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jayshay's review against another edition
3.0
Here's a book that lives up to its cover! At first I was worried that the author was too carefully explaining the gun totting monkey on the cover, taking away from it's absurd kick-ass nature, but as the plot kicks in things are satisfyingly absurd and action packed. Ack-Ack blows shit up good, and I'm happy with that.
The monkey certainly steals the story. I liked Victora with her dead bi-sexual ex-hubbie in her brain, though the Prince was a little bland.
The monkey certainly steals the story. I liked Victora with her dead bi-sexual ex-hubbie in her brain, though the Prince was a little bland.
ejdawson's review against another edition
5.0
I picked up these books because Gareth Powell was so nice on Twitter. I have never felt more ashamed at taking advantage of a discounted/sale weekend. I devoured the first book. I couldn't work out how all the pieces were going to fit together, and more importantly what they would entail or even reach. For such a kind and thoughtful person, Gareth's ability to sink into the depths of a villain's perverse and unwholesome nature left me reeling. Every page I turned I thought it couldn't become more inhuman or awful and I was surprised. But what I held on to most was the grit and determination, especially of Victoria and Ack-Ack himself. It reminded me of Porco Russo at the start, but I quickly came to see how unromantic it was, more importantly the mettle of Gareth's characters. It left me determined, invigorated and strong. This is the kind of fiction I didn't know I was looking for, and I'll be devouring anything Gareth writes, because for all his kindness he has a dark and twisted imagination.
pa11av's review against another edition
2.0
It was a well written book, and the one thing I missed majorly in this book was the lack of a significant evil character. There were all goody two shoes kind of people in the book, the monkey, victoria, prince merovech, k8, julie and all, but there were all cut-out cardboard characters.
It could have been a much better book had there been some kind of yin to the yang of all these characters. I felt like I was reading a text book where people keep doing things without any consequences. There were no shades of grey and people just died without any reason. Eg: the captain of the blimp ship. Why did he have to die? I don't understand.
But, that said, the book has been a good learning that if I ever write a book, I am putting some majorly bad/evil guys/girls in it.
Don't think I'll be picking up the other two books in this series.
Sorry, Ack Ack Macaque, you failed to impress me.
It could have been a much better book had there been some kind of yin to the yang of all these characters. I felt like I was reading a text book where people keep doing things without any consequences. There were no shades of grey and people just died without any reason. Eg: the captain of the blimp ship. Why did he have to die? I don't understand.
But, that said, the book has been a good learning that if I ever write a book, I am putting some majorly bad/evil guys/girls in it.
Don't think I'll be picking up the other two books in this series.
Sorry, Ack Ack Macaque, you failed to impress me.
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.
tansy's review against another edition
Stopped at page 124.
This felt like an "and then" book, by which I mean the individual events of the plot just seemed to happen one after the other, ("this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then..."), with the characters reacting to each event, but never driving the plot. Combined with world-building that left a lot of questions I found I just couldn't stay engaged in what was going on.
This felt like an "and then" book, by which I mean the individual events of the plot just seemed to happen one after the other, ("this happened and then this happened and then this happened and then..."), with the characters reacting to each event, but never driving the plot. Combined with world-building that left a lot of questions I found I just couldn't stay engaged in what was going on.
jayeless's review against another edition
3.0
Ack-Ack Macaque is a fast-paced romp which reminds me a bit of the kind of plotlines you see in Doctor Who. It's set in the future of an alternate universe where Britain and France united in the 1960s, and features nuclear-powered zeppelins, brain implants enabling computer-augmented existences as well as back-ups of people's consciousness, and a world-famous elite VR video game (the eponymous Ack-Ack Macaque).
The book is more grown-up than your average episode of Doctor Who, but most of its happenings would not be out of place in a two-parter of that show (and honestly, the harebrained scheme of the main antagonists – which involves creating an army of robots with the uploaded consciousnesses of real people, hijacking the British monarchy, and starting a nuclear conflict of China to wipe out the human race – sounds like it totally could've come from an abandoned Doctor Who episode). Its cast would not be out of place, either – a brain-augmented journalist, the back-up of her murdered ex-husband, the Prince of Wales, the “digital rights activist” (heavily modelled on real-world vegan activists) who's the Prince of Wales' secret girlfriend, an expert gamer and hacker named K8… and of course Ack-Ack Macaque himself, a monkey augmented to make him a grizzled, cigar-smoking, superhuman fighting machine.
