union by thousands of light years and thousands of years in the future... watching a group of capitalists on a talk show, our protagonist thinks to herself: "Just you wait! Our day will come, again." Yeah, I think I am just that easy to entertain.
July 2, 2012
Like the review on the cover says, this book is full of big ideas. The story explores a human race, which has moved beyond capitalism and has populated the solar system, which now wars against the products of its own evolutionary journey.
The author presents a snap shot of human society that is alien to the reader, with any recognisable components portrayed as parochial by the main character. He explores themes such as virtual reality emersion and the digitisation of sentience, robot rights, intellectual property management, sovereignty and genocide.
Most of the themes are addressed through dialogue between characters; there is very little exposition. I find this tiring, because you really have to think about what is going on. Things that characters say off-hand don't always make sense, unless you think deeply about the character's motivations and where they come from. This showcases the authors skill in transporting us out of our accepted world order, but left me feeling drained every time I picked the book up.
Despite the reliance on character interactions, I never found myself connecting with any of them. The characters were not developed in any meaningful way, except indirectly through further dialogue and some flash-backs. Likewise, the "amazing" technology is poorly described and uninspiring. There just isn't enough science in this science fiction, just big ideas.
At the end of the day, I can't think of how the author can write this book a better way, without also changing the things that made it enjoyable to read. It is best left as is, which in my opinion, just isn't a goodread.
The author presents a snap shot of human society that is alien to the reader, with any recognisable components portrayed as parochial by the main character. He explores themes such as virtual reality emersion and the digitisation of sentience, robot rights, intellectual property management, sovereignty and genocide.
Most of the themes are addressed through dialogue between characters; there is very little exposition. I find this tiring, because you really have to think about what is going on. Things that characters say off-hand don't always make sense, unless you think deeply about the character's motivations and where they come from. This showcases the authors skill in transporting us out of our accepted world order, but left me feeling drained every time I picked the book up.
Despite the reliance on character interactions, I never found myself connecting with any of them. The characters were not developed in any meaningful way, except indirectly through further dialogue and some flash-backs. Likewise, the "amazing" technology is poorly described and uninspiring. There just isn't enough science in this science fiction, just big ideas.
At the end of the day, I can't think of how the author can write this book a better way, without also changing the things that made it enjoyable to read. It is best left as is, which in my opinion, just isn't a goodread.
November 9, 2012
This is intelligent science fiction. MacLeod explores competing political and cultural worldviews in a technologically advanced future, but doesn't structure the story to implicitly affirm one over another. That's a pretty substantial contrast to authors like David Brin or Vernor Vinge, whose plots implicitly argue that a liberal humanist worldview holds the most hope for humanity's future. Perhaps MacLeod is further out of today's neoliberal mainstream and is therefore less sanguine about humanity's ability to get the future right, but I found that the Cassini Division wasn't in any sense a polemic. Even revealed through a biased narrator (who is disturbingly smug in some of her prejudices), all the societies described in the book -- post-human, utopian socialist, and anarcho-capitalist -- have tangible dark sides. The characters aren't so much sympathetic as interesting. The plot serves as a vehicle for the ideas, which were compelling enough to draw me through the end of the book. I didn't find the ending glib; just complex, shadowed, and morally inconclusive, and consistent with the characters and cultures explored in the rest of the book. The Cassini Division is a fast but thoughtful read, and well worth the concentration it takes to follow the backstory.
October 16, 2007
A fresh look at the "utopian" socialist society, it's causes, functions, and requirements. Also a really good discussion of what it means to be human/conscious. A rather fresh plot, had no idea what was going to happen next until just before it happened.
January 28, 2013
One of my favorite novels, and Ken MacLeod's best (at least among those I've read).
In the later half of the 21st century, a group of transhumanists will take up residence around Jupiter, and begin work on a wormhole gate to span the entirety of space and time, destroying Ganymede in the process for its raw materials. Before they complete their plans, however, their processing power becomes so great that they lose interest in the physical universe, and retreat into the clouds of Jupiter to enjoy themselves within virtual worlds of their own creation. But, perhaps just to make sure that they aren't disturbed, they transmit a flood of computer viruses into the inner solar system, causing normal, flesh-and-blood human civilization to come crashing down.
Fast forward 200 years, and humanity has rebuilt itself in the form of the Solar Union - an anarcho-communist utopia of 30-billion souls, standing together to make the best of things in a cold, uncaring universe. Electronic computing has been abandoned in favor of mechanical devices that Babbage could only have dreamed of, and the forces of the Cassini Division wait in orbit around Jupiter, ready to blast to bits anything that might try to leave the atmosphere. But the post-humans have been busy too, and there's evidence that they've once again set their sights on the physical universe.
Enter Ellen May Ngewthu. Depending on your perspective, either humanity's best hope for survival, or a genocidal maniac blinded by hatred and prejudice. Possibly both. A volunteer in the Cassini Division, she's working on a plan that will finally put an end to two centuries of cold war. However, not everyone in the Union has been around as long as she has, and unlike her, most weren't yet alive when the war first started, and thus do not share her clear cut, "us or them" mentality about the post-humans.
