Rating: 
Summary: I don't usually go for love stories, BUT....
Review: This is a really good book. I was intrigued by the concept, I've often considered the option of immortality via computer, and here it is fascinatingly well thought out. The characters are believable, and I found myself thinking about romances I'd survived in the past. Well done.
Rating: 
Summary: A good book
Review: This was a good book that made you want to read to the end, but it wasn't a book that blew me away. Its your basic love story twisted with the future. The author has some really interesting ideas, and his views are entertaining. Read it.
Rating:
Summary: A Voluntary Matrix
Review: What if instead of being forced into a virtual cyberworld without knowing it, as in _The Matrix_, you voluntarily had yourself uploaded into a massive computer, to achieve immortality in a virtual world identical to the "real" world, with the exceptions of violence, disease, and death? That's the premise of "Circuit of Heaven," and the author effectively shows us alternate realities and two lovers who exist in different worlds. Nemo has long resented the "Bin" and has refused to enter it; Justine lives in the Bin, and she is having troubling dreams and uncertain memories. They fall in love, and Danvers explores the complexity and variety of attitudes toward a radically world-changing technology with excellent characterization and a suspenseful story, while the reader cannot help wondering if the lovers will ever find away to be together.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespearean Cyberpunk
Review: When Nemo was ten years old, his parents abandoned him so that they could enter the immortal society called the Bin containing twelve billion uploaded people. After being abandoned, Nemo's feelings of anger and betrayal caused him to vow that he would never enter the Bin, and instead live out the rest of his life on the near deserted Earth that is left with a small group Christian fundamentalists (fundies) and crazy radicals.However, Nemo and the other outsiders are allowed to enter the Bin for twelve hours at a time to visit. Reluctantly, Nemo takes advantage of this and visits his parents twice a year: once on his birthday, and the other on Christmas. It is on his 21st birthday that he is introduced to a singer named Justine that he immediately falls in love with. Nemo is now left with the decision to give up everything he has believed in and leave behind his friends or to let go of and forget about the undeniable love he feels for Justine. With the possibility of an error during her upload, Justine is becoming more and more suspicious that she may not be exactly who she thought she was. Taking this into account, along with pressure from the outside radicals and his parents, Nemo is literally being torn apart over his decision knowing that whatever he decides will ultimately change both worlds forever. Although Circuit of Heaven is written more as a cyberpunk romance novel, it is still a novel any cyberpunk fan will enjoy. However, this novel may be somewhat offensive to Christian readers as their faith is portrayed as holding no truth and they are often times characterized as being crazy radicals. While Dennis Danver's romantic plot can cause the book to be somewhat predictable at times as it has many allusions to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, it is still a great read and very difficult to put down.
Rating:
Summary: Shakespearean Cyberpunk
Review: When Nemo was ten years old, his parents abandoned him so that they could enter the immortal society called the Bin containing twelve billion uploaded people. After being abandoned, Nemo's feelings of anger and betrayal caused him to vow that he would never enter the Bin, and instead live out the rest of his life on the near deserted Earth that is left with a small group Christian fundamentalists (fundies) and crazy radicals. However, Nemo and the other outsiders are allowed to enter the Bin for twelve hours at a time to visit. Reluctantly, Nemo takes advantage of this and visits his parents twice a year: once on his birthday, and the other on Christmas. It is on his 21st birthday that he is introduced to a singer named Justine that he immediately falls in love with. Nemo is now left with the decision to give up everything he has believed in and leave behind his friends or to let go of and forget about the undeniable love he feels for Justine. With the possibility of an error during her upload, Justine is becoming more and more suspicious that she may not be exactly who she thought she was. Taking this into account, along with pressure from the outside radicals and his parents, Nemo is literally being torn apart over his decision knowing that whatever he decides will ultimately change both worlds forever. Although Circuit of Heaven is written more as a cyberpunk romance novel, it is still a novel any cyberpunk fan will enjoy. However, this novel may be somewhat offensive to Christian readers as their faith is portrayed as holding no truth and they are often times characterized as being crazy radicals. While Dennis Danver's romantic plot can cause the book to be somewhat predictable at times as it has many allusions to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, it is still a great read and very difficult to put down.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel of Truly "Novel" Ideas
