≫ [PDF] Intrusion Ken MacLeod 9781841499390 Books

Intrusion Ken MacLeod 9781841499390 Books

Download As PDF : Intrusion Ken MacLeod 9781841499390 Books

Intrusion Ken MacLeod 9781841499390 Books

MacLeod has written some great books, for example, The Fall Revolution series and the Engines of Light series. Unfortunately, this book is merely good. It projects future trends concerning privacy and the possibility of intrusion by society and government. However, they are not especially insightful. The characters are well-drawn, but the plot is merely adequate. The ending chapters are particularly weak because they provide a resolution of plot lines that is way too fast, neat, and tidy.


Tags : Intrusion [Ken MacLeod] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Book Description The compelling new novel from the award-winning author of THE EXECUTION CHANNEL and THE NIGHT SESSIONS Product Description Imagine a near-future city,Ken MacLeod,Intrusion,Orbit,1841499390,Literature & Fiction - General

Intrusion Ken MacLeod 9781841499390 Books Reviews

MacLeod has written a quite plausible dystopia set at an indeterminate point in 21st century Britain. There is a really speculative scifi subplot providing a twist, but aside from that it is a quite gripping illustration about roads to certain places being paved in good intentions. And as a side note, it got me interested in learning more about the Bronze Age Collapse, something not many near-future novels can do...
The near-future society depicted by Ken Macleod in Intrusion evidently carries warnings for the possible direction of our own. There, as now, the gadgets and technology wizardry that we use for our own convenience, logging and recording all our movements, interactions, medical history, interests and preferences can all very easily be connected to other systems to build up a highly detailed and sometimes misleading impression of the actual person, information that can then be used or misused by other agencies, and by the government. For our own good, of course, for convenience and in the name of our best interests. Who could argue with that? The implications of this are carried through to their inevitably disturbing consequences, but there is however much more to Intrusion than it being a more modern version of Orwell's Big Brother society of '1984'.

The situation used by Macleod as an example to show how this society works and could be sustained is however worryingly plausible. Suppose there is a 'fix', a pill that can be taken by pregnant women to correct any minor flaws in DNA and health problems in the unborn child. Why wouldn't any woman who cares for her child take what is nothing more than a pre-natal MMR jab? Well, the law allows for issues of 'faith', so no pressure there, but what about a woman, like Hope, who doesn't feel like giving any reason. Not a problem, you might think, and there's no legal reason why you have to take it, but what if it affected your insurance or the insurance of the school? But what if having no insurance meant you couldn't get employment, couldn't educate your child? Is that not tantamount to child abuse? And what if connections can be made - through your health monitor that you evidently wear for your own good - to what you might think are apparently harmless levels of alcohol, nicotine and caffeine consumption? The risks are increasing. It doesn't need more than a few other connections to be made to other unapproved activities or people - particularly in an age when activities are closely monitored to protect you from the very real threat of terrorism - and who knows what conclusions can be drawn.

What is interesting about Macleod's view on this subject is not just his use of the speculative science depiction of this plausible situation and the misuse of technology as a cautionary tale - although this is brilliantly done with lots of interesting little details - but in how it makes a special plea for the unknown, the spiritual dimension or - if you like - the human factor, the gut instinct and the right to act on it. This leads the storyline from Islington back to the island of Lewis, which is by no means a haven or an escape from constant surveillance and pressures - not even there - but a place where Hope's husband Hugh has a mystical connection with a vision that, back in the old days, would have been called 'second sight' and been condemned by the religious powers. Brilliantly conceived, quietly disturbing in its implications, worryingly realistic and genuinely tense in how it develops, Macleod depicts a terrifyingly plausible scenario, but like the prayer that Hope offers "to division, to contradiction, to ambiguity", the author likewise celebrates ambiguity and leaves room for other 'unknowns' that may end up being our destruction or salvation.
Ken Macleod has portrayed a thoroughly believable near-future dystopia. The central protagonists, Hope and her husband Hugh, along with their first-born, Nick, attempt to navigate this world maintaining an independence that is increasingly compromised 'for their own good'.

It starts with 'the fix'. Hope is pregnant with her second child and, due to a court case involving an atheist Iranian couple, comes under increasing pressure to take a pill that will not only protect her child from many of the common childhood diseases, but will also fix any genetic abnormalities. But Hope does not want to take 'the fix' for reasons that are never really clear, even to herself. It is a matter of choice, but a choice that many, even most, see as a 'no-brainer'. If swallowing a single pill could prevent misery to her child and, by the by, save society a deal of money into the bargain, who in their right minds would say no? But Hope does say no. And she is saying no, not only to a Brave New World, but to a stagnant humanity - good or bad. Are all genetic abnormalities inevitably deleterious? Would not taking such a pill mean that someone else has decided what is 'normal', what is good for society, above the rights of the individual? Of course, some people do opt out. There is an opt out for those with religious convictions - but really they are merely tolerated. And for an atheist to opt out is considered simply bizarre and anti-social.

On top of that, it seems that there is a basic underlying agreement, an unspoken compact between civil society and state authority. This is the 'free and social market', a precarious balance that, in a passage that owes more perhaps to Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor than Orwell, seems to describe the logical end point of some form of New Labour ideology. Geena's university lecturer spells it out to her when she comes running to him after a 'routine' bout of torture courtesy of the local constabulary

'...the most important task in politics has become preventing people from realising that they're already almost there. That train has left the station. We've already crossed the border. State-capitalism can flip over - or rather, can be flipped over, overturned - into socialism in the blink of an eye, the moment people become conscious of the possibility. The point is to prevent them becoming conscious. Both sides already have relative abundance, universal education, extensive planning, formal democracy. Imagine the horror if people got it into their heads to put all these together for the purpose of, let's say, liberty, equality, fraternity!' (P123)

The politics and the technology are completely believable. And chilling. Echoing current discussions about the world wide web, the difference between a liberating and an oppressive, controlling technology seems merely to be one of attitude or, perhaps, ideology.

As an exposition and exploration of trends already visible all around us, this is a powerful book. But as a novel it's not so great. The politics are central, with the result that the characterisation suffers. I found it really quite difficult to 'believe' in Hope and Hugh, Geena and Maya - they seemed two-dimensional and unsympathetic and I didn't really care enough about them to get particularly worked up about their fate.

So, in all, this is a great book of ideas. It is a clear-sighted vision of some of the possible (even probable) directions in which our society is developing. But that vision is too strong for the characters to be much more than cyphers. Compared to the rumbustious and thoroughly likeable Mo Cohen of The Star Fraction or even the Travis family in The Execution Channel, Hope, Hugh, Nick, Geena and all never really 'came alive' for me. For all that, this is still a chilling and prophetic novel.
MacLeod has written some great books, for example, The Fall Revolution series and the Engines of Light series. Unfortunately, this book is merely good. It projects future trends concerning privacy and the possibility of intrusion by society and government. However, they are not especially insightful. The characters are well-drawn, but the plot is merely adequate. The ending chapters are particularly weak because they provide a resolution of plot lines that is way too fast, neat, and tidy.