The book follows Ellen on her crusade, and along the way does a wonderful job of mixing together action, wit, and serious philosophical themes. You'll laugh out loud at certain sections, but by the end still feel that you got something real out of it. Sort of like an Iain M. Banks novel, but not quite as heavy. The central question of the story is the ever classic, "what does it mean to be human?", and how you'd answer that will be very closely tied to your opinion of Ellen. Is a human uploaded into a computer still a human? Or if not human, is it really even alive? And if it's a threat to you, does it matter either way? Not the simplest of questions, even for Ellen, and like her or loathe her, you can't wait to see what she does next.
Should be noted this is technically the third book in the Fall Revolution series, but it's not essential that you read the others first. You really wouldn't gain anything from The Star Fraction, and while The Stone Canal does provide some pretty useful background, you can still piece things together pretty well without it. I didn't know anything about the other books when I first read this, and I still absolutely loved it.
In the later half of the 21st century, a group of transhumanists will take up residence around Jupiter, and begin work on a wormhole gate to span the entirety of space and time, destroying Ganymede in the process for its raw materials. Before they complete their plans, however, their processing power becomes so great that they lose interest in the physical universe, and retreat into the clouds of Jupiter to enjoy themselves within virtual worlds of their own creation. But, perhaps just to make sure that they aren't disturbed, they transmit a flood of computer viruses into the inner solar system, causing normal, flesh-and-blood human civilization to come crashing down.
Fast forward 200 years, and humanity has rebuilt itself in the form of the Solar Union - an anarcho-communist utopia of 30-billion souls, standing together to make the best of things in a cold, uncaring universe. Electronic computing has been abandoned in favor of mechanical devices that Babbage could only have dreamed of, and the forces of the Cassini Division wait in orbit around Jupiter, ready to blast to bits anything that might try to leave the atmosphere. But the post-humans have been busy too, and there's evidence that they've once again set their sights on the physical universe.
Enter Ellen May Ngewthu. Depending on your perspective, either humanity's best hope for survival, or a genocidal maniac blinded by hatred and prejudice. Possibly both. A volunteer in the Cassini Division, she's working on a plan that will finally put an end to two centuries of cold war. However, not everyone in the Union has been around as long as she has, and unlike her, most weren't yet alive when the war first started, and thus do not share her clear cut, "us or them" mentality about the post-humans.
The book follows Ellen on her crusade, and along the way does a wonderful job of mixing together action, wit, and serious philosophical themes. You'll laugh out loud at certain sections, but by the end still feel that you got something real out of it. Sort of like an Iain M. Banks novel, but not quite as heavy. The central question of the story is the ever classic, "what does it mean to be human?", and how you'd answer that will be very closely tied to your opinion of Ellen. Is a human uploaded into a computer still a human? Or if not human, is it really even alive? And if it's a threat to you, does it matter either way? Not the simplest of questions, even for Ellen, and like her or loathe her, you can't wait to see what she does next.
Should be noted this is technically the third book in the Fall Revolution series, but it's not essential that you read the others first. You really wouldn't gain anything from The Star Fraction, and while The Stone Canal does provide some pretty useful background, you can still piece things together pretty well without it. I didn't know anything about the other books when I first read this, and I still absolutely loved it.
June 26, 2021
10 January 2009 – ****. This is the third novel in the Fall Revolution series, although it is not strictly a sequential series. The books are:
#1 The Star Fraction (1995) - Prometheus Award winner 1996.
#2 The Stone Canal (1996) - Prometheus Award winner 1998.
#3 The Cassini Division (1998) – Nebula Award nominee 1999.
#4 The Sky Road (1999) – British SF Award winner 1999.
This novel is a direct sequel to The Stone Canal, and it continues his themes of smart-matter machine intelligence, and evolving human/posthuman political systems.
The main character here, Ellen May Ngewthu, was introduced at the very end of The Stone Canal, as a soldier and a leader of the Cassini Division. That military unit is charged with protecting humanity from the posthumans that have transformed Jupiter. Ellen encountered prior perspective characters Jon Wilde and Meg as they escaped New Mars on their way back to the Solar System. The 24th Century Solar Union, much to their surprise turns out to have a quasi-utopian world civilization. But in The Cassini Division, Jon and Meg are just background characters as we follow Ellen across Earth searching for the centuries-lost physicist who made interstellar travel possible, and then back to her home space near Callisto, and then on to New Mars to prevent any potential of a posthuman singularity there. It is a very good sf story, but as I mentioned, does not introduce any new concepts to MacLeod's universe.
#1 The Star Fraction (1995) - Prometheus Award winner 1996.
#2 The Stone Canal (1996) - Prometheus Award winner 1998.
#3 The Cassini Division (1998) – Nebula Award nominee 1999.
#4 The Sky Road (1999) – British SF Award winner 1999.
This novel is a direct sequel to The Stone Canal, and it continues his themes of smart-matter machine intelligence, and evolving human/posthuman political systems.
The main character here, Ellen May Ngewthu, was introduced at the very end of The Stone Canal, as a soldier and a leader of the Cassini Division. That military unit is charged with protecting humanity from the posthumans that have transformed Jupiter. Ellen encountered prior perspective characters Jon Wilde and Meg as they escaped New Mars on their way back to the Solar System. The 24th Century Solar Union, much to their surprise turns out to have a quasi-utopian world civilization. But in The Cassini Division, Jon and Meg are just background characters as we follow Ellen across Earth searching for the centuries-lost physicist who made interstellar travel possible, and then back to her home space near Callisto, and then on to New Mars to prevent any potential of a posthuman singularity there. It is a very good sf story, but as I mentioned, does not introduce any new concepts to MacLeod's universe.
