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otherwyrld's review against another edition
4.0
For something that sounds so fundamentally silly at first glance, this is a surprising dark book. It deals with themes such as animal experimentation, the nature of reality and basic human freedoms for example. However, it does so in such a clever and fun way that you don't even start to think about the themes that the book is exploring until after you have finished it.
The title character is a monkey version of Nick Fury, a World War II ace fighter pilot. His world starts to fall apart though when he begins to realise that all is not quite what it seems to be. Meanwhile, in a future Europe where Britain and France became a united country in the 1950s, the heir to the combined throne finds his life is in danger and has to go on the run, assisted by a former journalist who survived the same helicopter crash as he did when on active service, her godfather who happens to run a century old skyliner (a modern zeppelin), a super hacker and a certain monkey with a penchant for booze, cigarettes and mayhem.
Needless to say, all the disparate parts come together and there is a thrilling climax aboard a luxury yacht which literally brings the house down.
Having read the original short story that came before this book (which appears at the end) I can see why the author couldn't let this character go. There are a couple of sequels to look forward to as well.
Just a hell of a lot of fun to read.
The title character is a monkey version of Nick Fury, a World War II ace fighter pilot. His world starts to fall apart though when he begins to realise that all is not quite what it seems to be. Meanwhile, in a future Europe where Britain and France became a united country in the 1950s, the heir to the combined throne finds his life is in danger and has to go on the run, assisted by a former journalist who survived the same helicopter crash as he did when on active service, her godfather who happens to run a century old skyliner (a modern zeppelin), a super hacker and a certain monkey with a penchant for booze, cigarettes and mayhem.
Needless to say, all the disparate parts come together and there is a thrilling climax aboard a luxury yacht which literally brings the house down.
Having read the original short story that came before this book (which appears at the end) I can see why the author couldn't let this character go. There are a couple of sequels to look forward to as well.
Just a hell of a lot of fun to read.
trackofwords's review against another edition
4.0
While science fiction as a genre can occasionally take itself too seriously, with Ack-Ack Macaque Gareth L. Powell has shown that he understands how important it is for books to sometimes just be fun. Set in an alternative future where Britain and France are about to celebrate the centenary of their political and economic union, it follows a journalist hunting her ex-husband’s killer, while hosting a backup of said ex-husband inside her brain, and the British Crown Prince trying to extricate himself from a life of tedious duties in favour of the quiet life as a student. All the while the titular Ack-Ack Macaque, a violent, foul-mouthed monkey, is beginning to question the world around him as he battles German planes from the cockpit of his Spitfire.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/ack-ack-macaque-gareth-l-powell/
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/ack-ack-macaque-gareth-l-powell/
llim's review against another edition
3.0
Lol
Very forgettable, but I suppose it was fun.
Not sure why the book is named after the monkey... he was barely important. Honestly, he could have been cut out of the story and it wouldn't have changed much...
Very forgettable, but I suppose it was fun.
Not sure why the book is named after the monkey... he was barely important. Honestly, he could have been cut out of the story and it wouldn't have changed much...
nwhyte's review against another edition
3.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2258628.html[return][return]Another of this year's BSFA nominees, a rollicking yarn of an uplifted monkey who is the hero of the most popular computer game of a steampunkish 2059 (where the UK, France and Norway are celebrating a centenary of political union, the Chinese are a threat and the Germans and Russians seem to have disappeared). Lots of fun Stuff Happening here, especially the sinister transhumanists plotting to destroy the world and the royal prince who discovers he is both more and less than he thought; the set-piece battles on giant linked zeppelins are pretty impressive too. It didn't quite tick enough of my boxes to go ahead of Evening's Empires; but it's entertaining.
theartolater's review against another edition
4.0
Every so often, a book comes along that just the cover and title are enough to at least take a flyer on it. In the case of Ack-Ack Macaque, our cover shows our fearless hero, a monkey, smoking a cigar in a bomber jacket while shooting a pistol.
Yeah, I was in.
The good/bad news is that the cover, and the concept, don't tell the whole story. The book is actually a futuristic concept with a lot of questions about artificial intelligence and the idea of brain/personality swapping. Ack-Ack Macaque is actually a super-famous MMO character as well as a monkey in the real world, and, well, once he figures that out...
The book is sci-fi at its pulpy best. I could spend some time criticizing some aspects of the plot, but I'm not entirely sure there's a point to it - after all, at the end of the day? You're getting a book where a monkey wants to kick some Nazi tail and has to settle for the real world society he's stuck in instead.
