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The Execution Channel (Paperback)

by Ken MacLeod (Author)
3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
RRP: £6.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Orbit (6 Mar 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 184149349X
  • ISBN-13: 978-1841493497
  • Product Dimensions: 17.6 x 10.8 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 22,105 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Review

'Ken MacLeod's The Execution Channel starts like a techno-thriller "ripped from tomorrow's headlines", a thrilling, fast-moving tale of suspense rife with paranoia and multiple conspiracy theories. However, it's deeper and more thoughtful than most thrillers. MacLeod vividly and economically portrays an all-too-plausible world in which war has spread across the Middle East and Central Asia; millions of Americans live in FEMA concentration camps due to climate change; the British Government is considering deporting all Muslims, and what's really happening is hidden in a blizzard of disinformation and propaganda. This is politically engaged, speculative fiction at its finest, with a conclusion that's absolutely mind-blowing.' THE TIMES 'Politically engaged, speculative fiction at its finest, with a conclusion that's absolutely mind-blowing' The Times 'Jaw-droppingly audacious' SFX 'A very good book, perhaps the best Ken MacLeod has written to date ... The Execution Channel is an extraordinary novel' STRANGE HORIZONS 'The Execution Channel is a top-notch thriller ... a darkly entertaining read. Macleod has great fun spinning and unspinning the fears and memes of our age. His perspective on blogging and its effect on the powerful will amuse bloggers and their readers. And his alternate reality version of 9/11, which serves (in my mind at least) as a thorough debunking of conspiracy theorists, is almost worth the price of the book alone.' 26Books.com


Product Description

Fighting has spread across the Middle East and Central Asia to the borders of China. In the US, refugees from climate-change disaster subsist in FEMA camps. Images of official executions circulate on the Internet like al Qaeda videos. State agencies sponsor conspiracy theories as cover-ups. As the troops of the last superpower stand astride the last of the oil, China and Russia aren't the only states considering their options: certain nations of Old Europe are quietly preparing for the worst. James Travis is a middle-aged middle manager in a software company. He has a son in the army, a daughter in a peace-protest camp outside a USAF base, and a compromising relationship with a foreign intelligence service. When his cover is blown hours before a nuclear explosion destroys the base, Travis, his son, and his daughter are all in serious trouble. And as the spooks and disinformation specialists focus their efforts on his capture, Travis knows that all it will take is one mistake and his only memorial will be another grainy video on ...The Execution Channel
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Customer Reviews

15 Reviews
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 (5)
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Average Customer Review
3.4 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars MRE = Meals Read to Eat, 12 May 2007
By Tony P "Tony" (North East England) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Execution Channel (Hardcover)
Macleod is back to the stuff that he does best - politics.

After his brilliant first book, he has been going down hill (slowly, but still down hill). This book has put him back on the top.

He does use a few too many TLAs (Tree Letter Acronyms) for my taste (hence the odd title - you'll come across MRE on the first page), but he does know his stuff (and for someone who hasn't been in the forces, his military characters aren't bad).

I felt the ending was a bit soft, but then that does seem to be his weakness.

All in all a VERY good read.

One point though, I notice that Amazon are suggesting that you buy this book and a Alastair Reynolds book. I can't think why, as I've found Reynolds work to be dreadfully disappointing.

Oh, and one last thing: don't ever try doing a handbrake turn in a Landrover. All you'll do is break half-shafts (the handbrake is really a transmission brake), you'll understand why I mention this when you read the book.

And I do recommend that you read this book.


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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars The start of another epic?, 4 May 2007
This review is from: The Execution Channel (Hardcover)
First off, I really enjoyed this book. I read The Star Fraction a long time ago and got hooked on Ken Macleod, reading everything that he wrote subsequently for quite a while, but then slowly lost interest. The Star Fraction has a wonderful plot, insanely complicated politics which somehow seemed realistic, was not set too far into the future and was full of possibilities. But slowly the books that followed lost that fizz. But with The Execution Channel all that energy is back. And I'm sure more will follow.

I found it pretty difficult to get into at first; the writing seemed slightly stilted, the plot dark and rather unappealing. But it quickly picks up pace and starts to get more intricate, more engrossing and the possibilities start opening out. I can't help but compare it to The Star Fraction - in that, the main character is haunted by the legacy of his father. In The Execution Channel, there are similarities. Although the father character is there and (this time) alive and well, he still, in a sense, dominates the book, through the actions of his two adult children.

At times, it seems less a sci-fi novel and more a spy thriller, but the references to James Blish which, at first , seem totally out of place, slowly take on more relevance and importance. I won't say more as I don't want to give away the plot. Plot, ah yes, well there is one in there somewhere. But it's funny the way that several characters seem to feel responsible for what actually happens; it's funny because you get the feeling that ultimately none of them made the slightest difference. Still, somehow it's a gripping read.

One thing though - I wish it had been proof-read better.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A return to top form., 2 Jun 2008
By Lyndon Rosser (Caerdydd) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is MacLeod's best book since "The Cassini Division". Everything he writes is worth reading, but with the exception of "Newton's Wake" his last few books have seemed a bit staid and lacking in the real passion of his earlier work.

No-one could accuse "The Execution Channel" of being a passionless work, it's filled with righteous anger at the amoral cynicism of the War Against Terror, and the corrosive effect this has on the morality of everyday life.

There is a splendidly complex conspiratorial plot and plenty of action to speed along the storyline, and the novel finishes with a terrifically uncompromising Hard SF finale, which has enough optimism and faith in the future of humanity to wipe out the sour taste of government corruption and brutality.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars Hyped
The Execution Channel never really delivers on its promises. The plot is convoluted, the characters not particularly likeable and the narrative style makes it hard work to read... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. G. Battle

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting?
Overall the atmosphere created in this book was fantastic; However I agree there were one or two places where the story goes wrong. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mr. Colin F. Bell

4.0 out of 5 stars 5* book with 3* ending
Really enjoyed this book up until final chapter.

The credibiltiy rating of the plot bubbled along throughout the book at a high level until the end. Read more
Published 13 months ago by R. W.

2.0 out of 5 stars Great start, TERRIBLE ending
Let me start by saying I really enjoy Ken Macleod's writing. For the first 7/8ths of this book, I thought it would be up with his best. Read more
Published 13 months ago by P. G. Harris

4.0 out of 5 stars Won an award, it did...
The Execution Channel is set in an alternate near future ... one where terrorism and the war against it can often mean the same thing. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Christopher Halo

4.0 out of 5 stars Very, very good, but for the ending...
The Execution Channel is set in an alternate near future ... one where terrorism and the war against it can often mean the same thing. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Christopher Halo

3.0 out of 5 stars A so so sf thriller
I didn't think The Execution Channel ever quite delivered either as an sf novel or as a thriller. (Robert Harris's Fatherland is a good example of a book which does. Read more
Published 19 months ago by Dr. Sarah A. Brown

2.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly unentertaining
Just finished The Execution Channel by Ken Macleod - bought with the hope of some apocalyptic goodness. Read more
Published 19 months ago by A. M. Colwell

1.0 out of 5 stars A real struggle.......!
This was an effort to get through. It was self-consciously complex, slow-paced and lacking in the grittiness I was expecting from reading other reviews. Read more
Published 20 months ago by G. ODonoghue

5.0 out of 5 stars Rivetting stuff
I found some of his earlier works heavy going at first, but finally got into them.
This one is like a cross between his earlier works and some of the darker style of... Read more
Published on 24 Oct 2007 by Xpatjock

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