Subject: Review: The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod

From: "Aaron M. Renn" <[email-masked]>
Date: 22 Aug 1999 19:23:11 -0400

The Cassini Division by Ken MacLeod
	Review Copyright (c) 1999 Aaron M. Renn

Conclusion: Believe the Hype - Highly Recommended

When this book came in the mail, I was pretty upset.  I couldn't believe I
just paid $23 for a book that was only 240 pages long.  After reading it
though, I realized just how fully I'd been sucked in to the modern SF's
notion that only 500+ page epics can qualify as great novels.  In the old
days, lots of great books were under 300 pages.  MacLeod proves that even
today you don't have to write long to write well.  I for one think a
heckuva lot of current SF authors could learn something from him on this
front.

A few hundred years in the future, Earth is an anarchist paradise.  The
radical anarcho-capitalist elements are trapped on the far side of a
wormhole.  A couple of post-humans called the "fast folk" who had
transcended after uploading their brains into computer hardware live
meaningless lives trapped inside their own virtual reality simulations on
Jupiter.  Nevertheless, they still manage to bombard human space with
viruses that render all electronic equipment too dangerous to use.  Read
the book to find out what was used instead.  The Cassini Division stands
guard around Jupiter waiting for any sign of a fast folk breakout.

All of that is set up in two previous novels that are not published in the
US, but MacLeod backfills the story well.  In this installment, the fast
folk are indeed showing signs of life on Jupiter, and the Cassini Division
has very little time to decide on a course of action.

MacLeod is apparently a political philosophy buff and it shows in this
book.  Since I am as well, that aspect really appealed to me.  It's great
to see speculations about what the world might be like if the followers of
any of various fringe political movements ever got in charge.  MacLeod is
apparently an old communist, and his leftist sympathies show, but not
enough to offend this liberal.  I greatly enjoyed his world.

There are a lot great ideas and themes in here that I really don't have
time to go into.  With only 240 pages to work with, MacLeod didn't have
much either.  That's probably a good thing as the novel's length kept him
from letting the story get bogged down in philosophical ramblings.

In short, just buy it.  This is one of the rare books that's actually
worth picking up in hardcover.  I might even be paying a visit to
amazon.co.uk to snag his other three books in the near future.

%A MacLeod, Ken
%T The Cassini Division
%I Tor
%D 1999-07
%G ISBN 0-312-87044-2
%P 240 pp.
%0 hardcover, US$22.95

Reviewed on 1999-08-17

Aaron M. Renn ([email-masked]) http://www.urbanophile.com/arenn/