August 19, 2008
Macleod is similar to his country men Stross and Banks in more than nationality; his use of sci fi concepts to poke fun and satirize the present, his critiques of socialism and libertarianism, and his ability to graft these on to adventure stories. I think he is not quite as great as either, with out the grasp of plot, tone, and character that Banks has or the density of ideas and ability to pastiche literary trope that Stross has. Unlike other Macleod I’ve attempted I have the urge to read more, which my first encounter with him (Cosmonaut’s keep) did not tempt me to. Three stars for now even though I liked a lot here(especially New Mars) and may realize more as I finish up the Fall Revolution series, but a rushed ending, sagging middle section sinks my joy at the ironic action and wealth of ideas.
January 31, 2010
When I picked this book up, I wasn't aware that there were 2 books before it. But as I wasn't sure when I could get my hands on them, I decided to continue on. When I first started reading, I wasn't sure what was going on and really didn't care much for it. But once I got a little ways in, I enjoyed it. I will admit that some of the politics went over my head, but I think had I read the back story it would have made more sense, and been that much more enjoyable.
November 12, 2007
Extremely intelligent and politically as well as philosophically interesting science fiction. You may need to be on the left wing (or have leftish sympathies) to fully appreciate the depts of it, but spoken as someone who is, it is some of the best SF I have ever read.
March 28, 2008
Read this a while back. Mainly notable for rekindling my interest in science fiction.
It also happens to be a book that directly addresses my longstanding internal debate on market anarchism and communitarianism, which I never imagined anyone ever wrote stories about. Very sweet.
It also happens to be a book that directly addresses my longstanding internal debate on market anarchism and communitarianism, which I never imagined anyone ever wrote stories about. Very sweet.
June 29, 2017
Storyline: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 5/5
Through the first fifth of the book, I thought I had found a new favorite. It was going to go on that shelf with the others that had stunned me with their artistry, ideas, or entertainment. The world MacLeod created was fabulous, phenomenal for its speculative fiction attributes. The first two in the Fall Revolution series had established MacLeod as a speculative political and social theorist intimately familiar with the microdetails and offshoots of leftist political theories. His worldbuilding for this one, The Cassini Division, soared above the others, however, because he provided just the right justification for the suspension of disbelief. Throw in a apocalyptic event through which humanity survives, figure in a new Einstein-like figure with paradigm-changing scientific theories, and then sprinkle out a handful of impressive technological products that change everything. Now MacLeod has got a world in which he can stick in whatever political philosophy or economic arrangement he wants. He's given us an adequate justification to believe it possible, and the point, anyway, is less to say that it is possible than it is to show us what the society would look like if it were to come true. That is speculative fiction I can get into! And I did; I loved it. There was an alienness to even the "familiar" parts of the novel that were delightful to me as a rather traditional 21st century American. I mean what kind of world is it when the narrator accuses Leninist Communists offhandedly of being conservative and anarcho-capitalists as liberals? It was even better because MacLeod starts from an excellent vantage point with this sequel. We get the first person narration of a newcomer whom doesn't have the knowledge that we readers of The Star Fraction and The Stone Canal do. What we get then, is something of omniscient perspective through a limited first person voice. We know things that our narrator does not. We can recognize her information constraints and see the erroneous conclusions or mistaken assumptions. This was just good fun. Add to that a plot teaming with possibilities, wonders, and drama. The Cassini Division was primed to be the best book I'd read in a long time.
But then it fell apart. The careful, tactical steps that MacLeod has been leading us through turned into a loping lunar run. Instead of strategic objectives we were aimed generally at the horizon. MacLeod sped through scenes that should have established character motivations for us, he delivered simplistic dialogues that would never have come from these peoples' mouths. Difficult decisions with long-range repercussions were made and unmade with the weakest of justifications and the flimsiest of evidence. The world turned into a tell-us-it-is-so rather than a show-us-it-is-so experience. He jumped into other debates - the meaning of life, brinkmanship - that were far less familiar to him and whose presentations turned out to be embarrassingly simplistic. The action scenes were chaotic, the reader unable to follow events that the characters obviously could. Buildup, anticipation, drama: these were all poorly deployed. MacLeod does save a few good ideas and plot developments to scatter around in the hindquarters, but half-hearted brushstrokes were the distinguishing pattern of most of the latter four-fifths of the novel.
The growth in MacLeod between his first novel and his second was astounding. I had hoped that he would make a similar jump between The Stone Canal and The Cassini Division. For a brief while I even got what I wished for. Obviously, though, I was disappointed with the final product. Still, the set up was just so good that I still have some warmth and enthusiasm for MacLeod and the series. I'll definitely be reading the fourth, The Sky Road, although I'll have far less hope than I started with in the Cassini Division.
