ABOUT: In the year 2367, the colony Eurydice, thinking itself the last remaining outpost of humanity, is contacted by strangers who come through a wormhole gate. Other humans!
The Eurydicians are Runners (who prefer to be called Reformers), people who fled the Hard Rapture. A Singularity event on Earth which killed billions and resulted in nuclear Armageddon. They are the survivors of an internal human conflict against the Returners. A human faction who wanted to reclaim the Earth and ‘liberate’ the victims of the Hard Rapture.
Who is the sole representative to Eurydice of the other humans in the galaxy? Lucinda Carlyle. A member of the Scottish clan that is an equivalent to the Mafia. They control the wormhole skein linking all of humanity’s planets together.
Throw in contact with the other remnant civilizations of humanity and a renewed war machine threat and you are left with an intelligent, fun, modern space opera.
FOR: - Lucinda Carlyle is the central characterisation of the book. She is engaging, fun, gritty but also sensitive. She isn’t a woman I would want to cross. Other standouts include the resurrected folk singers Winter and Calder, the DK communist Ree and playwright Ben Ami.
- The setting of Newton’s Wake bristles with intelligent tech and original ideas. For example FTL ships, wormholes, runaway AI and resurrection and rejuvenation technology. I can see the Rapture F***ers as the natural evolution of today’s software nerds!
- The novel also features well developed political intrigue. The futuristic tech combines with the relatively familiar remnant human civilizations for some strange results. Such as the descendants of communist Koreans (the DK), terraforming a whole planet’s ecosystem for the remnants of capitalist America (the AO – America Offline farmers), to turn into homogenous farmland. It can make for a compelling mix though.
- The book has a great atmosphere with witty humour throughout. My personal favourites were Ben Ami’s re-imagined plays of human history (such as his version of the fall of the Soviet Union as a romantic tragedy) and the scene where Lucinda staggers onto the beach of an unknown world to find a sculpture gallery of the who’s who of communist ideology staring back at her.
AGAINST: - Newton’s Wake is a relatively short book (369 pages in my edition) that deals with big ideas. This can be a problem. Some parts of the book, such as the scenes on the pulsar planet, may have been better if they were expanded a little. Trust me, I’m not arguing for some formulaic fantasy bloat but it would have been fantastic to get a better impression of some of the funky post-human tech or to see some more of the settled galaxy.
- There is a similar problem with some of the characterization, which at times can be pretty patchy. I would have liked to gotten more in the head of the Rapture F***ers in particular, to really see what makes them tick. (Maybe they were speaking to my inner geek!).
- Also, the ending has the feeling of a book that has tidied up all the loose ends a little too well. At times it borders on the formulaic.
VERDICT: A smart, witty space opera with some compelling moments and great characters.
SCORE: 7.5 out of 10
AUTHOR’S SITE: Ken Macleod's blog can be found here.
OTHER OPINIONS: Can be found at Emerald City, Sfsite and Sfreviews.
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