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Humanity's Fire #4
Ancestral Machines
The Warcage is a feat of unprecedented stellar engineering: two hundred worlds harnessed to an artificial sun. Built to travel through space as a monument to peace between alien species, its voracious rulers have turned it into a nightmarish wasteland, capturing new planets for slaves and resources, then discarding the old.
Now, when a verdant agri-world is pulled out of its orbit and a deal goes bad, it is up to the captain of a smuggling ship to journey into the Warcage and rescue his crew.
Now, when a verdant agri-world is pulled out of its orbit and a deal goes bad, it is up to the captain of a smuggling ship to journey into the Warcage and rescue his crew.
544 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2015
50 people are currently reading
857 people want to read
About the author
Michael Cobley
18 books137 followersMike Cobley was born in Leicester and has lived in Scotland since the age of seven. Although the Scottish cultural heritage informs much of his own outlook (egalitarian, argumentative yet amiable, and able to appreciate rain), he thinks of himself as a citizen of the world.
While studying engineering at Strathclyde University, he discovered the joys and risks of student life and pursued a sideline career as a DJ, possibly to the detriment of his studies. The heady round of DJ'ing, partying and student gigs palled eventually, but by then his interests had been snagged by an encounter with Pirsig's 'Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance' which led him off on a philosophical and political odyssey which continues to this day.
The desire to write had its first burgeoning when he was 20/21, resulting in the creation of a short fantasy novel (that has never seen the light of day!). He later wrote a string of articles/rants for the campus paper at Strathclyde University under the pen-name Phaedrus, at the same time as he began writing short stories. Mike harbour much affection for the short story form, but has had little opportunity to write them since beginning work on the Shadowkings trilogy.
The 1st 2 volumes of the trilogy - Shadowkings and Shadowgod - have been published by Simon & Schuster's now-defunct imprint Earthlight, and the 3rd part - Shadowmasque - will be published by Simon & Schuster-Pocket at the end of 2004. Mike has a number of ideas and concepts for his next big project but they're being kept on the backburner for the time being. The publication of Iron Mosaic will be a personal milestone for him, as well as a showcase of the topics and techiques which have intrigued him since the publication of his first short story back in 1986. And just recently, he has had appeared in the Thackery T Lambshead Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, with a monologue upon the malady known as 'Parabubozygosia', which is not for the faint-hearted!
While studying engineering at Strathclyde University, he discovered the joys and risks of student life and pursued a sideline career as a DJ, possibly to the detriment of his studies. The heady round of DJ'ing, partying and student gigs palled eventually, but by then his interests had been snagged by an encounter with Pirsig's 'Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance' which led him off on a philosophical and political odyssey which continues to this day.
The desire to write had its first burgeoning when he was 20/21, resulting in the creation of a short fantasy novel (that has never seen the light of day!). He later wrote a string of articles/rants for the campus paper at Strathclyde University under the pen-name Phaedrus, at the same time as he began writing short stories. Mike harbour much affection for the short story form, but has had little opportunity to write them since beginning work on the Shadowkings trilogy.
The 1st 2 volumes of the trilogy - Shadowkings and Shadowgod - have been published by Simon & Schuster's now-defunct imprint Earthlight, and the 3rd part - Shadowmasque - will be published by Simon & Schuster-Pocket at the end of 2004. Mike has a number of ideas and concepts for his next big project but they're being kept on the backburner for the time being. The publication of Iron Mosaic will be a personal milestone for him, as well as a showcase of the topics and techiques which have intrigued him since the publication of his first short story back in 1986. And just recently, he has had appeared in the Thackery T Lambshead Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, with a monologue upon the malady known as 'Parabubozygosia', which is not for the faint-hearted!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
May 15, 2016
I have not read the Humanity's Fire trilogy. As this is supposed to be a standalone set in the same universe I thought I'd try it as a taster first before committing to the larger trilogy. In that sense I was not confused at any point and I did not feel I was lacking background.
