SOJALS rating:

Good (3/5)

I first read this in 2004 and most recently on the 5th January 2009

Together and separately Matt Cairns and Grigory Volkov, along with Lydia Tenebre and Elizabeth Harkness, conspire to bring a new revolution to human space. Their desire is to force humanity to take the next step, to transform Homo Sapiens into Home Superior. They want us to be the equals of the saurs, the Multipliers and the asteroid gods themselves.

They may have the same objective, but they don't have quiet the same revolution in mind. Volkov labours to transform Nova Terra into a more mililaristic world able to defend itself against any potential hostile aliens. Meanwhile the others have encountered evidence of said aliens and their representatives and they're off to meet them.

When these four people next meet it will be in a war for the planet's future.

Our Ken does know how to write! This is a fun, exciting read. I follow Matt's adventures avidly, deeply pleased to know that a programmer cum project manager can make something of himself. It inspired me and I promised myself that I'd to struggle on one more day. Three years on from when I started on this review, I can report that - darn it - the struggle doesn't get easier. A good thing too. The struggle is the whole point. Well that is what I read yesterday on the back of a magazine my friend was reading.

If for some bizarre reason you haven't yet read anything by Ken MacLeod, then you must read all his books. They are very good indeed.