Newton's Wake: A Space Opera (Hardcover)

Fist, the writer plunge the reader straight in the middle of his universe without giving him/her any references to base the reader's experience. Obviously, Ken MacLeod know what and where it coming from but fail to share his vision with the reader.

Newton's Wake has its share of actions but those episode are short and the interval in between are close to a painful crawl. Yet, this novel isn't all black. Ken Macleod do ask questions about the possibility of uploading and downloading the mind and personality of a person thus insuring the reincarnation of decease person into a new body. He also ask if the reincarnated person will be the same as the one who died or merely a copy with the memory of the original that or may not follow the footsteps of the original. Those are indeed interesting questions, however, Ken Macleod didn't seem to want bringing the debate to its conclusion or worst, didn't seem to wish sharing his own believe in the matter. He left us wondering and pondering on the subject.

The last thing that threw me off, was when I finished the novel, I re read the introduction then realise the writer didn't made up to its promises. Instead of giving the reader what he promised, he lead the reader on to a different path... was this on purpose??? At last, on of my greatest difficulties with this novel, was probably the language barrier. English is my second language and I must say I had a very had time to understand the Scottish/Gaelic expressions used by some of the characters... This alone may explain why I had a very hard time to read this novel.

We are dropped into the action and MacLeod does a good job of the "slow reveal" of the characters and the circumstances. We get a good feel for this universe and the folks who inhabit it. We get a variety of characters who's basic humanity is challenged by circumstances: there were trapped as a program, head replaced with a metal head, social pariah, simulation of the original person, etc. And there are little touches (Ben Ami's play about Leonid Breznhev is a hoot).

But... I found some jarring elements here too. We don't get close enough to most of these characters to really care all that much about them. Perhaps it is supposed to be telling that there are no real "bad guys" or "good guys", but the author should have had some stance on the Big Issues he raises, like: if you die and a version of you is brought back to life, it is really you? What if the version of you that is brought back isn't really you, it's just a reconstruction of other people's perception of you? Those are truly interesting questions and MacLeod goes nowhere with them: he asks without developing either an opinion or going near the really thorny bits. We are told more often than we are shown the developments that really matter.

I was annoyed by some "reverse anachronisms" here: things from today that inappropriately show up in this far future time and don't fit. I found the debate about "Returners" vs. "Runners" was ultimately empty, as much of the plot was empty, because the author doesn't seem to feel the motivations. The conflicts in the novel are set pieces.

As a space opera, this is neither gonzo enough to be a really wild ride nor pithy enough to really deal with the fascinating issues the book raises. This is a good read and I'll be keeping an eye on MacLeod, though. Here's an author with some talent. But this won't be his best novel.