The universe of these novels features multiple interstellar-capable humanoid oxygen breathers (think Star Trek) with human interests concentrated in the Earthsphere. The Construct, a sophisticated machine intelligence society who are allies with the Earthsphere detect an approaching megastructure, an artificial mobile solar system once called the Great Harbour of Benevolent Harmony, but long since debased to something horrible that its inhabitants call the Warcage.
Our point-of-view characters are the crew of the Scarabus a smuggler spaceship led by Captain Brannan Pyke, a pair of intelligence operatives from the Construct and Earthsphere Intelligence (a human and an AI drone) and the second in command of the forces of the most dangerous warrior species of the Warcage. Each of these have different and sometimes clashing goals, but just surviving the Warcage proves difficult enough.
I'm having a few problems articulating my thoughts on this book. It's extremely action-packed and very dark in places, and it fairly drowns in plot. But the pacing is great, the plot is sensible enough and we get a satisfying story arc of the Earthsphere people coming in contact with the Warcage and quickly getting caught up in the machinations of its leaders and the various rebellions against their tyrannical rule.
But on the flipside, the technobabble is strong with this one and it's used in some truly awful purple prose. In some cases so awful, it's kind of great. Take this for example:
That's definitely some type of English, I can recognize that much.
Additionally, some of the characters are well done, and particularly the alien General, but Captain Pyke reads as a wise-cracking impulsive arsehole with wildly varying personality traits. I found myself a bit annoyed with the overly-superior AI drone Rensik as well and the Earthforce operative is so cardboard she may as well not have been there, even after a promising backstory.
If you're looking for a rollicking space adventure, and you find Peter F. Hamilton too wordy, or Alastair Reynolds too deep or Iain M. Banks too literary, this may be what you're looking for.
The universe of these novels features multiple interstellar-capable humanoid oxygen breathers (think Star Trek) with human interests concentrated in the Earthsphere. The Construct, a sophisticated machine intelligence society who are allies with the Earthsphere detect an approaching megastructure, an artificial mobile solar system once called the Great Harbour of Benevolent Harmony, but long since debased to something horrible that its inhabitants call the Warcage.
Our point-of-view characters are the crew of the Scarabus a smuggler spaceship led by Captain Brannan Pyke, a pair of intelligence operatives from the Construct and Earthsphere Intelligence (a human and an AI drone) and the second in command of the forces of the most dangerous warrior species of the Warcage. Each of these have different and sometimes clashing goals, but just surviving the Warcage proves difficult enough.
I'm having a few problems articulating my thoughts on this book. It's extremely action-packed and very dark in places, and it fairly drowns in plot. But the pacing is great, the plot is sensible enough and we get a satisfying story arc of the Earthsphere people coming in contact with the Warcage and quickly getting caught up in the machinations of its leaders and the various rebellions against their tyrannical rule.
But on the flipside, the technobabble is strong with this one and it's used in some truly awful purple prose. In some cases so awful, it's kind of great. Take this for example:
At the same time Rensik fed the parameters of a hyperspace microjump into the navigationals, triggering it a mere 1.8 seconds before impact. The unleashed transboundary forces shattered the aperture and caused a radiating burst of variable-state energy which disrupted the welter of forcefield structures cluttering the vicinity of hyperspace on the other side of the aperture.
That's definitely some type of English, I can recognize that much.
Additionally, some of the characters are well done, and particularly the alien General, but Captain Pyke reads as a wise-cracking impulsive arsehole with wildly varying personality traits. I found myself a bit annoyed with the overly-superior AI drone Rensik as well and the Earthforce operative is so cardboard she may as well not have been there, even after a promising backstory.
If you're looking for a rollicking space adventure, and you find Peter F. Hamilton too wordy, or Alastair Reynolds too deep or Iain M. Banks too literary, this may be what you're looking for.
May 3, 2019
Michael Cobley really, really wishes he was Iain M. Banks - even down to recycling his quote from the first book in the cover of this one. But, it never quite measures up to those lofty heights. That said, being as good as Banks is pretty much unattainable, so Cobley shouldn't feel too bad about producing this enjoyable space romp even with its few little flaws, though it feels a little more Star Trek that Culture.