A solid, quick read. If you're looking for something fun, superficial, and different, you can't do much better than this one.
Yeah, I was in.
The good/bad news is that the cover, and the concept, don't tell the whole story. The book is actually a futuristic concept with a lot of questions about artificial intelligence and the idea of brain/personality swapping. Ack-Ack Macaque is actually a super-famous MMO character as well as a monkey in the real world, and, well, once he figures that out...
The book is sci-fi at its pulpy best. I could spend some time criticizing some aspects of the plot, but I'm not entirely sure there's a point to it - after all, at the end of the day? You're getting a book where a monkey wants to kick some Nazi tail and has to settle for the real world society he's stuck in instead.
A solid, quick read. If you're looking for something fun, superficial, and different, you can't do much better than this one.
eclipse777's review against another edition
3.0
Fast paced and extremely readable but I felt the mystery part could have been stronger.
bklassen's review against another edition
2.0
Author's note: There are probably some spoilers in this review, but at this point,I just don't care.
I was going to give this book a solid 3 stars until I had about 100 pages left. That's where it all started heading straight to hell.
To be clear, I've never read this kind of Sci-Fi before, but I have read other sci-fi before, such as Ender's Game, 1984, Douglas Adams, Minority Report, Slaughter House Five... those were all good books. This one was painfully mediocre, and that's putting it nicely. Powell does not exceed at character development, world building, suspense/tension or action scenes. There are many moments when the protagonist is conveniently saved by some other person/event. The characters lacked true personalities (yet somehow managed to be inconsistent), to the point where I could possibly boil them all down to one word, but couldn't add other words even if I tried: Victoria: brave? Julie: purple. Ack-Ack Macaque: rude. Merovech: uhh.... teenager. Also, there is nothing about Victoria for most of the novel that suggests she was once a journalist. She doesn't display any of snooping skills until MAYBE the last 50 pages, and even then she doesn't really dig up any information. She literally gets everything she knows from her hologram husband or from torturing a guy. She never does any research. The same goes with Merovech and Julie. They never act like teenagers, unless it's enough to have purple hair and purple nails (It's not). WE GET IT, SHE LIKES PURPLE. They don't talk or act like teenagers for about 97% of the book. Oh, and apologies, the prince is 20. Big deal. You still don't know enough at 20. I'm 21 and I don't know how to be an adult! Julie says "It'll be fine, my love." Right. Because that's how teenagers talk. Even in the future. Way to do your research. Also, proposing marriage at age 20-WHY??? They've been dating less than a year and he's proposing during a stressful situation having just learned traumatic and life-changing information about his past and his family? Good idea, man! That's the perfect time to ask your girlfriend of several months to marry you!
The premise of the book is built around the idea that France and England merged into one country in the 1940s, but why? At no point of the book is this background event relevant/plot-affecting, unless you consider people speaking French being a relevant plot point (Hint: it isn't. Powell could have just featured some people who are from France; there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that.
Ah, the ending. Such cliche-ridden, stereotypical, convenient and nausea-inducing drivel. How wonderful that a plot to take over the world and reduce everyone to robot slaves is nicely wrapped up with minimal casualties (seriously, only one person dies, it's a minor character, and it actually ends up generously benefiting several of the main characters), the bad guys are all disposed of, and everyone gets a happy ending. Fantastic! Just how life works!
Which brings me to another point: Celeste and her evil company's evil plot to take over the world evilly and transform everyone to robot slaves? I could see how some people might like that. But to claim it's to start fresh without diseases, wars etc? No way. It's not consistent with the characters, and not a good enough reason to do this.
There were also plenty of plot holes in the book, only one of them being this: why transplant a personality into a new robot when you can just download and install a preset personality that works fits into your plans? That makes waaay more sense than using people's personalities. They're just going to rebel. And you know that even if you use overriding obedience commands, something's going to go haywire. BECAUSE THEY'RE SENTIENT, YOU JERK. Wait til you read the scene where Victoria meets her robot clone. I haven't rolled my eyes so much since I read the Bone Season!
Now, you might ask why I'm not giving this a 1 star rating. This is because, and I'm being generous here, I liked the cover art, Powell has actually written a strong female character who doesn't have a love story with anyone (no, I'm not including her cyber husband bc they don't say anything gushy to each other. In fact, she snipes at him and he makes sarcastic comments the entire time- they don't even seem like they love each other), and because it raises an interesting question of what it means to be human. However, the book never goes deeper than introducing the surface-level question. I should also add that the inclusion of the sporadic new stories were a nice addition, and the additional links to related stories was a really clever way of giving the reader background information of how the book's events were affecting the rest of the world, and how this world is different from our own.
