A highly imaginative and enjoyable venture into a future era of conflict between mankind and the artificial intelligences and cities and planets it has carelessly fabricated.
Recursion
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'An exceptional first novel. A new British star has arrived to join the likes of Hamilton, Reynolds and Banks.' -- Vector
Book Description
Herb returns to the remote planet he has been furtively trying to build a city on, to find it a swarming nightmare of self-replicating machinery. Eva has taken desperate steps to escape the tedium of her pointless life ... only to end up in the super-intelligent clutches of a yellow mechanical digger. Constantine arrives at the remote part-idyllic, part-nightmare settlement of Stonebreak and - unsettlingly - begins to confront the truth of his own unreality. Meanwhile in the farthest reaches of outer space, the Enemy is plotting the final overthrow of the human race which created it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
By Youngs
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Ballantyre tells 3 loosely connected stories in 1 during this book via linked novelletes that are interspersed amongst each other - the sum definitely being greater than the parts would have been in isolation. It's an engrossing read the first time through as the `big ideas' are gradually leaked to the reader. However a second reading would be rather tedious since much of the enjoyablity is tied up with not knowing the outcome - and once this tension is defused, the actual action within the book is rather pedestrian.
Worth reading if you enjoy space/AI, but probably not the kind of book to join a limited permanent collection.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By J. Morris
Format:Paperback
I'll give it a B or even a B+, which isn't at all bad for a first-timer. He's dealing with characters who are not sure (at times) whether they're real humans or software copies, so yes, character development might get a little dicey.
He deals with it well. Looking for further work from Mr. Ballantyne.
He deals with it well. Looking for further work from Mr. Ballantyne.
25 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A brand new author with an interesting tale to tell, perhaps the thing that should be mentioned about this novel from the outset is that the back reads like one hell of an idea for a computer strategy simulation and as such will put the reader into that frame of mind from the beginning. That said the reader does try to outguess the outcome and possible strategies as if they were playing a game but the author takes the readers into all directions leaving them never sure where the tale will end up. As a first novel this is a great start and as such will be interesting to see how Ballantyne develops over future presentations.
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3.6 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting debut novel
Ballantyne's debut novel follows three characters in three different timelines.
In the earliest period, Eva is a suicidal waitress. Read more
In the earliest period, Eva is a suicidal waitress. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Rod Williams
2.0 out of 5 stars
Stale, tired, boring, unrefined... list goes on
The freshman novel of Tony Ballantyne is a cheesy mixture of bland dialogue, unrefined plot points and boring characters. Where do I begin? Read more
Published 19 months ago by M-I-K-E 2theD
3.0 out of 5 stars
Uneven but interesting
I think I'm always prepared to be a little easy-going on a first book (or at least, a first one in print, we don't know how many Mr Ballantyne wrote before Recursion... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2008 by Roger Cawkwell
2.0 out of 5 stars
Give it a miss
This is his first book and apparently he is a teacher - to which I can only say don't give up the day job. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2005 by Hilarity Unit
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