February 6, 2017
The furiously unrelenting torrent of technogibberish is fun at first (and I would've enjoyed it as part of a short story), but along with the overbusy plot and gratuitous scene changes, the reader quickly finds themselves bleary-eyed and unmoored, desperately groping for some kind of stable reference point. The real killer for me, though, is that most of the characters are assholes, particularly the gormless crew of the [Firefly clone], who manage to get their ship hijacked twice in a row. Stop inviting space pirates in for tea, guys! DNF when I realized I wished everyone would get sucked into a black hole.
Edit: Another reviewer commented that they preferred the preceding books, so I had a go at The Seeds of Earth, and yup, it's definitely better, not that I finished it either... So if you're on the fence here, give it try - I didn't actively loathe most of the characters!
Edit: Another reviewer commented that they preferred the preceding books, so I had a go at The Seeds of Earth, and yup, it's definitely better, not that I finished it either... So if you're on the fence here, give it try - I didn't actively loathe most of the characters!
January 8, 2019
Really quite poor! I had read Cobley's previous trilogy and didn't think that much of it, but decided to give his next book a go simply because this kind of thing is usually right up my street.
Thinly drawn and irritating characters, muddy and confused world building, atrocious dialogue and prose all married to a boring and simplistic plot.
Thinly drawn and irritating characters, muddy and confused world building, atrocious dialogue and prose all married to a boring and simplistic plot.
April 9, 2019
If you like Iain M Banks then you Will like this. Good read.
March 13, 2016
Did not enjoy this all. Too slow, too convoluted and just plain not interesting. Didn't click with any character, least of all Pyke. The trilogy before tickled my fancy more, will probably skip any other sequels if they come.
May 24, 2020
Ersatz Banksian "Culture" sans humour and wild imagination. I didn't finish.
November 27, 2022
On the face of it Space Opera is about the grand scale – a galaxy spanning sweep, ultra- advanced technology, a clash of cultures, an indisputable villain or species thereof. Yet to every tale there must be the small scale, a human, or at least intelligible to human, consequence to it; individuals at risk, conflict meaningful to them, struggles and enemies to be overcome. Getting the balance right, not letting the imposing overpower the down-to-earth or having the colossal so remote as to be intangible, is tricky. In Ancestral Machines Cobley has had fun with the trappings, let rip the invention, but tagged it to a time-honoured plot, with a few extras thrown in for good measure. It reads as an extravagant pastiche of all that is good - and some that isn’t - of the sub-genre.
To satisfy the sense of wonder which Space Opera strives to evoke we have here planets being whisked away to be substituted by others then lined up in a huge array lit/powered by an artificial sun, a supposedly impregnable habitat inside a star, portable wormhole generators. The humans caught up in this are the crew of the smuggler spaceship Scarabus, captained by Brannan Pyke and separately (to begin with) Earthsphere drone Rensik Estemil, delegated along with female Lieutenant Sam Brock to infiltrate the domains of The Great Harbour of Benevolent Harmony - now taken over by dastardly aliens - and, if possible, thwart their designs.
As is common in this type of thing we have apostrophously named aliens such as G’Brozen Mav and T’Loshkin Rey; extravagantly titled soldier types - Akreen, First Blade of the Zavri, whose head is filled with the thoughts of ancestors/previous inhabitants of his body; all but unpronounceable would-be masters of the universe, the Xra-Lords. These latter have an utterly preposterous bodily modification. The whole is larded with information dumps and infilling of background. Some conversations take place purely to relay information, Pyke communicates almost solely with would-be drollery, others use arch knowingness.
The prose is also redolent of the less serious end of the sub-genre with turns of phrase such as “strange roseate ripples began rippling across the sky” repeating a word in close proximity and sentences such as, “The Shadow Bastion was suddenly revealed in almost all its entirety,” which don’t quite cohere. Characters aren’t clothed but garbed, battle descriptions are over-wrought and over-written, and there are innumerable neologisms. Fans of this kind of Space Opera will lap it all up.
