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Ack-Ack Macaque: The Complete Trilogy
Once, Twice, Three Times a Monkey
Life is good for Ack-Ack Macaque. Every day the cynical, cigar-chomping, hard-drinking monkey climbs into his Spitfire to do battle with the waves of German ninjas parachuting over the gentle fields of Kent. But life is not all the joyous rattle of machine guns and the roar of the engine, as Ack-Ack is about to find out…
Because it is not 1944. It is the 21st century, in a world where France and Germany merged in the late 1950s, where nuclear-powered Zeppelins circle the globe, where technology is rapidly changing humanity, and Ack-Ack has lived his whole life in a videogame.
Ex-journalist Victoria Valois finds herself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man who butchered her husband and stole his electronic soul. The heir to the British throne is on the run after an illegal break-in at a research laboratory, and Ack-Ack has been rudely awakened from his game world to find the doomsday clock ticking towards Armageddon…
Two unlikely heroes and one mightily pissed-off monkey come together in a sci-fi trilogy full of action, adventure, bananas and bottles of rum.
Includes the original Ack-Ack Macaque short story and a brand new epilogue, The Last Macaque .
Life is good for Ack-Ack Macaque. Every day the cynical, cigar-chomping, hard-drinking monkey climbs into his Spitfire to do battle with the waves of German ninjas parachuting over the gentle fields of Kent. But life is not all the joyous rattle of machine guns and the roar of the engine, as Ack-Ack is about to find out…
Because it is not 1944. It is the 21st century, in a world where France and Germany merged in the late 1950s, where nuclear-powered Zeppelins circle the globe, where technology is rapidly changing humanity, and Ack-Ack has lived his whole life in a videogame.
Ex-journalist Victoria Valois finds herself drawn into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the man who butchered her husband and stole his electronic soul. The heir to the British throne is on the run after an illegal break-in at a research laboratory, and Ack-Ack has been rudely awakened from his game world to find the doomsday clock ticking towards Armageddon…
Two unlikely heroes and one mightily pissed-off monkey come together in a sci-fi trilogy full of action, adventure, bananas and bottles of rum.
Includes the original Ack-Ack Macaque short story and a brand new epilogue, The Last Macaque .
792 pages, Paperback
Published January 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 1, 2018
First of all, I love the title! The title and the cover drew my eye, and the back cover copy convinced me to buy the book. Now that's what I call marketing!
Ack-Ack is a character for the ages. Yes, he’s an intelligent, gun-wielding, talking monkey. When we first encounter him, he's a character in a video game, an online multiplayer adventure involving aerial combat of the WWII variety against German ninjas. Yes. Because 1) video games, and 2) this is an alternate world in which Germany and France merged into a single empire, so some history is different. Large nuclear-powered zeppelins fly the skies. If pressed to describe the setting, I’d call it “dieselpunk,” though, while I have heard the term, I’m not sure if I’m applying it correctly.
Needless to say, Ack-Ack turns out to be more than just a video game character. The other main characters--from the first book at least--are Victoria, former journalist investigating the death of her ex-husband, and Merovech, teenager and heir to the British throne. The death of Victoria’s ex is just the tip of the iceberg, and the three soon find themselves caught up a high-reaching plot, with nothing less than the future of humanity at stake … And that's just the first book in the trilogy. The stakes get considerably higher in the next two books.
This was every bit as much fun as I’d hoped. The action moves along at a brisk pace. The characters are fun. Ack-Ack himself is sensational. The SF concepts are properly mind-blowing. Some concepts--downloadable personalities and cyborg enhancements, for instance--are classic stuff, but Powell also includes nods to recent stories about whether or not we live in a simulated reaity and multiple universes and more. He’s not quite in Warren Ellis or Charles Stross territory as far as gonzo futurism goes, but he definitely approaches that level.