Characters: 2/5
Writing Style: 2/5
World: 5/5
Through the first fifth of the book, I thought I had found a new favorite. It was going to go on that shelf with the others that had stunned me with their artistry, ideas, or entertainment. The world MacLeod created was fabulous, phenomenal for its speculative fiction attributes. The first two in the Fall Revolution series had established MacLeod as a speculative political and social theorist intimately familiar with the microdetails and offshoots of leftist political theories. His worldbuilding for this one, The Cassini Division, soared above the others, however, because he provided just the right justification for the suspension of disbelief. Throw in a apocalyptic event through which humanity survives, figure in a new Einstein-like figure with paradigm-changing scientific theories, and then sprinkle out a handful of impressive technological products that change everything. Now MacLeod has got a world in which he can stick in whatever political philosophy or economic arrangement he wants. He's given us an adequate justification to believe it possible, and the point, anyway, is less to say that it is possible than it is to show us what the society would look like if it were to come true. That is speculative fiction I can get into! And I did; I loved it. There was an alienness to even the "familiar" parts of the novel that were delightful to me as a rather traditional 21st century American. I mean what kind of world is it when the narrator accuses Leninist Communists offhandedly of being conservative and anarcho-capitalists as liberals? It was even better because MacLeod starts from an excellent vantage point with this sequel. We get the first person narration of a newcomer whom doesn't have the knowledge that we readers of The Star Fraction and The Stone Canal do. What we get then, is something of omniscient perspective through a limited first person voice. We know things that our narrator does not. We can recognize her information constraints and see the erroneous conclusions or mistaken assumptions. This was just good fun. Add to that a plot teaming with possibilities, wonders, and drama. The Cassini Division was primed to be the best book I'd read in a long time.
But then it fell apart. The careful, tactical steps that MacLeod has been leading us through turned into a loping lunar run. Instead of strategic objectives we were aimed generally at the horizon. MacLeod sped through scenes that should have established character motivations for us, he delivered simplistic dialogues that would never have come from these peoples' mouths. Difficult decisions with long-range repercussions were made and unmade with the weakest of justifications and the flimsiest of evidence. The world turned into a tell-us-it-is-so rather than a show-us-it-is-so experience. He jumped into other debates - the meaning of life, brinkmanship - that were far less familiar to him and whose presentations turned out to be embarrassingly simplistic. The action scenes were chaotic, the reader unable to follow events that the characters obviously could. Buildup, anticipation, drama: these were all poorly deployed. MacLeod does save a few good ideas and plot developments to scatter around in the hindquarters, but half-hearted brushstrokes were the distinguishing pattern of most of the latter four-fifths of the novel.
The growth in MacLeod between his first novel and his second was astounding. I had hoped that he would make a similar jump between The Stone Canal and The Cassini Division. For a brief while I even got what I wished for. Obviously, though, I was disappointed with the final product. Still, the set up was just so good that I still have some warmth and enthusiasm for MacLeod and the series. I'll definitely be reading the fourth, The Sky Road, although I'll have far less hope than I started with in the Cassini Division.
September 23, 2022
Ce troisième tome du cycle Fall Revolution de Ken MacLeod m'a beaucoup plu, comme le précédent. Après un premier tome un peu compliqué à lire, l'auteur semble avoir trouvé un rythme de croisière avec deux tomes de très bonne facture.
Le récit reprend presque immédiatement après la fin du deuxième tome, avec les "retrouvailles" entre des habitants de New Mars avec le système solaire, ses citoyens et sa société anarcho-communiste. Cette fois, Jonathan Wilde n'est qu'un personnage secondaire, presque périphérique, et nous suivons l'action principalement à travers d'Ellen May Ngwethu, membre de la Division Cassini, une organisation chargée de protéger l'humanité contre les IA qui ont colonisé Jupiter.
Ken MacLeod nous propose un excellent récit de science-fiction autour de la question de l'essence de l'humanité, de la frontière entre humain et machine, et des moyens que peut et/ou doit utiliser l'humanité pour sa survie. Je ne sais pas si j'ai été totalement surpris par l'intrigue elle-même, mais c'est très bien exécuté et passionnant à lire du début à la fin. J'ai notamment beaucoup aimé les impressions respectives des anarcho-communistes du système solaire et des anarcho-capitalistes de New Mars sur le fonctionnement de leurs sociétés respectives : choc de cultures garanti !
Ce troisième tome confirme mes impressions lors de la lecture du deuxième : ce cycle propose de la très grande science-fiction, inventive et intelligente. Je vais enchainer directement avec le quatrième et dernier volume du cycle, en espérant qu'il apporte une conclusion digne des deux tomes que je viens de lire avec grand plaisir.
Le récit reprend presque immédiatement après la fin du deuxième tome, avec les "retrouvailles" entre des habitants de New Mars avec le système solaire, ses citoyens et sa société anarcho-communiste. Cette fois, Jonathan Wilde n'est qu'un personnage secondaire, presque périphérique, et nous suivons l'action principalement à travers d'Ellen May Ngwethu, membre de la Division Cassini, une organisation chargée de protéger l'humanité contre les IA qui ont colonisé Jupiter.
Ken MacLeod nous propose un excellent récit de science-fiction autour de la question de l'essence de l'humanité, de la frontière entre humain et machine, et des moyens que peut et/ou doit utiliser l'humanité pour sa survie. Je ne sais pas si j'ai été totalement surpris par l'intrigue elle-même, mais c'est très bien exécuté et passionnant à lire du début à la fin. J'ai notamment beaucoup aimé les impressions respectives des anarcho-communistes du système solaire et des anarcho-capitalistes de New Mars sur le fonctionnement de leurs sociétés respectives : choc de cultures garanti !
Ce troisième tome confirme mes impressions lors de la lecture du deuxième : ce cycle propose de la très grande science-fiction, inventive et intelligente. Je vais enchainer directement avec le quatrième et dernier volume du cycle, en espérant qu'il apporte une conclusion digne des deux tomes que je viens de lire avec grand plaisir.
February 24, 2025
I found this to be an exciting book and perhaps the strongest of the series by MacLeod. I thought the ideas were brilliant and the characters sympathetic. It is not as epic as Iain Banks or Peter Hamilton and definitely has a socialist bent, but it is still excellent science fiction!
June 10, 2013
Now this is much better than the previous instalment of Ken Macleod’s Fall Revolution series. It has lots of large scale space opera elements such as a comet based assault and a Jupiter that has been physically reshaped by the fast folk. It also has great lines such as “If it isn't running programs and it isn't fusing atoms, it's just bending space”. The politics fits much more seamlessly with the narrative, and, unlike the previous book, it has a central character who keeps your interest and sustains your belief in her. The last book in the series is even better than this but more on that anon…
March 13, 2008
Any and all of the Fall Revolution books are hard to read. That's not to say they aren't awesomely great books, because without fail they are. What I mean is that you will be challenged by Macleod politically. His story structure is very hard to accept at first but in the end is very rewarding.
May 25, 2024
Na página carnavalesco.com.br/maiores-ganhos-com-apostas-ranking-pin-up/ Os usuários têm uma oportunidade única de aprender sobre os maiores ganhos e estratégias que levam a grandes sucessos no Pin Up. Esta análise revela os segredos de como ganhar mais e obter excelentes resultados no mundo dos jogos de azar.
Estudando Estatísticas e Previsões
Uma das principais dicas para alcançar o máximo de ganhos no Pin Up é estudar estatísticas e previsões. A análise de resultados anteriores e o desenvolvimento de previsões irão ajudá-lo a tomar decisões de apostas informadas e a aumentar as suas hipóteses de sucesso.
Gestão de Bankroll e Apostas
O gerenciamento de banca é outro aspecto importante para jogar Pin Up com sucesso. A alocação inteligente dos seus fundos de jogo e a determinação dos tamanhos ideais de aposta irão ajudá-lo a minimizar os riscos e maximizar os ganhos potenciais.
Escolhendo os jogos certos
Escolher os jogos certos também desempenha um papel importante no seu sucesso no Pin Up. Jogue jogos com os quais você está familiarizado e que oferecem altas chances de ganhar para aumentar suas chances de ganhar muito.
Uso de bônus e promoções
Não se esqueça de aproveitar os bônus e promoções disponíveis oferecidos pela Pin Up. Isto pode incluir bónus de depósito, rodadas grátis ou ofertas especiais para o ajudar a aumentar os seus ganhos e melhorar a sua experiência de jogo.
Aprendizagem e melhoria contínua
Por último, não pare de aprender e melhorar constantemente suas habilidades de jogo. Acompanhe as últimas novidades e desenvolvimentos em estratégias, aprenda novos jogos e técnicas para se manter informado e maximizar seu potencial no Pin Up.
Conclusão
Seguindo essas dicas e estratégias, você pode aumentar suas chances de maximizar seus ganhos no Pin Up. Lembre-se de que o jogo deve ser divertido, então jogue com responsabilidade e aproveite a emoção do Pin Up com confiança em suas habilidades.
Estudando Estatísticas e Previsões
Uma das principais dicas para alcançar o máximo de ganhos no Pin Up é estudar estatísticas e previsões. A análise de resultados anteriores e o desenvolvimento de previsões irão ajudá-lo a tomar decisões de apostas informadas e a aumentar as suas hipóteses de sucesso.
Gestão de Bankroll e Apostas
O gerenciamento de banca é outro aspecto importante para jogar Pin Up com sucesso. A alocação inteligente dos seus fundos de jogo e a determinação dos tamanhos ideais de aposta irão ajudá-lo a minimizar os riscos e maximizar os ganhos potenciais.
Escolhendo os jogos certos
Escolher os jogos certos também desempenha um papel importante no seu sucesso no Pin Up. Jogue jogos com os quais você está familiarizado e que oferecem altas chances de ganhar para aumentar suas chances de ganhar muito.
Uso de bônus e promoções
Não se esqueça de aproveitar os bônus e promoções disponíveis oferecidos pela Pin Up. Isto pode incluir bónus de depósito, rodadas grátis ou ofertas especiais para o ajudar a aumentar os seus ganhos e melhorar a sua experiência de jogo.
Aprendizagem e melhoria contínua
Por último, não pare de aprender e melhorar constantemente suas habilidades de jogo. Acompanhe as últimas novidades e desenvolvimentos em estratégias, aprenda novos jogos e técnicas para se manter informado e maximizar seu potencial no Pin Up.
Conclusão
Seguindo essas dicas e estratégias, você pode aumentar suas chances de maximizar seus ganhos no Pin Up. Lembre-se de que o jogo deve ser divertido, então jogue com responsabilidade e aproveite a emoção do Pin Up com confiança em suas habilidades.
April 24, 2022
Very impressive, though not necessarily always likable. The first person viewpoint of this story is inflexible, obstinate and implacable and I couldn't stop disagreeing with her. And yet it's still very readable and understandable.
