Bookshot #46: The Stone Canal

This is the third Ken Macleod book I've reviewed in what seems to be a very short time, so I'll skip the usual plaudits- regular and semi-regular readers of the blog should be well aware of them by now. 1. He's an awesome writer, 2. He writes thought-provoking science fiction which is the best kind of science fiction and 3. He is well worth reading.

Now that's out of the way- The Stone Canal. The second book in Macleod's Fall Revolution series (I'm reading these all ass backwards, I know. I'm sorry) it tells the story of Jon Wilde an anarchist who mysteriously arrives on New Mars, where the Free Market rules everything, machines (even intelligent ones) are enslaved and only the abolitionists object to that. Wilde has a past with the leader of New Mars David Reid and recalls their long history together from 20th Century Scotland out to the stars of the 21st Century and beyond-- Macleod weaves a tale of what awaits those that survive the wars and revolutions that are to come that's compelling, readable, thought-provoking and challenging all at the same time.

Macleod plays around with notions of trans-humanism, the technological Singularity a lot more in this book and in ways that I was surprised at how disturbing I found some of them. At this point, not having the technology in front of me, I'm more inclined to support life extension than I am uploaded or out and out post-humanism. There's something about the idea of dying and then waking up in a computer that makes my skin crawl and when that happens to Wilde in the book, it takes him a lot of time to get adjusted to the notion. Personally, I think my first thought would be wondering where my wife would be and nothing else would matter after that. I don't want to live forever. I think things end for a reason. I think I'm just looking for reassurance that when my end comes, I'm content with the life I've lead and ready to move onto what's next. Whether that takes 80 or 200 I don't know. But it won't be forever- at this point, in 2012, I'm pretty sure of that.

Wilde proves to be an engaging and interesting character- especially since he's a determined anarchist in a Macleod's world that's not too friendly to the notion- at least at first. From the collapse of the British Monarchy and the formation of a United Republic (a Federalist solution- how novel!) to the Third World War which Wilde gets a large chunk of the blame for when he refuses to sell his privately held nuclear deterrence policy to the Germans. (Kiev, Berlin and Frankfurt all get nuked in this particular World War 3- before the US intervenes and gets all 'Evil Empire' on everyone's behind.) Macleod has a way with building realistic dystopias that's admirable.

Overall: Plays with some frankly weird and disturbing ideas that might just be possible one day- but as always, Macleod makes you think. And I really like that.