First published in the UK in 2016; published by Tor Books on March 5, 2019

Creation Machine takes world-building to the level of galaxy-building. The Spin consists of 89 artificial worlds and a number of artificial suns that seem to have been created as a joke. As is true of all good galaxies, the fun planets are fairly lawless while the boring planets are tightly controlled. Taussich is among the planets of the Cordern, the six innermost planets at the center of the Spin. Taussich has established a five-planet protectorate controlled by the Patriarch, whose advisor/enforcer (because every dictator needs a Darth Vader) is Alameche, a sadistic and Machiavellian Head of Security who does most of the Patriarch’s thinking and all of his killing.

Taussich would like to have a greater role in the Hegemony, which dominates the worlds of the Inner Spin. The Hegemony is repressive — it doesn’t like artificial beings or artificially enhanced humans, nor is it tolerant of free thought. Its rigidity has not yet spread to Catastrophe (where a couple of planets once collided, creating from rubble the Catastrophe Curve) although it is expanding its reach to the Outer Spin.

Taussich all but destroyed the protectorate’s fifth planet in order to bring it within its protective fold. Certain powerful interests took notice but decided to leave the barbarians alone until they learned that Taussich discovered an artifact on the planet it most recently plundered. The artifact may be an apocalyptic weapon, although the humans on Taussich have no clue what it is. A mechanistic representative of the powerful interests, Machiavellian in its own right, comes to Taussich to assert dominion over the artifact.

A good bit of work and imagination went into the novel’s background. I’ve only described the basics, but there are enough planets and aliens here to power a television series for several seasons. Of course, a novel needs plot and characters in addition to ideas and atmosphere, something certain sf writers tend to forget. Fortunately, Andrew Bannister delivers an entertaining story with a nice mix of likable and despicable characters.

Fleare Haas begins the novel as a prisoner, one of the few survivors of a group that challenged the Hegemony. Fleare’s father is a rich bastard who has a powerful position in the Hegemony. Fleare rebelled against her evil father — hence her imprisonment. Fortunately, Fleare’s former lover Muz is still alive. Perhaps less fortunately, Muz now exists as a cloud of nano-machines. He’s handy in a fight, but maybe not a girl’s dream date.

There are plenty of fights and chases and adventures as Fleare reconnects with a couple more members of the old rebel group on an anarchistic planet, then tries to stay free and alive. Eventually the story shifts away from Fleare and refocuses on Alameche’s scheming.

During the late chapters that take place on Taussich, we learn something about the nature of the artifact. Not coincidentally, we also learn something about why the novel is titled Creation Machine. There is clearly more to learn, and the path to discovery will presumably extend into the rest of Bannister’s Spin Trilogy. Those have been published in the UK and I’m guessing Tor will soon market them in the US.

As the first novel in a trilogy, the story doesn’t really end, although a few of the characters do. Some of the dangling threads are perplexing, as is the nature of one of its surviving characters. The novel avoids a cliffhanger but the reader will need to move on to the next book as the first one cannot be read as a self-contained story. I don’t mind doing that because it would be a shame to waste all that galaxy building on a single novel.

The story’s political intrigue is fairly standard for science fiction (or world history texts, for that matter) but the greater intrigue lies in the artifact. We get only a glimmer of its nature and purpose, enough of a teaser to invite interest in a full development of the concept. Given the Bannister’s fluid writing style and his ability to integrate detailed story elements with fast-paced action, I look forward to seeing what happens next.

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This caught me from the first pages then lost me after several more pages. This continued throughout the book. It had great world building and interesting backstory. Also interesting characters. However the plot wandered too much and caused the caught and lost as I read.

Good story line but there is a lot to be desired in the execution. Confusing is too simple a term for this micro-universe called the Spin. The author tries to explain individuals, situati0ns, and planets with varied success. This book was tough to get through and not at all enjoyable.

I couldn’t get into this one. It’s an interesting concept but I had trouble getting into the characters and the story.

Creation Machine
La space opera quizá sea mi subgénero favorito de la ciencia ficción, así que casi nunca dejo pasar la oportunidad de leer algo de este estilo. Creation Machine toma muchísimas referencias de Banks y otros autores famosos de este estilo y esto es precisamente su fortaleza y su debilidad.

