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canaanmerchant's review against another edition
3.0
More of a 3.5 by my reckoning. Fun read that is kind of betrayed by the title/cover. Ack himself is a pretty minor character but he does light up the scenes he's in. But the story is quick enough with enough intrigue and fun facts about the future that it doesn't matter.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
What did I just read? I went in thinking this was going to be a steampunk action thriller. Why wouldn’t I? There is a World War II flying ace, who just happens to be a talking monkey, there is a Russian commodore flying around in his nuclear powered zeppelin. All the hallmarks to a wham-bam steampunk odyssey is here, but I was duped! This is in reality a cyberpunk, political thriller. Regardless of whatever it is, I liked it.
led's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
In the year 2058, the most popular video game is Ack-Ack Macaque, a World War II simulation starring a macaque fighter pilot. When some young revolutionaries discover the artificial intelligence powering the game is self-aware, they attempt to rescue it, only to find out that it's powered by an elevated monkey. Meanwhile, someone is killing people from the Celeste labs that created Ack-Ack and Victoria Valois, herself rebuilt by Celeste, aims to find out why. But what does this have to do with an attempt on the King's life that has made him a vegetable?
Yeah, this book was really hard to write a teaser for. There's a ton of stuff going on in Ack-Ack Macaque. It's not nearly as frivolous as the title might make it seem. It's part cyberpunk thriller, part WWII pulp action, part alternate history. I mention alternate history since in this version of things, France and Norway joined the UK in the 1950's. Buddy Holly still died in a plane crash, though. And there are nuclear powered airships.
The book has multiple plot threads that eventually converge, that of Victoria and her dead husband trying to solve a mystery, and Prince Merovich and Julie trying to liberate the AI that turns out not to be so artificial after all.
Make no mistake, this is a pretty serious book even though Ack-Ack is hilarious. What's not to love about a cigar-chomping, one-eyed monkey that curses a lot? Nothing, that's what! Anyway, Victoria kicks a serious amount of ass without seeming overly powerful and I found the relationship between Merovich and Julie believable enough. I loved how Victoria rose up and took center stage. The villains' plot was a little out there but it's cyberpunk so that's bound to happen to some degree.
Once the conspiracy is brought to light, everything kicks into high gear. While the heroes took a beating, I wasn't fearing for any of their lives. That being said, it was still an entertaining read with a lot of great concepts and a cigar-chomping monkey. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Yeah, this book was really hard to write a teaser for. There's a ton of stuff going on in Ack-Ack Macaque. It's not nearly as frivolous as the title might make it seem. It's part cyberpunk thriller, part WWII pulp action, part alternate history. I mention alternate history since in this version of things, France and Norway joined the UK in the 1950's. Buddy Holly still died in a plane crash, though. And there are nuclear powered airships.
The book has multiple plot threads that eventually converge, that of Victoria and her dead husband trying to solve a mystery, and Prince Merovich and Julie trying to liberate the AI that turns out not to be so artificial after all.
Make no mistake, this is a pretty serious book even though Ack-Ack is hilarious. What's not to love about a cigar-chomping, one-eyed monkey that curses a lot? Nothing, that's what! Anyway, Victoria kicks a serious amount of ass without seeming overly powerful and I found the relationship between Merovich and Julie believable enough. I loved how Victoria rose up and took center stage. The villains' plot was a little out there but it's cyberpunk so that's bound to happen to some degree.
Once the conspiracy is brought to light, everything kicks into high gear. While the heroes took a beating, I wasn't fearing for any of their lives. That being said, it was still an entertaining read with a lot of great concepts and a cigar-chomping monkey. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
abigcoffeedragon's review against another edition
2.0
Yeah - this should have been enjoyable, but it was not - there are basically three major players in the novel, and they are so far separated in the beginning, though they converge slooooooowly through the book - but, it just does not do it for me.
What I thought the book was about, which was Ack-Ack during world war two, is not really the story - I was mislead a bit, and this is a bit more futuristic scifi, which I do not hate, but having a talking simian from WWII in a futuristic world does not work for me. Neither do the brain implants and the whole 'backing up' your brain and memories.
Others love the series, and the writing is not bad, but the story just has too much anachronism for me to enjoy.
What I thought the book was about, which was Ack-Ack during world war two, is not really the story - I was mislead a bit, and this is a bit more futuristic scifi, which I do not hate, but having a talking simian from WWII in a futuristic world does not work for me. Neither do the brain implants and the whole 'backing up' your brain and memories.
Others love the series, and the writing is not bad, but the story just has too much anachronism for me to enjoy.
maitrey_d's review against another edition
3.0
The catchphrase: "Who doesn't like the monkey?" appears again and again in Ack-Ack Macaque. After finishing the book, I can wholeheartedly agree, I love the monkey! Sadly, there's not much else to love in the book.
I'd happily dub Ack-Ack as a YA novel: there's page flipping action, a mysterious prince with a troubled past, there's all kinds of flashy steam-punky tech, an exciting alt-history world that's not fully explored; except for the goddamn monkey. My word, does he swear like a sailor.
Who doesn't like a cigar-chewing, revolver-toting, spitfire-piloting, extremely foul-mouthed primate eh? There's something primal about a talking monkey, something we look to almost as a release. When Ack-Ack lets loose a screech and tears into his enemies, one can't help but root for him.
It was a short read, and apart from the monkey, the characters weren't all that well fleshed-out. The plot moves at a fast clip, and really one hopes that in the up-coming novels, the holes are all covered up.
I'd happily dub Ack-Ack as a YA novel: there's page flipping action, a mysterious prince with a troubled past, there's all kinds of flashy steam-punky tech, an exciting alt-history world that's not fully explored; except for the goddamn monkey. My word, does he swear like a sailor.
Who doesn't like a cigar-chewing, revolver-toting, spitfire-piloting, extremely foul-mouthed primate eh? There's something primal about a talking monkey, something we look to almost as a release. When Ack-Ack lets loose a screech and tears into his enemies, one can't help but root for him.
It was a short read, and apart from the monkey, the characters weren't all that well fleshed-out. The plot moves at a fast clip, and really one hopes that in the up-coming novels, the holes are all covered up.
boshg's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
torstein's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ghostmuppet's review against another edition
4.0
What a great title for the book, and the brief synopsis of the book kinda forced me into getting this as part of an Audible deal.
This is a fun book, doesn't take its self seriously, and has some good moments. The macaque in question is great, but its not all about him. In fact, he plays a fairly small part considering. The story revolves around the idea of downloading the human soul and uploading it into another. Nothing new there, and the science is not fully explored, but it does give us a basis for a story.
The setting is also strange. It is set in the future, but they have massive airships of the past, that are self contained sovereignty.
This is the first book in the series, and the second was also on Audible offer, so i grabbed that as well. Will be getting round to that when i need a light hearted read.
This is a fun book, doesn't take its self seriously, and has some good moments. The macaque in question is great, but its not all about him. In fact, he plays a fairly small part considering. The story revolves around the idea of downloading the human soul and uploading it into another. Nothing new there, and the science is not fully explored, but it does give us a basis for a story.
The setting is also strange. It is set in the future, but they have massive airships of the past, that are self contained sovereignty.
This is the first book in the series, and the second was also on Audible offer, so i grabbed that as well. Will be getting round to that when i need a light hearted read.