SOJALS rating:

Good (3/5)

I first read this on the 9th December 2001.

As in his other books, the novel takes place in two threads, the first on the planet New Mars, far from the Solar System and hundreds of years in the future, and the second on Earth back from the 1970s though to the revolutions and the emergence of the new world order in the early 21st century.

Jonathan Wilde, formerly of Scotland, awakens to find himself on New Mars. This world is run by John Reid, his old friend and bitter rival from Earth in the old days. John Reid, having survived through to the present day, controls the world and is very unhappy to have Jonathan turn-up, especially since he appears to be a illegally created clone. So it's time to seize the time and restart the revolution.

I've completely messed up reading this series of books. I read the second book "The Cassini Division" first, followed by the forth "The Sky Road" (at which point I decided that Ken MacLeod was pretty good and getting better) then "Cosmonaut Keep" (at least that's part one of a new series) and now I've read this. the third book, and still haven't read the first "The Star Fraction".

I particularly enjoy the convincing flashbacks to the '70s. I can't remember much of them, of course, and I'm perfectly happy to take on these memories as my own.

What's it got? Fast Than Light travel, artificial intelligence, nano-technology, age-extension, robots, androids and clones, and of course lots of political thought.

It's fab.