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Autumn Rain #3
The Machinery of Light
With The Machinery of Light, David J. Williams completes his furiously paced, stunningly imagined trilogy—a work of vision, beauty, and pulse-pounding futuristic action.
September 26, 2110. 10:22 GMT. Following the assassination of the American president, the generals who have seized power initiate World War Three, launching a surprise attack against the Eurasian Coalition’s forces throughout the Earth-Moon system. Across the orbits, tens of thousands of particle beams and lasers blast away at one another. The crush the other side’s weaponry, paving the way for nuclear bombardment of the cities.
As inferno becomes Armageddon, the rogue commando unit Autumn Rain embarks on one last run. Matthew Sinclair, an imprisoned spymaster, plots his escape. And his former protégé Claire Haskell, capable of hacking into both nets and minds, is realizing that all her powers may merely be playing into Sinclair’s plans. For even as Claire evades the soldiers of East and West amid carnage in the lunar tunnels, the surviving members of the Rain converge upon the Moon, one step ahead of the Eurasian fleets but one step behind the mastermind who created Autumn Rain—and his terrible final secret.
432 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
6 people are currently reading
157 people want to read
About the author
David J. Williams
50 books21 followersDescended from Australian convicts, David J. Williams nonetheless managed to be born in Hertfordshire, England, and subsequently moved to Washington D.C. just in time for Nixon’s impeachment. Graduating from Yale with a degree in history some time later, he narrowly escaped the life of a graduate student and ended up doing time in Corporate America, which drove him so crazy he started moonlighting on video games and (as he got even crazier) novels.
The Autumn Rain trilogy sold to Bantam Spectra in the summer of 2007; the release of THE MACHINERY OF LIGHT in May of 2010 completes the series.
The Autumn Rain trilogy sold to Bantam Spectra in the summer of 2007; the release of THE MACHINERY OF LIGHT in May of 2010 completes the series.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 28, 2021
It was a really fast roller Coaster ride, up until the very end. I do think it's best to read the Autumn Rain novels in a short period of time. There are lots of Characters traveling in different groups, and doing various things. That makes it tough to follow the action at times, but gives you lots of action to follow.
The events of the previous two novels come to a head, with a few twist and turns along the way. It's tough to picture that all of the events in the series taking place, over the span of a few days. The Eurasians and Americans start World War 3, after the death of the President. The War starts off well for the Americans, but quickly turns. The usual characters are trying to turn the tide, and ty off loose ends.
The only issue with the book, is the ending seems like Let down.
The events of the previous two novels come to a head, with a few twist and turns along the way. It's tough to picture that all of the events in the series taking place, over the span of a few days. The Eurasians and Americans start World War 3, after the death of the President. The War starts off well for the Americans, but quickly turns. The usual characters are trying to turn the tide, and ty off loose ends.
The only issue with the book, is the ending seems like Let down.
July 1, 2011
Literally just finished reading the third book in David J. Williams' Autumn Rain trilogy, The Machinery of Light. This is an action-packed sci-fi thriller that you can totally see being made into a movie, with intense battle scenes that are non-stop, along with highly visual settings that the movie industry would love. There's also some heavy-duty tech going on, mostly dealing with the author's vision of what the "internet" and "computers" will be like in the future, what he's calling "zones" in the book. Nearly all of his main characters access these computer zones through hardware wired through their minds, and nearly all of the REAL warfare between the factions is waged and won on these zones. All of the high-tech mercenary gear and other massive weapons and mechware are essentially the brute force needed to get the razors--those who hack the zones--into place so they can do their thing.
All of this is background that was set up in the first book, but it gives you the flavor of all three. In this third novel, David J. Williams' takes the stakes--already set pretty high in the first two novels--to new levels. We still get the non-stop action, but now all of the players--mechs, razors, the Autumn Rain group, the Manilishi, etc--are into position for the final power play. And this power play will extend from the Himilayas all the way to the center of the Moon, and in many ways beyond. And through it all, the main characters are trying to determine if it all hasn't been foreseen and their actions predetermined by the mastermind behind it all, Sinclair, who's real purpose no one really knows.