Also, a quote from the book that I had interesting thoughts about but demonstrates the viewpoint's ideas and what I mean about disagreeing with them.
The first wave of space-settlers had a saying, something betwen a litany and a running joke, which went: 'If God had meant usK to go into space, he'd have given us the moon; if he'd meant us to terraform, he'd have given us mars;. if If he'd meant us to mine asteroids, he'd have given us the belt; if he'd meant us to colonize, he'd have given us Callisto.' And so on.The details and name and gender of the deity allegedly responsible varied, but the message was the same. There were even attempts to reformulate it in more philosophically correct terms as a special case of the enthropic principle, but they always struck me as rather forced. If there was, as almost everybody now thought, no God, then all one could honestly say was that the human race was just unbelievably lucky. There had to be some winner of the cosmic lottery, some species which every chance event from the passing of the dinosaurs to the coming of the ice, had worked to bring about and then to light the fire of reason and on whose birth as a space going people the configuration of the planets had been favorable and the stars themselves had smiled. The true horoscope of our real destiny, infinitely greater than anything imagined in the petty prognostications of astrology.
Also, a quote from the book that I had interesting thoughts about but demonstrates the viewpoint's ideas and what I mean about disagreeing with them.
The first wave of space-settlers had a saying, something betwen a litany and a running joke, which went: 'If God had meant usK to go into space, he'd have given us the moon; if he'd meant us to terraform, he'd have given us mars;. if If he'd meant us to mine asteroids, he'd have given us the belt; if he'd meant us to colonize, he'd have given us Callisto.' And so on.The details and name and gender of the deity allegedly responsible varied, but the message was the same. There were even attempts to reformulate it in more philosophically correct terms as a special case of the enthropic principle, but they always struck me as rather forced. If there was, as almost everybody now thought, no God, then all one could honestly say was that the human race was just unbelievably lucky. There had to be some winner of the cosmic lottery, some species which every chance event from the passing of the dinosaurs to the coming of the ice, had worked to bring about and then to light the fire of reason and on whose birth as a space going people the configuration of the planets had been favorable and the stars themselves had smiled. The true horoscope of our real destiny, infinitely greater than anything imagined in the petty prognostications of astrology.
June 20, 2020
The 3rd in this series does need reading after 1 and 2, whatever order those are read in. A raft if new characters is introduced, the most important being Ellen May Ngwethuw. Jon Wilde has a brief 'walk on' part and David Reid and Tamara play minor parts towards the end. Ellen is part of the Cassini Division, which is an autonomous group taking care of Earth defence from Cassini. As the book opens she is on Earth seeking for Professor Malley, whose name cropped up in The Stone Canal, but without any great explanations. After the revolutions and wars of earlier centuries, civilisation on Earth has settled down to a peaceful existence where the unlimited resources are available to all due to nanotechnology. Malley was the inventor of the Gate and is needed to advise on it further. The Cassini Division is particularly concerned about the Macros, or Fast People, we met in book 2 and their danger to the rest of civilisation. Once again, the author is concerned about the communist policy on Cassini and Earth (but not communism as we know it, Jim) and the unfettered capitalism on New Mars. My personal view is that in the 21st century, we are seeing the collapse of both as economic models and that eventually something entirely different will emerge. It is a time, a little like that when Feudalism was gradually replaced. What it will be, I have no idea, and I doubt that anyone reading this will find out, as such fundamental changes take a very long time. The author, I should say, is to be commended for the brevity of his books. No 1000 page tomes for Kevin MacLeod.
November 19, 2022
Pointless. Directionless. Ineptly plotted.
Completely devoid of plot. We are told what the gang want to do. Military? Rogue? Then nothing happens. Then they do the thing.
A prime example of telling and not showing. The characters debate the morality of what they're doing over and over. They go from place to place for no particular reason. Go to the place and do the thing, for fuck's sake. Or don't. I don't buy any of their arguments. Poorly thought out arrogant shite. It's genocide. Admit it. Why do they want to do it? Well, exactly...
The prose is okay. It doesn't fall into the hard sci-fi trap of exhaustively and exhaustingly describing some made up tech. (Just because there's tons of words, doesn't make it any more realistic than Star Trek! It's still made up!) There are lots of words about wormholes, but it's pretty nonsensical, and it doesn't matter. It gets them to the place to do the thing.
It wasn't that I didn't understand the world - this is a book in a series. It works standalone. The concept is so utterly basic, the events so wafer-thin, I'm surprised this shit was dragged out for as long as it was.
It's supposedly about post-humans. I can guarantee that there are better books on the topic. It's quite the thing. There's fucking loads of them. I would barely call this a novel. Avoid like the plague.
No tension. No plot (to speak of). Just a waste of time. And a mission to read, despite it being short.
Completely devoid of plot. We are told what the gang want to do. Military? Rogue? Then nothing happens. Then they do the thing.
A prime example of telling and not showing. The characters debate the morality of what they're doing over and over. They go from place to place for no particular reason. Go to the place and do the thing, for fuck's sake. Or don't. I don't buy any of their arguments. Poorly thought out arrogant shite. It's genocide. Admit it. Why do they want to do it? Well, exactly...
The prose is okay. It doesn't fall into the hard sci-fi trap of exhaustively and exhaustingly describing some made up tech. (Just because there's tons of words, doesn't make it any more realistic than Star Trek! It's still made up!) There are lots of words about wormholes, but it's pretty nonsensical, and it doesn't matter. It gets them to the place to do the thing.
