Candle

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Companion novel to Barnes's other works.
Review: A damned fine book. In particular it seems to validate, complete, and compliment Kaleidescope Century, his most controversial book. To the newcomer - this is a very good book with which to be introduced to John Barnes. Barnes is all about extrapolating very interesting, and EXTREMELY detailed future histories. His characters' individual stories are interesting ways for him to bring his histories out.

This is the third novel in the history of the 21st Century that many people are calling the "Meme Wars" series by default. (Not really an accurate title, since The Meme War doesn't start until 2048, and the first book in the series, Orbital Resonance, takes places a whole 25 years before the Meme Wars and is concerned with a vastly different topic.)

There is also a short story, Delicate Stuff, in his anthology Apostrophes and Apocalypses. The author's blurb before this piece indicates that there will be a total of 4 novels in this series, but I suspect he could do MANY more.

This book does a reasonably good job of standing alone. You can jump into it without any previous exposure to John Barnes and follow along quite well. But what it does best is provide an alternate point of view to the extremely dystopian Kaleidescope Century. In KC, we see the 20th century unfold from the point of view of 2 psychotic mercenaries. Candle shows us some events that are very closely linked to events in KC, but from the viewpoint of two very decent people who were unfortunately born at a difficult time in history. The themes are the same - who's in charge? Who has the right to be in charge? And how does one balance personal needs and desires against the good of society as a whole? But the treatment is completely different.

On a grander scale, Candle illuminates (no pun intended) two very important background characters who have figured only peripherally in the earlier books - Phil and Monica. Phil and Monica wind up being among the greatest heroes of the early 21st century. Phil, under a previous name, developed the CSL curriculum which figures prominently in Candle and in Orbital Resonance. And later, Phil and Monica author the FreeCyber meme which represents earth's last stand against Resuna/One True.

(to correct a previous reviewer, Phil and Monica are NOT related to anyone in Orbital Resonance.... Although Josh Quare's adopted daughter Alice IS the mother of Randy Schwartz.)

My only beef with this book was the ending, which actually shocked me considerably. It wasn't a bad ending, but after reading Kaleidescope Century, I had a hard time believing that One True would suddenly go so "warm-fuzzy". (As a side note, I think KC would have made more sense if Candle had been published first.)

If you like this one, pick up Orbital Resonance for certain. I generally recommend Kaleidescope Century too... but be forewarned - that book is NOT for the squeamish. Although it does give a more thorough explanation of Disksters.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Companion novel to Barnes's other works.
Review: A damned fine book. In particular it seems to validate, complete, and compliment Kaleidescope Century, his most controversial book. To the newcomer - this is a very good book with which to be introduced to John Barnes. Barnes is all about extrapolating very interesting, and EXTREMELY detailed future histories. His characters' individual stories are interesting ways for him to bring his histories out.

This is the third novel in the history of the 21st Century that many people are calling the "Meme Wars" series by default. (Not really an accurate title, since The Meme War doesn't start until 2048, and the first book in the series, Orbital Resonance, takes places a whole 25 years before the Meme Wars and is concerned with a vastly different topic.)

There is also a short story, Delicate Stuff, in his anthology Apostrophes and Apocalypses. The author's blurb before this piece indicates that there will be a total of 4 novels in this series, but I suspect he could do MANY more.

This book does a reasonably good job of standing alone. You can jump into it without any previous exposure to John Barnes and follow along quite well. But what it does best is provide an alternate point of view to the extremely dystopian Kaleidescope Century. In KC, we see the 20th century unfold from the point of view of 2 psychotic mercenaries. Candle shows us some events that are very closely linked to events in KC, but from the viewpoint of two very decent people who were unfortunately born at a difficult time in history. The themes are the same - who's in charge? Who has the right to be in charge? And how does one balance personal needs and desires against the good of society as a whole? But the treatment is completely different.

On a grander scale, Candle illuminates (no pun intended) two very important background characters who have figured only peripherally in the earlier books - Phil and Monica. Phil and Monica wind up being among the greatest heroes of the early 21st century. Phil, under a previous name, developed the CSL curriculum which figures prominently in Candle and in Orbital Resonance. And later, Phil and Monica author the FreeCyber meme which represents earth's last stand against Resuna/One True.

(to correct a previous reviewer, Phil and Monica are NOT related to anyone in Orbital Resonance.... Although Josh Quare's adopted daughter Alice IS the mother of Randy Schwartz.)

