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The Star Fraction
 
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The Star Fraction (Paperback)

by Ken MacLeod (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Legend; New edition edition (5 Sep 1996)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099558815
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099558811
  • Product Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 2.1 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 367,553 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review
Scottish author MacLeod's first published novel finally appears in the US, completing the trilogy-in reverse order-of "The Cassini Division "(1999) and "The Stone Canal "(2000). Here, 21st-century Britain is chaotically Balkanized, with enclaves of religious fundamentalists, anarchists, unionists, and politicos of every leftward shade, each with its own independent foreign policy despite their nominal, and brutally authoritarian, US/UN rulers; terrorist actions and mercenary companies are covered by Geneva conventions. Moh Kohn's father, a computer programmer and committed revolutionary, was executed by the US/UN. Now, Kohn works as an ideological mercenary, toting a voice-activated, highly customized gun complete with Internet links. When Janis Taine, a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough, finds the US/UN techno-cops taking a dangerous interest in her work, she seeks Kohn's help. Also joining the party is Jordan Brown, a refugee from a religious enclave where he sold fundamentalist approved software ("Creation astronomy kit, includes recent spaceprobe data, latest cosmogonies refuted"). So when Kohn accidentally awakens what appears to be a true Artificial Intelligence, the three find themselves pursued by a triple whammy of religious fundamentalists, the STASIS police, and computer wackos. Meanwhile, a revolution is brewing, sparked by the sinister Black Plan and the mysterious, ambitious group of the book's title. By far the most overtly political of the trilogy-back home, MacLeod's probably known as "Red Ken"-packed with ideas, scintillatingly plotted, if rather burdensomely absorbed with British political minutiae. Still, fans of MacLeod's other work won't pass this one up. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
21st-century Britain is a Balkanized mess with an absentee-landlord Hanoverian royal family, and the US/UN acting as a repressive global police force. Moh Kohn of the Felix Dzerzhinsky Workers' Defence Collective is unaware that he holds the key to information which could change the entire world.

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Customer Reviews

23 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (23 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Fractionalized Politics, 27 Oct 2002
By Patrick Shepherd "hyperpat" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Star Fraction: A Fall Revolution Novel (Paperback)
Those who like the safe, the normal, the everyday commonplace should not read this book, as it is certainly anything but. Macleod creates a world where the US/UN is the bad guy, where England is divvied up into many semi-autonomous city-states, each of which have their own idea of what the perfect society should be, and most of whom are at gun-point loggerheads with all the others, where the Net is pervasive and invasive, and may just be the locus of the real world power, a conscious AI, and where your ideas and assumptions about anarchy, communism, socialism, and capitalism will be stood on their head.

The main characters of Moh Kohn, mercenary extraordinary, Janice, bio-chemist, Jordan, programmer and rebeller against the purantistic creed of his birth society, and Catelin, idealist and Kohn's former lover, are well realized and interact with each other and the rapidly changing socio-political environment in believable manners.

The plot is very fast-paced, almost too much so. At the beginning of the book we are dropped into this wildly different future with very little explanation of where you are or what the overall world picture/history is or how it got that way. The casual reader who is not steeped in science fiction, in being able to accept things as they are presented, and hold his questions in abeyance will probably feel lost and confused. These items are really not explicated in cohesive detail till near the end of the book, with bits and pieces presented all along the way, as the reader is carried along pell-mell through this odd society with each twist and turn of the plot.

Stylistically, the work uses pretty utilitarian prose which gets the job done and is normally unobtrusive, but is not likely to garner any awards. Although there is a fair amount of techno-babble, there is very little use of British slang, always a problem for their American cousins to understand. At a few places, Macleod inserts some sly insider references to other science fiction works and writers - which frequently caused me to have a laughing fit, as the irony used was beautiful.