Review: While other reviewers have focused on the love story angle of this book, for me the love story is secondary. I give it five stars because of the novel ideas it features. "Constructs," for instance, are intelligent creatures that are, literally, created to fulfill service roles such as child caregiver or garbage collector. And in order to distinguish them from flesh-and-blood humans, they have incongruous features, such as scales or blue skin. Then there is "the bin," a giant computer into which people can upload their personalities and live in immortal perfection, leaving their bodies to be burned and us to question what happens to their souls. And there are loads of nifty plot ideas too, like the "fundies," who are religious fundamentalists who choose to stay on earth and not upload themselves into the bin, travel agents who can send a human into the bin on a short-term vacation, and a hero whose passion is old Aimee Mann CDs that he finds in the local landfill. This is one of the most creative and thought-provoking books I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it to those who are looking for fresh ideas and meaningful humor.
Rating:
Summary: A Novel of Truly "Novel" Ideas
Review: While other reviewers have focused on the love story angle of this book, for me the love story is secondary. I give it five stars because of the novel ideas it features. "Constructs," for instance, are intelligent creatures that are, literally, created to fulfill service roles such as child caregiver or garbage collector. And in order to distinguish them from flesh-and-blood humans, they have incongruous features, such as scales or blue skin. Then there is "the bin," a giant computer into which people can upload their personalities and live in immortal perfection, leaving their bodies to be burned and us to question what happens to their souls. And there are loads of nifty plot ideas too, like the "fundies," who are religious fundamentalists who choose to stay on earth and not upload themselves into the bin, travel agents who can send a human into the bin on a short-term vacation, and a hero whose passion is old Aimee Mann CDs that he finds in the local landfill. This is one of the most creative and thought-provoking books I've read in a long time and I highly recommend it to those who are looking for fresh ideas and meaningful humor.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for the Sequel
Review: Who has not had a conversation about the hope/hopelessness of downloading an entire personality to a computer for a lifetime of electronic interplay. In the future, someone creates such a device, the "bin", used as a repository for those wishing to enter. Of course there is a catch - you have to die first. In an instantly captivating tale, we learn of a young man who loves the (real) world. It so happens that his parents - and indeed a ever increasing percentage of the population - has opted for a virtual existence. His conflicts lead to situations and to love. Life in the bin is supposed to follow that of the "real" world except for such small matters as birth and death. There is also an exception for the creator of the bin who has an almost magical ability to adjust the "reality" in the vitual bin. The religious conflict seems almost destined and it plays out on a path that joins the spirit with technology. This is an important work that should be every 9th grader's reading list. It is superbly crafted and well-populated with originality exploding on every page - a superb opening tale.
Rating:
Summary: Can't wait for the Sequel
Review: Who has not had a conversation about the hope/hopelessness of downloading an entire personality to a computer for a lifetime of electronic interplay. In the future, someone creates such a device, the "bin", used as a repository for those wishing to enter. Of course there is a catch - you have to die first. In an instantly captivating tale, we learn of a young man who loves the (real) world. It so happens that his parents - and indeed a ever increasing percentage of the population - has opted for a virtual existence. His conflicts lead to situations and to love. Life in the bin is supposed to follow that of the "real" world except for such small matters as birth and death. There is also an exception for the creator of the bin who has an almost magical ability to adjust the "reality" in the vitual bin. The religious conflict seems almost destined and it plays out on a path that joins the spirit with technology. This is an important work that should be every 9th grader's reading list. It is superbly crafted and well-populated with originality exploding on every page - a superb opening tale.
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