The ending of the third book seemed a little rushed to me. It just felt not quite satisfying, though I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly why. The Coda, “The Last Macaque,“ makes for a much better ending--or at least I think so--and I’m glad that it was included in this omnibus edition. The final short story doesn't really fit into the continuity of the rest of the book, but it's excellent, and a fun look at what amounts to an early draft of the titular Macaque.
I agonized on whether this was a four or five star book. It's one of the best SF novels I’ve read in a long time, and I definitely commend it to the attention of anyone with any interest in the genre. But it's also just not quite as Oh! My! God! amazing as some of the books I’ve rated at five stars in the past. In the end, I settled for four, but know that it's actually at least 4.5 if not higher. Highly recommended!
Ack-Ack is a character for the ages. Yes, he’s an intelligent, gun-wielding, talking monkey. When we first encounter him, he's a character in a video game, an online multiplayer adventure involving aerial combat of the WWII variety against German ninjas. Yes. Because 1) video games, and 2) this is an alternate world in which Germany and France merged into a single empire, so some history is different. Large nuclear-powered zeppelins fly the skies. If pressed to describe the setting, I’d call it “dieselpunk,” though, while I have heard the term, I’m not sure if I’m applying it correctly.
Needless to say, Ack-Ack turns out to be more than just a video game character. The other main characters--from the first book at least--are Victoria, former journalist investigating the death of her ex-husband, and Merovech, teenager and heir to the British throne. The death of Victoria’s ex is just the tip of the iceberg, and the three soon find themselves caught up a high-reaching plot, with nothing less than the future of humanity at stake … And that's just the first book in the trilogy. The stakes get considerably higher in the next two books.
This was every bit as much fun as I’d hoped. The action moves along at a brisk pace. The characters are fun. Ack-Ack himself is sensational. The SF concepts are properly mind-blowing. Some concepts--downloadable personalities and cyborg enhancements, for instance--are classic stuff, but Powell also includes nods to recent stories about whether or not we live in a simulated reaity and multiple universes and more. He’s not quite in Warren Ellis or Charles Stross territory as far as gonzo futurism goes, but he definitely approaches that level.
The ending of the third book seemed a little rushed to me. It just felt not quite satisfying, though I have a hard time putting my finger on exactly why. The Coda, “The Last Macaque,“ makes for a much better ending--or at least I think so--and I’m glad that it was included in this omnibus edition. The final short story doesn't really fit into the continuity of the rest of the book, but it's excellent, and a fun look at what amounts to an early draft of the titular Macaque.
I agonized on whether this was a four or five star book. It's one of the best SF novels I’ve read in a long time, and I definitely commend it to the attention of anyone with any interest in the genre. But it's also just not quite as Oh! My! God! amazing as some of the books I’ve rated at five stars in the past. In the end, I settled for four, but know that it's actually at least 4.5 if not higher. Highly recommended!
November 10, 2021
Ack-Ack Macaque
The cigar chomping No.1 ace Spitfire pilot of WWII and defender against incessant waves of Nazi ninja paratroopers is a monkey - code name Ack-Ack Macaque. If that doesn't on it's own make you want to read this book then I suspect it's not for you. But! There's more! Way more. Nuclear powered airships. Conspiracies. The Prince of Wales. Bad Facelift Man. A weird cult. Possible armageddon. A rocket to Mars. well, I don't want to mention all the fun stuff - let's leave some surprises.
My only complaint is that such an amazing title character really should have more time in his own book. Still, there are two more novels and a couple of shorts in this omnibus.
Hive Monkey
Another rip-roaring sci-fi adventure, this time with as much cyborg WWII flying-ace monkey as you could want! It moves along faster than Ack-Ack Macaque's Spitfire can fly, which is almost enough to make you not notice that the new characters and ideas are largely under-developed and unoriginal. It's over in a flash and it's fun but it's pretty flimsy.
Macaque Attack
Another bizarre mix of the original and the epically derivative as we get more unexpected revelations and gung-ho adventure with the now aging artificially enhanced macaque that likes beer, cigars and fighting those intent on genocide and universal domination. It's a fitting conclusion for the gun-toting monkey, even if some of the other characters' stories are left unresolved.