A rich mixture of cyber-punk and politics, a rather terrifying view of a possible future, and strong action make this a page turning mind-enhancing trip through the land of a fantastic and all too relevant tomorrow.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bordering on genius, 23 April 2005
This review is from: The Star Fraction: A Fall Revolution Novel (Paperback)
My missus found this for a couple of quid in a charity shop, and what a lucky find - after reading The Star Fraction I was straight on Amazon buying everything else available by MacLeod. I'm a huge fan of Gibson, Neal Stephenson etc, and I'm so happy to finally find a convincing British voice to rival them... Yes - unlike the other reviewer here, I really think he does have a very distinctive voice of his own; partly this is the constant (but never tiring or distracting) wordplay and punning which give the text an almost poetic density and richness, but also a great passionate intensity, leavened by a good old bit of British corrosive sarcasm and realism. OK, it's not the easiest going - it's not Tom Clancy that's for sure - and you really need to read closely as the small detail is vitally important, but the excitement of the plot and the relationships was more than enough to keep me focussed and gripped all the way through. The science kicks arse too; I'm no expert but I have several freinds involved in AI / artificial life / evolutionary systems, and the science in Star Fraction certainly *feels* plausible. I really like the politics too: the extrapolation of ideas to ludicrous extremes and the revelation of the paradoxes in politics (e.g. the extension of green politics being fascism - something which I've long suspected myself - and the logic of 'free market socialism') are both funny and really thought-provoking.

As you can probably tell I'm a convert; I really can't find anything bad to say about this book. It's a classic, and one that I'll be re-reading soon.

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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A must for all ex-Trots - and eveyone else....., 18 Jun 2001
By Prof Colin Talbot "Colin Talbot" (Manchester, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Star Fraction: A Fall Revolution Novel (Paperback)
Ken Macleod has brought politics back into SciFi in a way which is understandable to a broad audience and an absolute hoot for those of us who were active in the far-left politics of the early 70's he describes so well (in fact I think I was at half the meetings..).

The issues he raises about the intertwining of technological and political/social change are fascinating. This is what the best SciFi ought to be about - exploring what it means to be human, or not....

He's even given me some good ideas to explore in my 'day job' as an academic.

Incidentally, I actually published the 'Harry Wicks' edition of "The Transitional Programme" (The Star Fraction, p151) and interviewed Harry to get his intro. (Back in the days when I worked for the International Marxist Group, British Section of the FI).

Keep it up Ken.

(Prof.) Colin Talbot

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars You can not be serious
There's nothing like good science fiction - and this is nothing like good science fiction. I hate to labour the point, but I've been reading sci-fi for over 50 years and cut my... Read more
Published 8 months ago by F. M. Muse

3.0 out of 5 stars Rich in ideas but ultimitely flawed
An interesting, original and enjoyable romp that portrays a future Britain in the grips of political turmoil. Read more
Published 13 months ago by G. J. Marsh

2.0 out of 5 stars Vastly disappointing, another worthless Banks endorsement.
My normal mode of sci-fi selection is to brace myself, buy one with a convincing cover and, if it's any good, read through the author's other works and then repeat. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Mr. M. A. Johnson

5.0 out of 5 stars Great little book for lefty lads
Well I hit all the buttions- a lefty man with a techno fixation who loves North London so this book was right up my street, though a little tough on the Greens- Ken must have... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Peter Shield

2.0 out of 5 stars Below average
Firstly, I think this deserves maybe 2.5 stars if I could have given it that, as it's not as bad as 2, but really not quite deserving of a 3! Read more
Published on 29 Jun 2007 by A. Kennedy

1.0 out of 5 stars Woeful
Did another reviewer really compare MacLeod to Neal Stephenson?

After good reviews, this book was a major disappointment to me. Read more
Published on 31 May 2006 by Steven Wood

4.0 out of 5 stars One for the politicos
As much political drama as it is sci-fi, the Star Fraction presents a fragmented and unstable Britain in a high technology future. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2004 by Tom Douglas

3.0 out of 5 stars Average at best
I bought this book partly on the strength of the reviews on this site (hmmmmmm), and the fact it kept appearing on my recommended list. Read more
Published on 13 Jun 2002 by W. G. Hardy

5.0 out of 5 stars A review for those of us who aren't Trotskyites
I don't pretend to know a great deal about the theories of Trotsky or socialism except in a very generalized way, but I must say, this book (and the sequels) are absolutely... Read more
Published on 8 Jan 2001

1.0 out of 5 stars Just because he knows Iain Banks doesn't make his books good
I read the Cassini Division first and thought that was okay and made the mistake of buying the rest of his books . What a mistake ! Read more
Published on 6 Dec 2000

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