I loved all three of these books. They are fast-paced (I'm not certain they could be any faster actually, without everything being an instant download to the brain), well-written, sharp, and with a driving force that propels the reader forward whether they want to go there or not. I don't generally read sci-fi, because too much of it is focused on the tech and not enough on the characters. There's a ton of tech here, certainly, but we also get to know the characters, and the final actions that some of them take are directly related to their own personal needs and wants. That itself was compelling, but where the novel ended--the real sci-fi element behind the book, not just the heavy-duty machinery and weaponry--was also suitably thought-provoking. Like any good sci-fi book out there, the end result isn't exactly precise, isn't perfectly understandable, but has just enough solidity to make it feel real and to leave readers with interesting questions that can only be answered by themselves. Think in terms of the ending of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Williams' ending may not be as profound (it's arguable), but it has that same flavor. I can't say much more about this ending without significantly spoiling the plot, so I'll shut up now.
I don't know what's next on David J. Williams' plate, but I'd definitely like to see what he comes up with.
All of this is background that was set up in the first book, but it gives you the flavor of all three. In this third novel, David J. Williams' takes the stakes--already set pretty high in the first two novels--to new levels. We still get the non-stop action, but now all of the players--mechs, razors, the Autumn Rain group, the Manilishi, etc--are into position for the final power play. And this power play will extend from the Himilayas all the way to the center of the Moon, and in many ways beyond. And through it all, the main characters are trying to determine if it all hasn't been foreseen and their actions predetermined by the mastermind behind it all, Sinclair, who's real purpose no one really knows.
I loved all three of these books. They are fast-paced (I'm not certain they could be any faster actually, without everything being an instant download to the brain), well-written, sharp, and with a driving force that propels the reader forward whether they want to go there or not. I don't generally read sci-fi, because too much of it is focused on the tech and not enough on the characters. There's a ton of tech here, certainly, but we also get to know the characters, and the final actions that some of them take are directly related to their own personal needs and wants. That itself was compelling, but where the novel ended--the real sci-fi element behind the book, not just the heavy-duty machinery and weaponry--was also suitably thought-provoking. Like any good sci-fi book out there, the end result isn't exactly precise, isn't perfectly understandable, but has just enough solidity to make it feel real and to leave readers with interesting questions that can only be answered by themselves. Think in terms of the ending of Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Williams' ending may not be as profound (it's arguable), but it has that same flavor. I can't say much more about this ending without significantly spoiling the plot, so I'll shut up now.
I don't know what's next on David J. Williams' plate, but I'd definitely like to see what he comes up with.
September 7, 2010
This is a strong conclusion to the Autumn Rain trilogy. I was surprised that I managed to correctly predict one element of the ending -- that's a first for me with these books. Usually the twists are completely unpredictable and there are no cues beforehand to suggest what's coming.
Williams writes with his usual terse, non-descriptive prose, which might put some readers off. It didn't particularly bother me, at least not by the third book in the series.
I found it almost impossible to put down. How far we've come from The Mirrored Heavens...
Williams writes with his usual terse, non-descriptive prose, which might put some readers off. It didn't particularly bother me, at least not by the third book in the series.
I found it almost impossible to put down. How far we've come from The Mirrored Heavens...
February 2, 2014
This one was a bit broader in concept than the first two. More like it brought much more depth to concepts glanced over before. The thing I liked most about the earlier books was the hell-bent pace, which is still there but which feels a bit less central than before. I liked it, though I lost track of some of the characters' backstories so wasn't sure why some of these cats were along on the hell bent ride.
August 31, 2010
Not as impressed with this volume of the trilogy as the first two. The author kept switching between the many story lines, often with only a paragraph for each set of characters. Made for a tough read. Which, in turn, made the ending harder to buy. He worked hard to sell it, but it just was too much of a leap for me to take.
Read
May 26, 2010I haven't even read the 1st 2 books, which I've probably spoiled for myself, but I need something for a long wait tomorrow, and this is the only paperback in stores. These are definitely books for people with ADD, similar to Resnick's Starship series.
March 24, 2013
Several times I wanted to just quit, especially the last 80 pages or so, which were just FUNCTIONS, people moving into place for the finale. The last 20 pages kinda redeemed it, but I should probably have stopped after the first book (which was good) and not gone full trilogy.
January 13, 2011
Not as good as the first two.
August 1, 2013
Trash by any other name is still trash. This guy is the bottom of the heap
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July 1, 2017I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13137525
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13137525
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews