''Ack-Ack Macaque'' is a

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

novel by English writer

Gareth L. Powell Gareth Lyn Powell (born 1970) is a British author of science fiction. His works include the ''Embers of War'' trilogy, the ''Continuance'' series, the ''Ack-Ack Macaque'' trilogy, ''Light Chaser'' (co-written with Peter F. Hamilton), and ''Abou ...

Plot summary

''Ack-Ack Macaque'' is based on Powell's earlier short story of the same name, which won the '' Interzone'' reader's poll in 2007. The original short story is included as an appendix to the novel. The novel has aspects of alternative history as in this version of reality the United Kingdom and France merged in the 1950s to form the nation of Brittany. The macaque of the title is the star of a highly regarded, exclusive massively multiplayer online role-playing game (with the roguelike feature of character death being final) which is itself set in an alternate reality

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The main character in the novel is former journalist Victoria Valois, who attempts to track down the man who murdered her husband and stole her neural implant while the heir to the throne of Brittany becomes a fugitive after breaking into a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ian research laboratory. As the novel progresses, these strands are drawn together and the true purpose of the macaque is revealed. A sequel, ''Hive Monkey'', was released in 2014.

Critical reception

The novel gained Powell a third review from Eric Brown in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''. Brown described the novel as "inventive" with "brilliant cliffhangers" and a "satisfying conclusion". Philip Reeve said that the novel "could all be quite exhausting, but it's done with such obvious enthusiasm that it's impossible not to be carried along by it." The novel was a joint winner of the 2013

BSFA Award for Best Novel The BSFA Awards are given every year by the British Science Fiction Association. The Best Novel award is open to any novel-length work of science fiction or fantasy that has been published in the UK for the first time in the previous year. Seriali ...

with Ann Leckie's

Ancillary Justice ''Ancillary Justice'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ann Leckie, published in 2013. It is Leckie's debut novel and the first in her Imperial Radch space opera trilogy, followed by ''Ancillary Sword'' (2014) and '' Ancillary Me ...

References

External links

*
''Ack-Ack Macaque'' on Gareth L. Powell's website
{{BSFA Award Best Novel British science fiction novels 2012 British novels 2012 science fiction novels Solaris Books books