• The Stone Canal

  • The Fall Revolution 2
  • By: Ken Macleod
  • Narrated by: James Lalley
  • Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (34 ratings)

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The Stone Canal  By  cover art

The Stone Canal

By: Ken Macleod
Narrated by: James Lalley
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Publisher's summary

Life on New Mars is tough for humans, but death is only a minor inconvenience. The machines know their place, the free market rules all, and only the Abolitionists object. Then a stranger arrives on New Mars, a clone who remember his life on Earth as Jonathan Wilde, the anarchist with a nuclear capability who was accused of losing World War III. This stranger also remembers one David Reid, who now serves as New Mars's leader. Long ago, it turns out, Wilde and Reid had shared ideals and fought over the same women. Moving from 20th-century Scotland through a tumultuous 21st century and outward to humanity's settlement on a planet circling another star, The Stone Canal is idea-driven sci-fi at its best., making real and believable a future where long lives, strange deaths, and unexpected knowledge await those who survive the wars and revolutions to come.

©2012 Ken Macleod (P)2012 Audible Ltd

What listeners say about The Stone Canal

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    1 out of 5 stars

Mind-numbingly boring

I would barely call this science fiction. It is more of a tale of two rivals over a woman, part of which story just happens to be set in the future. Rather than use a variety of very interesting possible sci-fi concepts to enhance the story, they are treated as throw-aways. It is almost as if they are in the way and the author is trying to write around them.

On the other hand he becomes obsessed with some common concepts, like political theory, cigarettes and sex. His constant reference to cigarettes is very distracting. It is difficult to believe that every character in the future is so addicted to tobacco and that it is somehow necessary to describe in every scene which hand they are holding it in, who gave them the cigarette, who lit it, even what direction the smoke is blowing!

I really tried to stick this one out, hoping it would get interesting, but the characters are one-dimensional, the story is plodding and uninteresting, and overall the feel of the book is one of depression and dreariness.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful story and great audiobook

It was a wonderful and thought provoking journey that explored future tech like AI and the big upload without losing focus.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Socialism and anarchy across a wormhole

Ken Macleod’s The Stone Canal is the second installment in his star fraction series. The timeline of this tale spans a period slightly earlier than events in The Star Fraction as well as activity after. The plot re-volves between two friends/colleagues who comprise socialism and anarchy. The earlier time period has both interacting infrequently, but with intense political discourse as well as jealousy over a significant other. The later time period takes place on ‘New Mars’ and involves consciousness uploading to machines where the rivalry continues.

Macleod explores wormhole technology and machine/human combinations with theoretical conscious immortality. But the main thrust of the tale is the political discourse that highlights the limitations of late 20th and early 21st century governance.

The narration is well done with good character distinction and smooth pacing. Close attention is re-quired for the sudden time shifts.

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