The Sky Road
by Ken MacLeod · first published 1997
100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Politically sharp science fiction in the Fall Revolution series, with ideological debates argued convincingly from several sides; praised by readers who want thoughtful, non-libertarian SF with a strong sense of ideas.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Centuries after the catastrophic Deliverance, humanity is again reaching into space. And Clovis, a young scholar working in the spaceship-construction yard, could make the difference between success and failure. For his mysterious new lover, Merrial, has seduced him into the idea of extrapolating the ship's future from the dark archives of the past. A past in which, centuries before, Myra Godwin faced the end of a different space age--her rockets redundant, her people rebellious, and her borders defenseless against the Sino-Soviet Union. As Myra appealed to the crumbling West for help, she
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Read Ken MacLeod. In particular, The Sky Road. (Though I guess the transhumanists are kind of libertarians in that one.)
on “What does a non-libertarian transhumanist future look like?” ↗…stuff, and I totally agree with Kim Stanley Robinson's assessment: "He is writing revolutionary SF. A nova has appeared in our sky." [0] The Star Fraction, The Stone Canal, The Cassini Division, and The Sky Road.
on “The Best Books I Read in 2015” ↗There is a lot of CS hidden in the Fall Revolution series, too: The Star Fraction, The Cassini Division, The Stone Canal, and The Sky Road. All of them worth reading and reading again! I am also quite surprised that MacLeod does not get much more attention! Such a brilliant author! Want to read about a character hacking itself out of a…
on “Hard comp-fi reading list” ↗…reason the ancients encrypted all their records and threw away all the keys, that's why we don't know anything about them..." Ken MacLeod, _The Star Fraction_/_The Cassini Division_/_The Stone Canal_/_The Sky Road_ (Fall Revolution Series). Yes, there sure are a lot of Trotskyists! in! Spaaaaaace! but there's also serious exploration of how technological change affects social structures on the personal and political…
on “Has sci-fi run out of steam?” ↗I read and enjoyed these quite a bit, so let me add a few more to the list. - “The Fall Revolution” tetralogy by Ken MacLeod: “The Star Fraction”, “The Stone Canal”, “The Cassini Division”, and “The Sky Road” - “Void Star” by Zachary Mason - “Singularity Sky” by Charles Stross - “The Freeze-Frame Revolution” by Peter Watts - “Perfekcyjna niedoskonałość” by Jacek Dukaj - “A Fire Upon the Deep” and “A…
on “Permutation City (1994)” ↗…Exultant”, and “The Golden Transcendence”. Also, these are not to be missed: - “The Fall Revolution” tetralogy by Ken MacLeod: “The Star Fraction”, “The Stone Canal”, “The Cassini Division”, and “The Sky Road” - “Void Star” by Zachary Mason - “Singularity Sky” by Charles Stross - “The Freeze-Frame Revolution” by Peter Watts - “Perfekcyjna niedoskonałość” by Jacek Dukaj - “A Fire Upon the Deep” and “A…
on “Accelerando (2005)” ↗…both ways. Plus all his books are a refreshing change from the overwhelming libertarianism-uber-alles majority of SF. (Incidentally, my father lives in Lochcarron, where most of the action is set in The Sky Road. We can see the island where they shoot down a bomber with a nuclear RPG from his window.) _Learning the World_ I totally agree with you. It's superb. And it's got alien space bats in it!
on “Ghost in the Shell remains our most challenging film about technology” ↗