I hope Powell seriously refines his skills. There was one scene that I was actually on the edge of my seat for, but that doesn't seem like enough to redeem an entire book. I suggest you read Ender's Game or anything written by Philip K Dick. Don't waste your time here.
I was going to give this book a solid 3 stars until I had about 100 pages left. That's where it all started heading straight to hell.
To be clear, I've never read this kind of Sci-Fi before, but I have read other sci-fi before, such as Ender's Game, 1984, Douglas Adams, Minority Report, Slaughter House Five... those were all good books. This one was painfully mediocre, and that's putting it nicely. Powell does not exceed at character development, world building, suspense/tension or action scenes. There are many moments when the protagonist is conveniently saved by some other person/event. The characters lacked true personalities (yet somehow managed to be inconsistent), to the point where I could possibly boil them all down to one word, but couldn't add other words even if I tried: Victoria: brave? Julie: purple. Ack-Ack Macaque: rude. Merovech: uhh.... teenager. Also, there is nothing about Victoria for most of the novel that suggests she was once a journalist. She doesn't display any of snooping skills until MAYBE the last 50 pages, and even then she doesn't really dig up any information. She literally gets everything she knows from her hologram husband or from torturing a guy. She never does any research. The same goes with Merovech and Julie. They never act like teenagers, unless it's enough to have purple hair and purple nails (It's not). WE GET IT, SHE LIKES PURPLE. They don't talk or act like teenagers for about 97% of the book. Oh, and apologies, the prince is 20. Big deal. You still don't know enough at 20. I'm 21 and I don't know how to be an adult! Julie says "It'll be fine, my love." Right. Because that's how teenagers talk. Even in the future. Way to do your research. Also, proposing marriage at age 20-WHY??? They've been dating less than a year and he's proposing during a stressful situation having just learned traumatic and life-changing information about his past and his family? Good idea, man! That's the perfect time to ask your girlfriend of several months to marry you!
The premise of the book is built around the idea that France and England merged into one country in the 1940s, but why? At no point of the book is this background event relevant/plot-affecting, unless you consider people speaking French being a relevant plot point (Hint: it isn't. Powell could have just featured some people who are from France; there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing that.
Ah, the ending. Such cliche-ridden, stereotypical, convenient and nausea-inducing drivel. How wonderful that a plot to take over the world and reduce everyone to robot slaves is nicely wrapped up with minimal casualties (seriously, only one person dies, it's a minor character, and it actually ends up generously benefiting several of the main characters), the bad guys are all disposed of, and everyone gets a happy ending. Fantastic! Just how life works!
Which brings me to another point: Celeste and her evil company's evil plot to take over the world evilly and transform everyone to robot slaves? I could see how some people might like that. But to claim it's to start fresh without diseases, wars etc? No way. It's not consistent with the characters, and not a good enough reason to do this.
There were also plenty of plot holes in the book, only one of them being this: why transplant a personality into a new robot when you can just download and install a preset personality that works fits into your plans? That makes waaay more sense than using people's personalities. They're just going to rebel. And you know that even if you use overriding obedience commands, something's going to go haywire. BECAUSE THEY'RE SENTIENT, YOU JERK. Wait til you read the scene where Victoria meets her robot clone. I haven't rolled my eyes so much since I read the Bone Season!
Now, you might ask why I'm not giving this a 1 star rating. This is because, and I'm being generous here, I liked the cover art, Powell has actually written a strong female character who doesn't have a love story with anyone (no, I'm not including her cyber husband bc they don't say anything gushy to each other. In fact, she snipes at him and he makes sarcastic comments the entire time- they don't even seem like they love each other), and because it raises an interesting question of what it means to be human. However, the book never goes deeper than introducing the surface-level question. I should also add that the inclusion of the sporadic new stories were a nice addition, and the additional links to related stories was a really clever way of giving the reader background information of how the book's events were affecting the rest of the world, and how this world is different from our own.
I hope Powell seriously refines his skills. There was one scene that I was actually on the edge of my seat for, but that doesn't seem like enough to redeem an entire book. I suggest you read Ender's Game or anything written by Philip K Dick. Don't waste your time here.
mumblebee's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely fantastic! I expected it to be a silly romp, but it's actually much deeper and more serious than the description implies. There's still a lot of humor to it, it's just not the shallow silliness I thought it'd be. Not only is the story fantastic, it also raised some deep questions about what it means to be human and alive. I cannot say enough good things about it!