It wasn't that I didn't understand the world - this is a book in a series. It works standalone. The concept is so utterly basic, the events so wafer-thin, I'm surprised this shit was dragged out for as long as it was.
It's supposedly about post-humans. I can guarantee that there are better books on the topic. It's quite the thing. There's fucking loads of them. I would barely call this a novel. Avoid like the plague.
No tension. No plot (to speak of). Just a waste of time. And a mission to read, despite it being short.
December 26, 2022
Ellen May Ngwethu is a member of an elite defence force known as the Cassini Division. The role of the Division is to defend the Solar System from the threat posed by the Outwarders. Many years prior, a group of humans experimented with downloading minds into machines. They left the System via a wormhole and became known as the Outwarders. Over time they evolved into post-human beings that experience life at a quickened pace. On their return to the Solar System they took up residence on Jupiter.
Over a period of centuries, Earth has been bombarded by space-borne computer viruses emanating from Jupiter. The people of Earth have had to develop technology that avoids the damage possible from these viruses. Electronics and radio technology are both susceptible. Rather than use e-mail, humans now use c-mail which makes use of chemicals, to communicate.
Ellen has been given the task of finding a Professor Malley, who wrote a paper establishing the theoretical possibility of wormholes (13 years before the Outwarders built theirs). The Division wants him to help them pass through the wormhole to New Mars, established by some rogue Outwarders.
This is Macleod's third book and I'd recommend reading the first two before tackling this one. Aspects of the book and especially some of the characters attitudes were difficult to follow without this prior reading. On the whole the book is worth taking a look at.
Over a period of centuries, Earth has been bombarded by space-borne computer viruses emanating from Jupiter. The people of Earth have had to develop technology that avoids the damage possible from these viruses. Electronics and radio technology are both susceptible. Rather than use e-mail, humans now use c-mail which makes use of chemicals, to communicate.
Ellen has been given the task of finding a Professor Malley, who wrote a paper establishing the theoretical possibility of wormholes (13 years before the Outwarders built theirs). The Division wants him to help them pass through the wormhole to New Mars, established by some rogue Outwarders.
This is Macleod's third book and I'd recommend reading the first two before tackling this one. Aspects of the book and especially some of the characters attitudes were difficult to follow without this prior reading. On the whole the book is worth taking a look at.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 9, 2022
Fall Revolution saa päätöksensä. Tällä kertaa päähenkilönä on Ellen May Ngwethu, joka kuuluu Cassinin jakoon, Aurinkokunnan unionin eliittijoukkoihin, joiden tehtävänä on varjella ihmiskuntaa posthumanistisilta tekoälyiltä. Näiden tekoälyjen tavoitteista ei tiedetä mitään, mutta niillä on aikaisemmin ollut voimaa hajoittaa Ganymede palasiksi ja rakentaa aineksista madonreikä, jota pitkin päästiin The Stone Canal -kirjasta tutulle New Mars -planeetalle.
Jupiterissa majailevat tekoälyt aiheuttavat maan asukkaille monenlaista vaivaa, estäen muun muassa täysin radioliikenteen ja monenlaisen elektroniikan käyttämisen, koska Jupiterista virtaa tasaisella tahdilla kavalia viruksia, jotka leviävät radioteitse. Niinpä suunnitelmissa onkin täräyttää tekoälyt pirstaleiksi — mutta ovatko ne sittenkään niin pahoja kuin mitä perimätieto ja erikoisjoukkojen dogmaattinen aito tieto väittää?
Ellen joutuu punnitsemaan satojen vuosien aikana lukkiutuneita näkemyksiään. Jupiterin tekoälyjen lisäksi niitä koettelevat maasta noudettu tiedemies Isambard Malley ja toisaalta New Mars -planeetan anarkokapitalistit. The Cassini Division on vauhdikas ja nopealiikkeinen scifitarina, jossa on MacLeodin tapaan vahva sosialistinen poliittinen lataus. (20.9.2010)
Jupiterissa majailevat tekoälyt aiheuttavat maan asukkaille monenlaista vaivaa, estäen muun muassa täysin radioliikenteen ja monenlaisen elektroniikan käyttämisen, koska Jupiterista virtaa tasaisella tahdilla kavalia viruksia, jotka leviävät radioteitse. Niinpä suunnitelmissa onkin täräyttää tekoälyt pirstaleiksi — mutta ovatko ne sittenkään niin pahoja kuin mitä perimätieto ja erikoisjoukkojen dogmaattinen aito tieto väittää?