My only beef with this book was the ending, which actually shocked me considerably. It wasn't a bad ending, but after reading Kaleidescope Century, I had a hard time believing that One True would suddenly go so "warm-fuzzy". (As a side note, I think KC would have made more sense if Candle had been published first.)

If you like this one, pick up Orbital Resonance for certain. I generally recommend Kaleidescope Century too... but be forewarned - that book is NOT for the squeamish. Although it does give a more thorough explanation of Disksters.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good but dragged a bit toward the end.
Review: A SF version of My Dinner with Andre. For a book that is basically 2 men talking, I found it very enjoyable. I thought it was one of John Barnes better character novels. I am not sure why but I seem to give all of John Barnes books 4-5 stars for the first 1/2 and less for the end. I guess I do not like the way he leads up to his endings. I can't put my finger on why but I found 30 of the last 40 pages tough to read.

Rating:
Summary: A winner set in Barne's "Meme War" univers
Review: Anyone who loved the setting of Kaleidescope Century, and couldn't get the alternate-future out of their minds will enjoy this book. The characters are more sympathetic than in _Century_, but the same issues of free will, memes, etc. are explored in even more depth.

Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Not just a philosophical treatise with window dressing
Review: From all the reviews I read of this book, I was concerned that it would be short on action and long on talk. After all, the setup is not necessarily compelling: two guys hiding out in the snow, trying not to call attention to themselves. It doesn't make for an action-packed plot.

Luckily, quite a lot of the book is given over to the two main characters telling their life stories, filling in some of the history of the Meme Wars. Most of the philosophical exposition happens inside this panoramic and engaging context, so it works better than the high school debate-style discussion I feared and expected.

Once again, John Barnes has managed to make reading about abstract, high minded concepts be fun.

Rating:
Summary: I really liked this book
Review: Good Points-As mentioned above I liked this book particularly the argument between Lobo and Curly and their sharing of experences of the Meme Wars.

Bad points-It does seeem to go flat towards the middle and don't even get me started on the ending

Overall it was a good book and what I didn't like about it didn't tarnish the overall book quality.
If you liked the the Timewar serise you will like these books.

Rating:
Summary: I really liked this book
Review: Good Points-As mentioned above I liked this book particularly the argument between Lobo and Curly and their sharing of experences of the Meme Wars.

Bad points-It does seeem to go flat towards the middle and don't even get me started on the ending

Overall it was a good book and what I didn't like about it didn't tarnish the overall book quality.
If you liked the the Timewar serise you will like these books.

Rating:
Summary: Very Enjoyable
Review: I enjoyed this book more than any others I've read in a while. Barnes does a great job (as usual) of interpreting what the future holds and letting us grab a quick peek.

The book is enjoyable, and the 'memes', futuristic viruses, are new, but the idea isn't. The idea of government control has been explored countless times, none better than Orwell's '1984'. But Barnes breathes fresh life into the concept. This time, the government isn't faceless bureaucrats, it's the mind-controlling entity itself.

Perhaps what I most enjoyed about this book was the friendship that grew between the hero and the villain. Even though they were on different sides of the battle, they were very similar people.

This book is short. Barnes tells his story and gets out. It's a refreshing departure from the commonplace 500 page tomes. This is a great book to read on an airplane. Check it out.

Rating:
Summary: Good book, but left wanting...
Review: I really liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a quick sci-fi read. I found myself wanting more, and hopefully there will be more in this story line.

Barnes looks into the future with a feeling of validity like that of Kim Stanely Robinson in his Mars Trilogy. I've often wondered myself about some of the ideas presented in this book.

The characterization was well done. My only complaint was that their motives were sometimes confusing to me. Their actions made sense, but only to a degree.

Overall the book was a good blend of modern ideas with a tip of the hat to sci-fi classics like "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451". To some people the society presented would truly be a Utopia, but to most it would be somewhat of a nightmare.

At the end I wanted more to the story, but hopefully I'll get to see it.

But I still want a good description of what a diskster is...

Rating:
Summary: "But what about...NAOMI?"
Review: I'm gonna start with this: I like the book. I'll read it again, in a year or so, when I don't remember all of the words anymore. So, don't go not buying the book.

John Barnes' "Meme Wars" universe, which this book is set in, is an interesting future... but he's made it too SMALL. The "parents" of one of the main characters in this book are also the parents of the main character in _Orbital Resonance_, and they get killed in _Kaleidoscope Century_, and they're the ones who did the things that made... well, EVERYTHING... happen. Tying several different stories together into a single milieu is a neat idea, but this is a bit much; the real world is LOTS bigger than this.