Descent

There is no Conspiracy. But there are plenty of conspiracies. Starting out almost like Famous Five meets E.T. by way of The X-Files and early Star Trek, Ryan Sinclair ('Sinky') and his mainly best pal Calum ('Duke') have a strange (but classic) UFO type experience, up on the hills above Greenock.The ramifications of this play out over the following years as they grow up, go to university, meet Sophie and Gabrielle, get jobs and live lives. All set against a backdrop of a society in seemingly mild but chronic disarray, of the 'Big Deal' (international nationalisation of all banks), low-tech revolutionaries in running shoes and top-secret avionics companies. Their lives become entwined and complicated by visits from occasional Men in Black, secret evidence of 'genetic speciation' and references to Neanderthalers, all mixed in with a bit of marital intrigue.Set slightly in the future; as the time goes by the growing ubiquity of drones (both state and commercial), smart phones and tablets plus the economic and political upheavals, the world portrayed becomes, in a realistically messy sort of way, a hotchpotch of state and commercial surveillance, always 'connected', always watching, but always watched too. Typically, in such a transparent world, there is the feeling that perhaps everything is not as visible and open as it outwardly appears to be.It starts with a dream and ends with one too. Along the way, themes that have already come up in Ken MacLeod's books make re-appearances. The idea that we effectively have a kind of socialism, all we have to do is recognise the fact (which he wrote about in ' Intrusion ') are here paralleled by a bunch of revolutionaries whose final message is that they have given up and joined the bourgeoisie; that power has simply been removed from the banks and, in their place, we are ruled by a small number of industrial oligarchs; that there are conspiracies within the conspiracies, that there are, perhaps, meta-conspiracies, like the meta-materials that Sophie fashions into 'lamp shade dresses', as Ryan and Calum disparagingly call them.It ends, as I said, in a dream, but one already perhaps familiar if you have read ' The Execution Channel '. It's a deceptively easy read, pootling along quite nicely in it's various sections. At the end I was left thinking 'yes, nice book' but it's later, alone at night, that it creeps up behind you, keeps you thinking. It's almost as if, by returning to the themes MacLeod has explored before that he is suggesting 'hey, there really is something going on here!' but he's doing it in a novel about conspiracies, so the book itself becomes a part of a conspiracy. A fiction used to tell a truth (or truths) too unpalatable, too outré (not to mention sectionable) to be presented as 'fact', as reportage. Am I reading too much into this...?

Strong characterisation and a coy investigation / satire of the idea of conspiracy theorizing are the books main strengths. The strong characterisation is a big attraction because so much scifi doesn't have it. The main character is not one of the world's most appealing but this makes him all the more compelling. The book maintains a mystery until almost the conclusion of what really is going on here, but again I think this kept you turning the pages. I think some plot clarity got lost in the final third. Overall I enjoy the themes of speciation and I think MacLeod is one of the smartest and least generic of current SF writers.

I really liked the glimpses this gave of next years tech. I like the dystopian present leading into a better future. A satisfying plot, slowly told, interspersed with interesting extrapolations on current trends. unfortunately I think it will seem dated quite rapidly as technology is moving faster than imagined in the novel.

An engaging read from MacLeod with fantastic characterisation and some elegant prose. The book has the feel of a near future prequel to the fall revolution series and, as such, will appeal to fans of the series. A five star read except to the rather unfulfilling plot resolution. Perhaps we have a Descent series in the offing?

So, once upon a time in a farrago far away, a bunch of SciFi writers thought they would excite the world by getting all deep into the literary genre, casting away the superficial "beginning, middle and end" hard-SF epitomised by Heinlein, Asimov and Smith, instead going for layered fiction, "SciFi" only inasmuch as it stood in some kind of future tense/far-away planet.They called themselves 'New Wave' and were championed by the likes of Michael Moorcock, James Tiptree Jr and Philip Jose Farmer.By heck, they were boring.And yet, at the same time, dull, turgid, dense and full of self-conviction that SciFi would become a truly literary genre.Fortunately for most of us, they also died away, jointly by a combination of us consumers - who got bored of trying to pile through their dense narrative and the emergence of new and exciting authors such as William Gibson and Ian M Banks.Congratulations Ken on joining the New Wave. Forty years too late time-wise perhaps but, no less enthusiastic in embracing a thoroughly dull plod through the life of a couple of Scots characters who have an 'experience' which slightly screws one of them up - until circumstances force him to straighten up and grow up.SciFi? Well, it's set in the proverbial 'near future' and treats us to constant glimpses of a world where everyone is digitally connected (woohoo, that's new) and there's a hint or two that 'something' is out there (probably not the truth, though).I will admit, if you are a fan of New Wave and believe that the genre that is SciFi should fill its pages with pretentious self-reflection on life, love and the pursuit of happiness, you will enjoy this book. If on the other hand, you enjoy SciFi because you want to soar to new worlds/galaxies/universes where fantastic challenges abound, avoid this like the plague.I so wish I had.Sorry Ken - try writing general fiction under a slightly different name - Ian Banks pulled it off for years; just don't call this SciFi. 2 stars solely because Ken is a Good writer generally speaking.

Ken MacLeod has delivered another interesting near-future adventure that touches on political and ethical issues of today in a “fictional” world. Issues included relate to the surveillance environment made possible by technology, the role of journalism, and the complexities of personal relationships. As always, Ken’s fictional world is very credible and his characters’ actions plausible.