My catalogue record for this book came from the British Library. Somebody there was having a bad day; or perhaps someone at the publisher supplied bad data. So let's correct some misconceptions at the outset: this is not a "toy or movable book", nor is it about house-cleaning. Still interested ?

Good. Because this is a book about intelligence, technology (its rise and fall and reinvention), alienness, cultural difference and politics. With two love stories, each of a man pursued by two women in two different centuries, intertwined.

Some of these themes - the politics and the musings on human and machine intelligence - are familiar territory for Macleod, and if you've read any of his other work, particularly the "Fall Revolution" series, you'll find much to recognise here. What's also familiar from those books is the device of telling a story that's split in two, with one part taking place in a near future and the other some hundreds of years later. But Macleod takes some of his themes further, and the future part of the story involves humans interacting both with other human groups whose development has taken very different paths, and with aliens who are markedly different in mysterious ways from the humans they mix with.

Some of these themes are explored in more depth than others, and I found some of this frustrating. But this is the first book of a series and it's possible that they are picked up in later books. Macleod retains his ability to tell a political adventure story in which programmers play a central role, and his humour still features and makes the book an even more enjoyable read.

I didn't get the sense of sheer joy I got when I first read "The Star Fraction", but that's probably because the themes, and Macleod's ability to portray political cliques with sharp, observational wit, aren't so new to me any more. He still does it well. ( )

Not quite sure where to start with this book, this is the first title I’ve read from this author and I must say I found it intriguing. The story takes place in 2 different time lines, one on Earth a few decades from now and the other on another Planet several centuries later which, I have to admit, I found very confusing for the first couple of chapters as I wasn’t quite sure where I was or when. However, after continuing to read pieces of the puzzle start to slot into place, it was interesting to read the authors ideas about the possible political structure and the technology in use on earth post 2040s and the interaction of the humans living with several different species (including Krakens, ‘a God in the Sky’ and Saurs (greys)) in the second timeline. The characters are well described and you soon start to see the similarities of life events between the two main characters as they both struggle to achieve the secrets of Interstellar travel. A political and scientific story that is well written and compelling, but, there is very little ‘action’ in it and if you like the ‘bug hunt’ type alien stories then I’m afraid you won’t find it in this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book although I would have liked more emphasis on the ‘First Contact’ in the first timeline. The second timeline was excellent fulfilling my desire to read about the interaction of Human and Aliens, I will certainly be reading the second book in the Trilogy Engines of Light. ( )

Okay, but not great. I probably will read the next in the series. The distant future portion is better written than the near future timeline, which seems a little busy and incoherent. ( )

Good read--much more engrossing than Execution Channel

This novel has two threads. The first a near future thriller revolving around secret spaceflight technology and contact with aliens, and the dangers inherent in this activity. The politics of who should control such tech and information also make up an important part.

The other stream is set in the reasonably distant future on a planet that actually has humans coexisting with aliens. One particular wealthy family is looking into technological research on a long term scale, trying to improve their situation.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/02/cosmonaut-keep-ken-macleod.html ( )