Rating: 
Summary: thought provoking fun.
Review: I haven't read any of MacLeod's earlier stuff, and found _The Cassini Division_ not causing any disorientation. Don't listen to those that say they were confused - their problem is probably congenital. A fabulous story, extraordinarily fun, and a novel of ideas. An utter gas.
Rating: 
Summary: Solid but doesn't live up to the hype.
Review: I must confess I find myself a little disappointed with Mr. MacLeod's first book published in America. His style is crisp and often evocative, but it's just as often ossified by the novel's inability to escape long, ponderous "committee" scenes so standard in much lesser hard SF works.Like Star Trek, when it gets stuck on the Bridge for too long, Cassini gets trapped indoors. I was dying for heroine Ellen and her comrades to just shut up and get on with some action. Also stressing the already enervated plot is the quaint attempts to take brain-dead Marxism seriously. I realize it still is taken seriously in Britain, but the British have never been able to make socialism look anything other than dowdy, and to an American reader--even set in the future--the sloganeering is silly and undercuts the author's otherwise very intelligent attempt to portray a future civilization.
Rating: 
Summary: I Could Not ¿Get¿ This Book
Review: I often look for interesting work from new science fiction writers. Many of my best early memories as a reader revolve around reading the masters, such as Asimov and Bradbury. Over the past few years, however, I have not been able to find many sci-fi books that hold my interest. I did not finish reading several novels that friends recommended highly. After I read the glowing reviews of MacLeod on such normally reliable sources as salon.com, I expected a lot from this book and could not wait to read it. Ultimately, I was disappointed that it left me flat. I understand that some of MacLeod's other work provides the context for the events in "The Cassini Division." Without that context, I found it difficult to follow the narrative. The book does not seem to stand alone very well. At the same time, I did find some aspects of "The Cassini Division" intriguing and interesting. I wonder what a world without capitalism would be like, how it would work, and what would interest its people. Who would do the farming, and who would do the fighting? The glowing reviews led me to expect a solid view of what society might be like in this alternative future, something along the lines of what Philip K. Dick offered us repeatedly. Instead of such an exploration, McLeod offers thematic explorations of the limits of consciousness and where we should draw the line, if anywhere, between machines and humans. Wormholes and enigmatic post-humans developing on Jupiter are also thrown into the mix. I thought that the novel might pick up when socialist travelers led by Ellen May Ngewthu visit the capitalist planet of New Mars, but I found that even this part of the book was a bit off-target. I appreciate how difficult it must be to write an imaginative book such as "The Cassini Division," but I ultimately did not find it compelling. I do think that MacLeod has a great potential to write an interesting tale. His imagery is often quite compelling. I am going to read one more of his books before giving up on him.
Rating:
Summary: A conglomeration of stuff that doesn't quite blend together
Review: I picked up this book because MacLeod was being hailed by various magazines as a brilliant newcomer or fresh new voice or whatever other trite phrases you care to use. I'm not sure what to make of it; it takes itself too seriously for satire, but doesn't take itself seriously enough for genuine extrapolation. Here's the backstory. In the mid 21st century, several events occur near simultaneously: first, there is a group of people (the Outwarders) who want to upload themselves into computers to become the post-humans first seriously extrapolated by Greg Egan; second, the population of Earth is nearly obliterated by the Green Death, a virulent outbreak; third, capitalism falls apart; fourth, the post-humans claim Jupiter and claim various violations of their property rights, which, to their mind, justified uploading human minds for use as slave labor in drones. The post-humans are transmitting viruses on radio frequencies and occasional physical viruses as nanomachines sent out of Jupiter's atmosphere. For free humans, computers are abandoned, and babbages -- a literal Difference Engine -- are used nearly exclusively because they are immune to the Jovian viruses. The post-humans destroy Ganymede and build a wormhole. The slave labor eventually escaped through the wormhole and reincarntes their physical selves. The post-humans fall into a virual reality dreamworld and lie dormant for centuries. Here's the story. In the 24th century, a wicked and wickedly funny new brand of socialism has emerged. This socialism is summed up in the quote, "We are what we eat, and we eat everything." The post-humans have emerged from their VR dreams and are active again. The Cassini Division, the military arm of a non-military Solar Union and secret-keepers in a future where no secrets are to be had, has the sole purpose of obliterating all viruses transmitted from Jupiter. Now, with the emergence of the post-humans, they are set on destroying Jupiter before the post-humans destroy them. The Division has no proof of this; only centuries-long memories of the post-humans attack on the humans that has solidified into raw hatred. The Division sends out Ellen May Ngewthu, their representative, to seek the assistance of I.K. Malley, who they believe is the only living person who can guide them through the wormhole. Trouble is, he's not a socialist. Thus begins the adventure. Of course, we the readers are treated to a small section of socialist life on Earth, non-socialist life on Earth, the ins and outs of the Divison and Solar Union and the other side of the wormhole. There's a lot here, and not much of it is treated in detail. Is monstrous and massive genocide of another species justified? is the big question. What makes us human? is another. MacLeod offers nothing new on the old debates, and indeed treats such issues with almost comical indifference. What's intersting is the Solar Union, and this particular brand of philosophy and economy