To satisfy the sense of wonder which Space Opera strives to evoke we have here planets being whisked away to be substituted by others then lined up in a huge array lit/powered by an artificial sun, a supposedly impregnable habitat inside a star, portable wormhole generators. The humans caught up in this are the crew of the smuggler spaceship Scarabus, captained by Brannan Pyke and separately (to begin with) Earthsphere drone Rensik Estemil, delegated along with female Lieutenant Sam Brock to infiltrate the domains of The Great Harbour of Benevolent Harmony - now taken over by dastardly aliens - and, if possible, thwart their designs.
As is common in this type of thing we have apostrophously named aliens such as G’Brozen Mav and T’Loshkin Rey; extravagantly titled soldier types - Akreen, First Blade of the Zavri, whose head is filled with the thoughts of ancestors/previous inhabitants of his body; all but unpronounceable would-be masters of the universe, the Xra-Lords. These latter have an utterly preposterous bodily modification. The whole is larded with information dumps and infilling of background. Some conversations take place purely to relay information, Pyke communicates almost solely with would-be drollery, others use arch knowingness.
The prose is also redolent of the less serious end of the sub-genre with turns of phrase such as “strange roseate ripples began rippling across the sky” repeating a word in close proximity and sentences such as, “The Shadow Bastion was suddenly revealed in almost all its entirety,” which don’t quite cohere. Characters aren’t clothed but garbed, battle descriptions are over-wrought and over-written, and there are innumerable neologisms. Fans of this kind of Space Opera will lap it all up.
November 21, 2022
I came to this from Cobley's trilogy set in the same universe, and I think I expected more continuity but it soon became apparent that the links between books #1 - #3 of Humanity's Fire and this were tenuous. The plot was rather convoluted and hard to follow to begin with. That, plus heavier workloads I have faced this year made it a slow burner to get through. I'm not a quitter though, and perseverance saw me through to an ending that came together in a more funsome and grandiose space romp than the earlier chapters of the book. Overall I rate this a 3 stars, 2 for the first half and 4 for the second.
Cobley's persona as a writer and his various influences really comes through in these books, and he seems like a thoroughly likeable chap who wears the nerd badge with pride. It's militaristic sci fi but with a heart and plenty of good old fashioned (mostly) good guys vs bad guys fisticuffs and hi-tech firefights. I imagine he'd be nice to sit down and share a few bevvies with.
Onwards to Humanity's Fire #5, then, Splintered Suns....but after a bit of a break to catch up on book #2 of S. A. Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy.
Cobley's persona as a writer and his various influences really comes through in these books, and he seems like a thoroughly likeable chap who wears the nerd badge with pride. It's militaristic sci fi but with a heart and plenty of good old fashioned (mostly) good guys vs bad guys fisticuffs and hi-tech firefights. I imagine he'd be nice to sit down and share a few bevvies with.
Onwards to Humanity's Fire #5, then, Splintered Suns....but after a bit of a break to catch up on book #2 of S. A. Chakraborty's Daevabad Trilogy.
June 22, 2020
Ancestral Machines is a stand alone book that fits into the Humanity's Fire universe and has some of the elaborate background from that series. Even so, it can be read by itself.
It's a space opera on the gigantic scale. Millions of years ago, in the Greater Shining Galaxy, a number of worlds got together to hook planets together in a geometrical shape with a sun at the centre to form a kind of spaceship that could wander about. Over time, it turned into a permanent war zone and eventually a ruling elite dedicated to non-stop combat took over. Now it has arrived in the Milky Way and a number of disparate groups go to investigate, including Captain Brandon Pike, a free trader, and his ragtag crew of misfits.
The story rolls along nicely and there is plenty of invention for SF fans to wallow in. The characters are pretty standard types and it's a rollicking adventure yarn. Don't look for any depth but go along for the ride and you'll enjoy it.
It's a space opera on the gigantic scale. Millions of years ago, in the Greater Shining Galaxy, a number of worlds got together to hook planets together in a geometrical shape with a sun at the centre to form a kind of spaceship that could wander about. Over time, it turned into a permanent war zone and eventually a ruling elite dedicated to non-stop combat took over. Now it has arrived in the Milky Way and a number of disparate groups go to investigate, including Captain Brandon Pike, a free trader, and his ragtag crew of misfits.