Andrew Bannister sitúa la novela en The Spin, un entorno artificial con multitud de mundos y estrellas relativamente cercanos para soslayar el problema de los viajes interplanetarios más rápidos que la luz (si os viene a la cabeza Mundos en el Abismo es normal porque el escenario es similar). No se tiene apenas información de cuándo se creó, aunque se sabe positivamente que es artificial.
Bannister divide en dos el relato. Por una parte tenemos un “patriarcado” poco desarrollado en el centro de The Spin, con unos cuantos planetas conquistados a base de muerte y destrucción para expoliarlos de todos los recursos naturales posibles. Aquí vemos toda una panoplia de intrigas políticas aderezadas con crueldades ilimitadas, muy en la tendencia grimdark de la fantasía actual. Por el otro lado, una rica heredera que para esquivar la influencia de su padre se alista en una guerra destinada al fracaso.
Como podéis observar, el autor nos va presentando muchos de los tropos habituales de la ciencia ficción. Para añadir más materiales a esta amalgama, no podemos olvidarnos de la exoarqueología (como McAuley), las simulaciones virtuales (como Al Robertson), los volcados de memorias para utilizar nuevos cuerpos (como Hamilton)… las referencias son tantas como podamos pensar. Y es esta acumulación de posibilidades la que hace que la estructura de la novela no se soporte por sí misma. Quizá por exceso de ambición o falta de manejo del autor, el libro no acaba de funcionar. Es posible que en las continuaciones consiga enderezar el rumbo y no niego que ha habido momentos muy divertidos durante la lectura, pero esta obra no ha acabado de llenarme.

In the book Creation Machine, author Andrew Bannister begins the Spin series. An artificial world and solar system has been created but will it be destroyed as well?
This was a fast paced book but was very confusing. I would not recommend this book. I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Creation Machine is a fast-paced and chaotic space opera of epic proportions. It’s quirky and full of personality, and was pretty much everything I had hoped it would be. It’s the first novel in a new series called The Spin Trilogy, which is an appropriate title when you think about it.
The series covers the aftermath of a civil war that took over dozens of planets and systems. The people are still reeling from the impact of it all, still hurting from the loss and even failure in some cases. Some are still resisting, while others have given up.
Creation Machine was a fun and unpredictable read. The characters were so full of personality and quirks that it was impossible to guess what they were going to do next. The series itself truly is a space opera, but it’s brought to epic proportions thanks to the healthy dose of chaos thrown into the mix.
I had a lot of fun reading this novel. I really enjoyed the characters, even if it did take me a little bit of time to get used to them. Fleare is not your typical rich girl. Or rather, she could be, if you throw the ‘rebellious daughter’ description into the mix. But she takes it several steps farther – actively joining her father’s opposition in the war. That one fact alone is enough to show how determined she is, and just how strongly she feels about her father’s morals (or lack thereof).
The plot is a little chaotic at times. Both in the good sense, and in the confusing sense. That would probably be my one major complaint of the novel. There are dramatic time shifts all over the place, and it takes a little getting used to in order to really figure out what is happening. Once I got into the swing of things I was fine.
Though I have to say that I also kind of love the shifts in time. Most of it was split between two points in time; before everything happened, and after. The before was obviously leading up to whatever Fleare did to get herself arrested, and the after followed her escape and ensuing escapades.
I will say that I do think this novel/series would be best suited to those that love space operas. I think it falls strongly enough into that niche genre where it may be considered odd or off-putting to anyone not actively looking for something like it.
I’m looking forward to the next two novels in this series. While this novel was focused mostly on the points I mentioned above, I did get a sense of strong worldbuilding going on in the background. I’m really hoping we can see more of the world that Andrew Bannister created (no pun intended) in the next couple of books.

Andrew Bannister's Creation Machine is the first in his Spin Trilogy, set in a vast, artificial galaxy, whose beginnings involved machines and artificial intelligences with abilities far beyond those of the humans who now inhabit the region.

The power politics between different regions of the Spin reminded me most of the machinations of House Harkonnen in Frank Herbert's Dune.

It's a very complicated plot, but does come together at the end, in which the worst of the bad guys get their due, and some of the good guys survive (in unexpected ways) to continue the story.

Creation Machine is a Science Fiction space opera with alternating point of views between Fleare and Alameche. One protagonist and one antagonist who bring totally different elements to the table. Fleare is a lot more hard hitting with intense action scenes while Alameche is a lot more dimensional with political intrigue and moving plot lines.

It did, however, take me a long time to be wholly invested in both characters; almost 50% into the book truthfully speaking. I wasn’t really impressed by them character at first, and the fact that the story was entirely told through switching perspectives between them actually made me think that the book wasn’t working for me. Eventually, the novel ended up becoming an exhilarating ride due to the gradual increase in tension.

Once you’ve started reading this novel, I think you will easily agree with me that Andrew Bannister is a very intellectual author. The reason why I say this is mainly because of the incredibly intricate world-building, and Bannister's implementation of it into the storyline. I won’t lie, I haven’t read sci-fi/space opera as much as I’ve read epic fantasy. However, from my experience so far, the world-building in sci-fi/space opera rarely reach the intricacy that can easily be found in epic fantasy. However, Creation Machine amazed my vision and imagination with its super detailed world-building, and its seamless integration into every aspect of the book. Technology, culture, memory, legacy, language, citizen’s behavior, identity crisis, and history, they were all written impeccably.