Ellen joutuu punnitsemaan satojen vuosien aikana lukkiutuneita näkemyksiään. Jupiterin tekoälyjen lisäksi niitä koettelevat maasta noudettu tiedemies Isambard Malley ja toisaalta New Mars -planeetan anarkokapitalistit. The Cassini Division on vauhdikas ja nopealiikkeinen scifitarina, jossa on MacLeodin tapaan vahva sosialistinen poliittinen lataus. (20.9.2010)
November 13, 2024
Ellen May Ngewthu is leading a group of Solar Union elite forces known as the Cassini Division, for the socialist government of Earth. The threat of post-human intelligences has arisen again, this time on Jupiter, where an enclave has been launching viruses which can take over machines and, to the dismay of most, human minds, making them puppets. Ellen’s group has a plan to destroy the post-humans should evidence surface of intent to assimilate, but she is getting opposition from some factions which think the danger has passed and trust should be their byword. Secret plans are made within the Division to send cometary fragments deep into Jupiter if all else fails. A surprise visit via wormhole to New Mars confirms her fears. There, a capitalist society has re-emerged, and it seems to think they can trade information with the post-humans. Ellen realises that their virus defenses are woefully inadequate and she must now prepare for danger from this new quarter. Earth demands a halt to the cometary fusillade but Ellen has a third plan ready when the Jovian breakout occurs… Third book of the Fall Revolution series from Ken Macleod. It is exciting enough but I’d have to recommend that you read the previous two books first for a full grasp of the action.
September 14, 2023
I think the third book in The Fall Revolution was a bit more interesting than the first two, but maybe that's because it builds so NICELY on all the crazy, ranting, political thought of the previous. The obvious ones being capitalism, socialism, and several dozen others mesh like nuts in this post-mortality, post-singularity civilizations.
In this particular book, we're seeing through the eyes of communist anarchist hawks that protect their own but treat EVERYONE else with an iron fist, including the Jupiter post-singularity mass of super-intelligence. Add a re-opening of dialogue, reopening of wormhole tech and renewed contact with a long lost capitalist post-singularity civilization, and the conflict gets rather sweet.
This IS hard-SF with a particular bent in satirizing political and economic models, since these same people from our near future were the ones to become immortal, and this is just a natural progression of what would happen to us if we just... kept going. It's pretty cool and unexpectedly complex.
This kind of SF isn't that common anymore, and I'm really enjoying it.
In this particular book, we're seeing through the eyes of communist anarchist hawks that protect their own but treat EVERYONE else with an iron fist, including the Jupiter post-singularity mass of super-intelligence. Add a re-opening of dialogue, reopening of wormhole tech and renewed contact with a long lost capitalist post-singularity civilization, and the conflict gets rather sweet.
This IS hard-SF with a particular bent in satirizing political and economic models, since these same people from our near future were the ones to become immortal, and this is just a natural progression of what would happen to us if we just... kept going. It's pretty cool and unexpectedly complex.
This kind of SF isn't that common anymore, and I'm really enjoying it.
April 27, 2025
Hugely fun book. Full of ideas and characters who spend long conversations debating economics and political theory, surprising for a novel whose main plot drive is an existential threat to humanity. I would have expected more action and fewer speeches. But the strong protagonist and the brisk and witty writing more than compensate. I liked that for most of the novel, MacLeod seems to challenge the optimistic takes on post- and transhumanism from other lefty sci-fi writers like Doctorow, and on AI by the likes of Banks. Those views are qualified by the end, though. He also sketches a post-scarcity anarcho-communist utopia in relatively detailed terms, joining the tradition of utopian socialist Sci-Fi (as hinted at by the chapter titles). Hard not so see its influence on The Expanse, KSR, Stross...
June 13, 2024
(2.5 Stars)
A human with the capability of destroying a tremendous number of artificial intelligences tries to convince others that it's the right course of action.
Another MacLeod book that left me mostly confused. The protagonist is never conflicted internally, she just has to decide when to take unilateral action to commit an arguable genocide. There is some of MacLeod's penchant for determining the course of the universe by committee, which.... I don't know how strong of an opinion I have on at what point an artificial intelligence should be protected by a moral obligation, but neither am I convinced MacLeod does. It could be that I just didn't read this carefully enough. It could be that MacLeod just writes over my head.
In any case, I found this fine, but not exceptional.
A human with the capability of destroying a tremendous number of artificial intelligences tries to convince others that it's the right course of action.
Another MacLeod book that left me mostly confused. The protagonist is never conflicted internally, she just has to decide when to take unilateral action to commit an arguable genocide. There is some of MacLeod's penchant for determining the course of the universe by committee, which.... I don't know how strong of an opinion I have on at what point an artificial intelligence should be protected by a moral obligation, but neither am I convinced MacLeod does. It could be that I just didn't read this carefully enough. It could be that MacLeod just writes over my head.
In any case, I found this fine, but not exceptional.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2022
I enjoyed the hard science aspect of this book, but the political commentary reminded me of reading Wells, and not in a particularly good way. It wouldn't have taken very much to clean the book up and elevate it in my opinion. For example, the author fell victim to the same thing that many other SF authors do: fetishizing the late 20th century. I with more authors would be brave enough to invent a future history that their characters could reference.
At the end of the day, the writing just wasn't interesting enough to grab me and keep my reading, as evidenced by the 3 weeks it took me to finish it.
At the end of the day, the writing just wasn't interesting enough to grab me and keep my reading, as evidenced by the 3 weeks it took me to finish it.
January 23, 2018
A good read. Interesting physics and engineering together with philosophical, social and political arguments with twists on anarchist and libertarian social organizations. Don't be put off, can just be read as a straight (but witty) space opera but you can read more slowly and think, if so inclined. I varied depending on how tired I was for a particular chapter.
Told in the first person by an interesting character with a smart space suit that can double as a self-cleaning pink dress, ideal for the bridge of her space ship.
Told in the first person by an interesting character with a smart space suit that can double as a self-cleaning pink dress, ideal for the bridge of her space ship.
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