The story rolls along nicely and there is plenty of invention for SF fans to wallow in. The characters are pretty standard types and it's a rollicking adventure yarn. Don't look for any depth but go along for the ride and you'll enjoy it.
June 9, 2023
I have completed the whole HUmanity's Fire novels now in the order of 5, 1, 2, 3, 4.
Ancestral Machines awas excellent space opera, enjoyable and easy to read/follow.
I didn't much care for the character of Captain Pyke. I especially enjoyed the AI's Rensik and the Construct and all the cool technology.
The idea of the Warcage, a movable solar system of captured worlds from another galaxy was unique to my readings.
My only real complaint is that all the loose ends were not wrapped up. In particular,
It's a shame that Cobley doesn't seem to have written any further books/stories after 2018 according to Wikipedia. His talent is missed.
Ancestral Machines awas excellent space opera, enjoyable and easy to read/follow.
I didn't much care for the character of Captain Pyke. I especially enjoyed the AI's Rensik and the Construct and all the cool technology.
The idea of the Warcage, a movable solar system of captured worlds from another galaxy was unique to my readings.
My only real complaint is that all the loose ends were not wrapped up. In particular,
It's a shame that Cobley doesn't seem to have written any further books/stories after 2018 according to Wikipedia. His talent is missed.
April 24, 2018
I got this out with the other books because I had seen it listed as Book Four of Humanity's Fire and I wanted to work through the whole series. It's not. It's a stand-alone novel set considerably later in the same universe.
The only characters from the trilogy are two of the AI entities (they were among my favourite characters anyway. I do like a sarcastic AI).
This story moves at a good pace. The heroes, rogues and otherwise, are all likeable and the villains are truly despicable. The inventiveness is impressive and there is plenty of action.
I got through this one pretty quickly.
Now, to work on my sleep deficit.
The only characters from the trilogy are two of the AI entities (they were among my favourite characters anyway. I do like a sarcastic AI).
This story moves at a good pace. The heroes, rogues and otherwise, are all likeable and the villains are truly despicable. The inventiveness is impressive and there is plenty of action.
I got through this one pretty quickly.
Now, to work on my sleep deficit.
July 11, 2018
I wanted a space romp, but none of the characters were fun. I was hoping for adventure and characters and got stodgy cardboard types trudging around as incomprehensible space bad guys pushed them hither and yon. There were a bunch of different viewpoints, and for me switching between them worked to deflate any tension or momentum; I never really cared what happened next when spun away from one group. I think maybe this is the middle of a series? Apparently the author has written in this universe before, but I thought this was a new beginning. Maybe you needed the other books to have a base from which to connect to the story?
October 28, 2018
Pretty good read.
The crew of the Scarabus in deep doo-doo, stuck in the Warcage with no ship and seemingly no hope.
Captain Pyke the ever cheerful rogue, pirate,conman et al is a bit annoying at times with his attitude, as if it's all just a game and all will be right with the cosmos so long as he can laugh and joke his way through the various obstacles in his path.
Not really Han Solo, more Jack Sparrow with a good dose of Captain Pugwash thrown in.
That said, I did enjoy it as a bit of light popcorn reading material, for more serious all round whizz-bang excitement I look to Neal Asher and the Polity universe for that.
The crew of the Scarabus in deep doo-doo, stuck in the Warcage with no ship and seemingly no hope.
Captain Pyke the ever cheerful rogue, pirate,conman et al is a bit annoying at times with his attitude, as if it's all just a game and all will be right with the cosmos so long as he can laugh and joke his way through the various obstacles in his path.
Not really Han Solo, more Jack Sparrow with a good dose of Captain Pugwash thrown in.
That said, I did enjoy it as a bit of light popcorn reading material, for more serious all round whizz-bang excitement I look to Neal Asher and the Polity universe for that.
