Tuesday, November 20, 2001
Title: Cosmonaut Keep
Author: Ken MacLeod
Publisher: Orbit
Cosmonaut Keep is the first in a new trilogy by Scottish author Ken MacLeod, following on from the success of his first four novels which built up from one cycle. Like his last couple of books Cosmonaut Keep works from two narratives - one set in near future the other far future. The two related in a way that becomes increasingly clear as the book continues, though given that the characters in each narrative are Greg Cairns and Matt Cairns one should have their suspicions.
Russian forces have carried out past the lands of the Soviet Union - Europe fell easily. America is in disarray, leaving the new communist powers as the major force on the planet. Of course there are elements in both America and the occupied territories who are struggling against this power. Matt Cairns is a hacker in Edinburgh, who does some work for American agents. Which puts him in the line of fire when the infrastructure of the organisation is starting to collapse. At the same time it is announced by the authorities that first contact with an alien race has been made. Matt finds himself on the run from his own government holding secret alien technology which leads him up to a mutinied space station.
The Cosmonauts made it into space, but when they got there they found that they weren't alone in the second sphere. There are aliens which are so colossal and powerful by our standards that they are referred to as gods. For thousands of years they have lifted people and brought them to this part of the universe. The different races live together to some degree, but all dependent on the gods and the drive that the kraken provide to their space ships. The cosmonauts are not the first humans to make it here, but they are the first humans to make it here on their own power...
MacLeod once again plays with a potential near future working within his political view points and how they could be extended to a greater scale. Looking at his futures which start 40-50 years from now is always an interesting thing to do, especially when he sets those against the background of a city I've worked in for the last couple of years. From that potentially recognisable background which the reader can relate to he then flips it out to a different scale, alien races coexisting. But at the same time he links the two, and carries the ideas of the near future with the descendents of these travellers. The key to the ongoing story line being the "great work" of the first families, those that came through on the Bright Star under their own power and are determined to take that power further rather than bow to those that have been here longer.
RVWR: PTR
November 2001