Anyway… the book as a whole is enjoyable enough, hence the three stars. The main problem I had with it, I think, is that I really struggled to suspend my disbelief enough to get invested in what was happening. The villains' motivations were not very believable and I couldn't take them seriously, which meant I didn't feel the stakes. Sort of like how in Doctor Who, the Doctor and his companions get into all kinds of potentially universe-destroying danger every week, but unless there's been a season-long running theme of ominous warnings, you can count on nothing going seriously wrong.
If not for the fact that I'd bought the whole trilogy as an omnibus for cheap, I'd be pretty content to leave the series here (unlike Powell's other series, Embers of War, which is excellent!). Because I have bought the omnibus though, I probably will return in the future to read the further adventures of Ack-Ack Macaque. Probably as palate cleansers after books that are more emotionally taxing.
The book is more grown-up than your average episode of Doctor Who, but most of its happenings would not be out of place in a two-parter of that show (and honestly, the harebrained scheme of the main antagonists – which involves creating an army of robots with the uploaded consciousnesses of real people, hijacking the British monarchy, and starting a nuclear conflict of China to wipe out the human race – sounds like it totally could've come from an abandoned Doctor Who episode). Its cast would not be out of place, either – a brain-augmented journalist, the back-up of her murdered ex-husband, the Prince of Wales, the “digital rights activist” (heavily modelled on real-world vegan activists) who's the Prince of Wales' secret girlfriend, an expert gamer and hacker named K8… and of course Ack-Ack Macaque himself, a monkey augmented to make him a grizzled, cigar-smoking, superhuman fighting machine.
Anyway… the book as a whole is enjoyable enough, hence the three stars. The main problem I had with it, I think, is that I really struggled to suspend my disbelief enough to get invested in what was happening. The villains' motivations were not very believable and I couldn't take them seriously, which meant I didn't feel the stakes. Sort of like how in Doctor Who, the Doctor and his companions get into all kinds of potentially universe-destroying danger every week, but unless there's been a season-long running theme of ominous warnings, you can count on nothing going seriously wrong.
If not for the fact that I'd bought the whole trilogy as an omnibus for cheap, I'd be pretty content to leave the series here (unlike Powell's other series, Embers of War, which is excellent!). Because I have bought the omnibus though, I probably will return in the future to read the further adventures of Ack-Ack Macaque. Probably as palate cleansers after books that are more emotionally taxing.
tykewriter's review against another edition
4.0
Good stuff. Thoroughly enjoyed venturing into the Spitfire-flying, gun-toting, cigar-chomping monkey's universe. Looking forward to joining Ack Ack Macaque in his further adventures.
hisham's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable adventure, The stakes are high, the risks are real!
A rip-roaring adventure ride that will take you from a virtual game simulation of World War 2 to the cyber-steam-punk(ish) 2050's of Europe. This book has everything; Digital ghosts of humans, Nuclear-Powered Blimps, corporate skullduggery, a Cult, Cyborgs and an uplifted sentient one-eyed Macaque Monkey with anger/rage issues. (Don't call him a Monkey!)
This is alternative-History/Science Fiction with a dash of Cyber-Punk/Steam-Punk flavour thrown in for good measure.
Think Biggles, If the adventures of Biggles had been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century!
Although this book is book 1 of 3, Ack-Ack Macaque can be enjoyed as a stand-alone if you don't like multi-book series.
This is alternative-History/Science Fiction with a dash of Cyber-Punk/Steam-Punk flavour thrown in for good measure.
Think Biggles, If the adventures of Biggles had been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st Century!
Although this book is book 1 of 3, Ack-Ack Macaque can be enjoyed as a stand-alone if you don't like multi-book series.