The Barsoom Project

Rating:
Summary: Lacks "Dream Park's" magic, but well worth the ride
Review: Although missing some of the wonder that made the first novel in this on-going series a unique and highly satisfying work, "The Barsoom Project" remains, nonetheless, a very good read. Like its predecessor, the story has several dimensions, managing to succeed as an excellent fantasia on the rarely-studied, yet fascinating Eskimo mythos and magic, a provocative portrait of the likely future of the entertainment industry, and an abosrbing and convoluted murder mystery. Even if Barnes's and Niven's second "Dream Park" effort lacks the magic of their first, it is nonetheless a well-crafted book allowing the eager reader to check in on a few old friends, and live, if only for a moment, in a wonderland of entertainment that makes Disneyland look like an oversized swingset. Also in the same series by the same authors are:"Dream Park"and"The California Voodoo Game"--Dalin T. Error ([e-mail])Alvin, Texas

Rating:
Summary: Lacks "Dream Park's" magic, but well worth the ride
Review: Although missing some of the wonder that made the first novel in this on-going series a unique and highly satisfying work, "The Barsoom Project" remains, nonetheless, a very good read. Like its predecessor, the story has several dimensions, managing to succeed as an excellent fantasia on the rarely-studied, yet fascinating Eskimo mythos and magic, a provocative portrait of the likely future of the entertainment industry, and an abosrbing and convoluted murder mystery. Even if Barnes's and Niven's second "Dream Park" effort lacks the magic of their first, it is nonetheless a well-crafted book allowing the eager reader to check in on a few old friends, and live, if only for a moment, in a wonderland of entertainment that makes Disneyland<tm> look like an oversized swingset. Also in the same series by the same authors are:"Dream Park"and"The California Voodoo Game"--Dalin T. Error ([e-mail])Alvin, Texas

Rating:
Summary: fat ripper special
Review: I found this book very exciting. Although I resd it before the other books in the series. I find that this book centered on the game which was a fat ripper special. That means that the game was to lose weight. To make it stick way past when the game was over they used Induit ways of regarding food. This stuck with me so much that I still remember this book and it's been a good five years since I read the book.

Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for good Sci Fi, keep looking
Review: I read and enjoyed the other two books in this series, Dream Park and California Voodoo Game before I even knew this book existed. I was surprised and pleased to discover a third book that fell between the two. Unfortunately, The Barsoom Project was a huge let-down.

It reads as if Niven and Barnes wrote an OK outline for a novel but never bothered to put any effort into the actual writing. For example, some information that is very important to the plot is revealed in a monolog by a character that is supposedly so drunk, he can't control what he's saying. Yet he manages to express it all in complete, neatly constructed, coherent paragraphs.

The characters are poorly constructed, uninteresting and unbelievable. The dialog is unnatural. The plot is implausible. Plus, there's a romance that is so forced, it's painful.

It's no wonder this book was released by a different publisher than Dream Park and California Voodoo Game. It's an embarrassment.

Rating:
Summary: If you're looking for good Sci Fi, keep looking
Review: I read and enjoyed the other two books in this series, Dream Park and California Voodoo Game before I even knew this book existed. I was surprised and pleased to discover a third book that fell between the two. Unfortunately, The Barsoom Project was a huge let-down.

It reads as if Niven and Barnes wrote an OK outline for a novel but never bothered to put any effort into the actual writing. For example, some information that is very important to the plot is revealed in a monolog by a character that is supposedly so drunk, he can't control what he's saying. Yet he manages to express it all in complete, neatly constructed, coherent paragraphs.

The characters are poorly constructed, uninteresting and unbelievable. The dialog is unnatural. The plot is implausible. Plus, there's a romance that is so forced, it's painful.

It's no wonder this book was released by a different publisher than Dream Park and California Voodoo Game. It's an embarrassment.

Rating:
Summary: A return to Dream Park - this time with Inuit mythology
Review: Returning to the ever-fascinating Dream Park, where a bodyguard assignment also reopens a decade-old in-park murder. The game this time involves Eskimo/Inuit mythology - a little more helter-skelter and a LOT more metaphysical than "Dream Park's" New Guinea. But I'll come back to the park anytime

Rating:
Summary: Find it. Read it. Now.
Review: The Dream Park series is one of the best around, and it pays to hunt them out. The future is Mars, and the park owners / managers / etc. know this. The book centers around this and getting man on Mars. Also sets up aspects of the book Fallen Angels.

Rating:
Summary: Find it. Read it. Now.
Review: The Dream Park series is one of the best around, and it pays to hunt them out. The future is Mars, and the park owners / managers / etc. know this. The book centers around this and getting man on Mars. Also sets up aspects of the book Fallen Angels.

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