The Stone Canal by Ken MacLeod

(discussed August 16, 2001)

On a ten-point scale (1=bad, 10=good), the people who read the book gave the following ratings: 2, 3, 3, 6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8
Average: 5.8

This book was "sponsored" by Raja Thiagarajan who (sort of) moderated the discussion.

One comment Raja had is that The Stone Canal is actually the second book in a four-book "series". In order, the books are:

  1. The Star Fraction
  2. The Stone Canal
  3. The Cassini Division
  4. The Sky Road

The The Star Fraction, was written and published first, but it didn't reach the United States until earlier this month(!) It came out in the United Kingdom in 1995.

Before reading The Stone Canal, Raja read an imported British copy of The Star Fraction and noted that the relationship between the two books is not what might be expected. Jonathan Wilde, the main character of The Stone Canal, is a minor character glimpsed from a distance in The Star Fraction. Also, all the action of that earlier book is covered in Chapter 14 of The Stone Canal.