that, as Ellen says, "We had founded our idealism on the most nihilistic implications of science, our socialism on crass self-interest, our peace on our capacity of mutual self-destruction, and our liberty on determinism." I cannot help but think that this is MacLeod's satirical examination of the roots of Star Trek. This book takes place in the 24th century; so does Star Trek. There is a Solar Union, which is the beginning of what Ellen May hopes for one day: a vast "galactic federation." (Her actual words.) Star Trek's Federation is based on a bland blend of socialist tendencies. And the Cassini Division, the center of this book, is a military arm that claims not to be a military force, and keeps secrets in a society supposedly based on absolute openness. If this isn't an accurate analysis of Starfleet, I can't imagine what is. Still I can make neither heads nor tails of what this book is supposed to be about, and what it is supposed to accomplish. The science is fluffy and superficial (Star Trek again); the social issues are, quite literally, debated among the characters with the opposing views folding under the weakest of counter-arguments, like the polemics of Heinlein; people routinely explain their actions and purposes to one another, like cheesy SF. It feels as if MacLeod knows that he is mocking many of the traditions of both content and style of the worst kind of SF. Unfortunately, it has been done much better. And if his intent is serious extrapolation... well, he utterly fails. His other books are supposed to be in this same universe, and supposedly may explain more. Unfortunately, these books are earlier British releases but MacLeod's U.S. publisher, Tor, is releasing them out of order. You can get the others in hardback, but based on this book I wouldn't waste the money.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing wrong with a bit of Leftyism
Review: I read this book out of sequence in the trilogy (as it currently stands) of MacLeod's books - and this did me know harm at all in understanding it. Though I did go back and reread all three in sequence and got a few more of the jokes than the first time. I loved this book - I read it because I am a desparate Iain Banks fan and couldn't wait for the next Culture novel. Like Banks, MacLeod (who is a mate of Banks') is an unresconstructed Scottish lefty - and who can hold that against him. It is great to read some sci-fi that actually has more than an ounce of political reality about it. Having said that, MacLeod's books are somewhat biased towards the left side of the spectrum - i.e. the commies win, which if you are, like me, a bit of a commie is no bad thing. It is always nice to be on the winning side - even in fiction. That aside, unless you are to the far right of Genghis Khan you should enjoy the books for what they are, well written, thoughtful sci-fi.
Rating:
Summary: style over content
Review: I read this one first, and I have to say, I enjoyed the fact that it meant I had to think a bit to work out what was happening. I love the writing style more than the actual story probably. It explores some interesting areas and throws up some stuff to think about, and that is good. The bad bit is, that I feel it does this at the expense of the story. Pretty much exactly what you expect to happen, happens.
Rating:
Summary: Some of the best Political SF ever
Review: I'm guessing the people who didn't like this book either didn't read The Stone Canal, don't like political SF, or just prefer Harry Potter. Don't let their confusion distract you. This is a great book in an amazing series. MacLeod deserves all the praise he's recived and then some. Now more than ever, books that discuss the issues(individual liberties, corporate abuse of power, FREEDOM!) in The Fall Revolution series must be read before it's too late and Bush and Ashcroft ban them and turn the country into a police state... for our own good of course.
Rating: 
Summary: ugh
Review: I've been meaning to get this off my chest for about a month now. What can I say, I just didn't like this novel. I thought it was boring, and that the story never really took off. Things happen in the novel that should be exciting or gripping, but just aren't. Given the backdrop and plot of the novel (tremendous social and political upheaval, threats from beyond Jupiter, etc.) one would expect a more lively novel. Instead, the Cassini Division just kind of plods along in a kind of literary monotone. There is not a single exciting moment in the book. This is a boring novel filled with, as one other put it, "lazy ideas". The author pushes socialist-anarchy as an ideology without really making it sound very appealing or even workable in the practical sense. Furthermore, the future utopia is an unlikeable place filled with unlikeable people doing unlikeable things. In the end, one finds the Texas-inspired New Mars a much more appealing place than the hivelike utopia the main character tries hard to defend. Finally, I found all the various nano-this and techno-that references and plot devices annoying. I threw this book away without reading the last 40 pages. Oh yes, and I'm never going to trust a Salon.com book review ever again.
Rating:
Summary: Terrific hard SF in the Vernor Vinge tradition
Review: Idea-packed science fiction driven by the ramifications of a group of humans who have passed through the evolutionary "singularity" and become something beyond our knowledge, and who now live in Jupiter, emitting radio viruses forcing Earth to radically change its technology. If that weren't enough, McLeod also presents an anarcho-socialist society and contrasts it with an anarcho-capitalist society and does so in a much more plausible manner than (say) Robert Heinlein ever did. Protagonist Ellen is a key member of the Cassini Division, tasked to deal with the post-humans if necessary, and on a mission to secure a manner in which to do so. Her point of view is decidedly prejudiced, which is a big part of what makes this book enjoyable: It's got characterization, world-building, AND a plot. One of the best novels I've read in several years, it's hard to believe it's under 300 pages.
Rating:
Summary: Needs "Stone Canal" to be Understood
Review: If you never read "Stone Canal", this tightly coupled sequel will make almost no sense to you.
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