There's a bonus story that was the first to feature Ack-Ack, published prior to the novels. It has a different conception of the character and doesn't fit into the world of the novels, but it's a good story.
The cigar chomping No.1 ace Spitfire pilot of WWII and defender against incessant waves of Nazi ninja paratroopers is a monkey - code name Ack-Ack Macaque. If that doesn't on it's own make you want to read this book then I suspect it's not for you. But! There's more! Way more. Nuclear powered airships. Conspiracies. The Prince of Wales. Bad Facelift Man. A weird cult. Possible armageddon. A rocket to Mars. well, I don't want to mention all the fun stuff - let's leave some surprises.
My only complaint is that such an amazing title character really should have more time in his own book. Still, there are two more novels and a couple of shorts in this omnibus.
Hive Monkey
Another rip-roaring sci-fi adventure, this time with as much cyborg WWII flying-ace monkey as you could want! It moves along faster than Ack-Ack Macaque's Spitfire can fly, which is almost enough to make you not notice that the new characters and ideas are largely under-developed and unoriginal. It's over in a flash and it's fun but it's pretty flimsy.
Macaque Attack
Another bizarre mix of the original and the epically derivative as we get more unexpected revelations and gung-ho adventure with the now aging artificially enhanced macaque that likes beer, cigars and fighting those intent on genocide and universal domination. It's a fitting conclusion for the gun-toting monkey, even if some of the other characters' stories are left unresolved.
There's a bonus story that was the first to feature Ack-Ack, published prior to the novels. It has a different conception of the character and doesn't fit into the world of the novels, but it's a good story.
September 10, 2020
Ack-Ack Macaque
I knew nothing about Ack-Ack Macaque before I started except the picture on the cover and that it was by Gareth L. Powell whose Embers of War trilogy caused me to by the book. The cover seemed to imply that it was about a monkey flyer from world war 2 who, I guess, had to be some what uplifted. While some of the story was set in world war 2 and Ack-Ack Macaque was a character in the story, it was much more than that. It had political intrigue, royal romance, zeppelins and much more in an alternate history/Science Fiction adventure. It made for a very enjoyable romp.
Hive Monkey
Similar style to Ack-Ack, but it seemed to lack something the original had, that I can't put my finger on. I didn't enjoy it as much, still not bad though.
Macaque Attack
I struggled with Macaque Attack at first and made little headway, then all of a sudden I got into it and couldn't put it, then it jumped the shark and finally it was a bit of a mess.
Ack-Ack Macaque - The Original Short Story
It is strange reading this after the 3 novels, because, although this has a character called Ack-Ack Macaque, it is a totally different story. Having said that though I quite enjoyed it.
Overall this was too much of a door stop for me, which might be why I think if Powell had stopped after the first novel I would have really loved this, instead of it being just okay.
I knew nothing about Ack-Ack Macaque before I started except the picture on the cover and that it was by Gareth L. Powell whose Embers of War trilogy caused me to by the book. The cover seemed to imply that it was about a monkey flyer from world war 2 who, I guess, had to be some what uplifted. While some of the story was set in world war 2 and Ack-Ack Macaque was a character in the story, it was much more than that. It had political intrigue, royal romance, zeppelins and much more in an alternate history/Science Fiction adventure. It made for a very enjoyable romp.
Hive Monkey
Similar style to Ack-Ack, but it seemed to lack something the original had, that I can't put my finger on. I didn't enjoy it as much, still not bad though.
Macaque Attack
I struggled with Macaque Attack at first and made little headway, then all of a sudden I got into it and couldn't put it, then it jumped the shark and finally it was a bit of a mess.
Ack-Ack Macaque - The Original Short Story
It is strange reading this after the 3 novels, because, although this has a character called Ack-Ack Macaque, it is a totally different story. Having said that though I quite enjoyed it.
Overall this was too much of a door stop for me, which might be why I think if Powell had stopped after the first novel I would have really loved this, instead of it being just okay.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews