Ian McDonald (1) (1960–)

No sabia que esperarme pero desde luego no me esperaba este novelón.

Al principio quizá cuesta entender que esta pasando ya que te suelta sin mucho contexto, pero enseguida se pilla el hilo. Me ha gustado el mix cultural que hace en la Luna y que además no es la típica americanada, todo lo contrario, los que han triunfado en la Luna no son los típicos.

Aviso a navegantes, obviamente es una trilogia y el final es totalmente abierto (ya estoy buscando la segunda parte). Por lo demás, entrad y enamoraos de los Corta y de la critica al capitalismo más voraz que hace este libro.
… (meer)

I was impressed with Ian McDonald’s Luna series, which brought a struggle between warring mercantile clans to the high-tech environment of domed cities on the Moon. In Planesrunner, the first installment of the Everness series, McDonald is equally adept at young adult fiction. Everett Singh, a teenage math prodigy, witnesses his father being kidnapped by proverbial men in black. Everett uses his insight into quantum physics to decode a software upgrade his father sends to his tablet computer. And we are off on a romp through the multiverse.
The chase leads Everett to a version of England in which the energy economy is based on electricity rather than oil. McDonald has called the genre “Teslapunk.” Everett joins the crew of a giant airship, the Everness, whose captain is wowed by his engineering skills.
The novel provides a compelling father-son relationship tied to puzzles and adventures involving several levels of technology.… (meer)

All in all, I enjoyed the book and am likely to take up the sequel. My main quibble is that geniuses capable of solving the sort of mathematical knots with which Everett is presented are usually not as normal as Everett. But to make him fit into such a personality would decrease his likableness as a character. But I particularly liked the steampunky idea of Henry Cavendish creating the first electric motor in 1790, sparking (sorry!) an Industrial Revolution that completely bypassed steam and internal combustion.… (meer)

The problem with reading epic, dynastic novel series as the pieces are published is that I tend to forget characters and the things that happened to them before. Even when an author skillfully weaves that information into the latest narrative, the emotional impact is gone. McDonald has done some wonderful world-building and storytelling in this series. But reading this last installment just didn't have the satisfying impact I had hoped for. Perhaps if I someday re-read the trilogy all at one go, I will be more pleased.… (meer)