July 28, 2022
ok this was another syfi book that seemed to go on forever or so it felt..anyways was about a war that went on in the Warcage where people and machines battle one another to survive..Captain Pyke and his crew must work together to survive the Warcage and stop a diabolical plan to end the Shuskar a evil group of creatures destroying worlds and taking prisoners all over for their bad evil plans..who will win and who will lose read it if you like and find out..
November 26, 2017
"Versatile efficiency in a Human! My Probabilistics partition may never recover."
...
He chuckled and slung back the next one... and had to hold on to the table as a locomotive of alcoholic severity steamed its way down into his chest...
...
Once again a great read with lovable characters with no need to be acquitted with the previous books.
...
He chuckled and slung back the next one... and had to hold on to the table as a locomotive of alcoholic severity steamed its way down into his chest...
...
Once again a great read with lovable characters with no need to be acquitted with the previous books.
September 28, 2021
This was a bit of a slow burner for me. It took me a while to get a feel for the story and characters, but by halfway the action had picked up a pace and I found myself greatly enjoying it. I accidentally read this out of sequence with the others, but it wasn't a huge problem. I will say that the book following this, 'Splintered Suns', is excellent and definitely worth reading.
May 20, 2022
I have not read any of the Humanitys Fire series, but this stands alone within that universe anyway. I very much enjoyed the character developments throughout, including the AI, who are most amusing.
I appreciated the tremendous scope of the world he has created and the complicated adventure he takes everyone on.
Will have to seek out the series I think
I appreciated the tremendous scope of the world he has created and the complicated adventure he takes everyone on.
Will have to seek out the series I think
January 27, 2025
I got bored quite soon with him much the author LOVES Pyke and wants to make him out as a witty, cynical know-it-all without ever actually including any wit. I don't know how many times I read something like "Pyke was about to retort something cynical when suddenly...". That and the multitude of simply dropped plot points detracted heavily from the book for me.
June 13, 2025
This is an under-rated series, as I've said in my previous review.
Everything you want from space opera: big ideas, big characters, interesting plots.
While this book involves an almost completely set of characters from the first three books, it's still an interesting and enjoyable tale. Very much recommended.
Everything you want from space opera: big ideas, big characters, interesting plots.
While this book involves an almost completely set of characters from the first three books, it's still an interesting and enjoyable tale. Very much recommended.
June 11, 2017
Sorry, couldn't finish this. Despite its promise of "galaxy-spanning space opera..." the novel basically boils down to space mercenaries on a mission with some grand-scale ornamentation that eventually becomes overbearing rather than awe-inspiring.
Err... that's it.
Err... that's it.
July 27, 2018
Recent Reads: Ancestral Machines. Michael Cobley returns to the universe of his Humanity's Fire series to deliver a WWII movie of a space opera. A rag tag crew against a monstrous machine that wields a power of worlds. A ripping yarn in all possible senses.
August 25, 2020
I really wanted to like Ancestral Machines, but no matter how hard I tried I simply couldn't. The only reason why I gave it two stars and not one is that I managed to finish it - so clearly it could be worse.
May 27, 2017
"Is the Cyberpope a quantumystic catholic?"
March 15, 2019
Didn’t finish it, got about 1/4 of the way in but lost interest, it all got a bit silly 🤔
January 20, 2019
I couldn't finish this book. A previous reviewer said "relentless technogibberish" ; I agree. About halfway through, I thought - why am I reading this, it's boring the arse off me.
March 21, 2019
Boring
I wished I read reviews before, not afterI completed the book. Boring. Lengthy descriptions that serve no purpose. Twists and turns that make no sense.
I wished I read reviews before, not afterI completed the book. Boring. Lengthy descriptions that serve no purpose. Twists and turns that make no sense.
October 25, 2019
AIs, 300 worlds, one sun, Amazing Engineering,and lots of action.
June 13, 2023
Mi son perso all'inizio, ma divertito dalla seconda metà al finale.
September 12, 2023
Best of the four in this series so far.
Superb pacing!
Ridiculous space opera action.
Superb pacing!
Ridiculous space opera action.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews