Directive 51

"It's the end of the world as we know it..." In Directive 51 John Barnes sets about destroying civilization as we know it and then examining what it would take to put the world back together again from those various pieces. In 51, the end of civilization is brought about by a fringe group that one da......more

This book was something of a disappointment. I really enjoyed John Barnes's YA space opera Losers in Space, and I generally enjoy apocalyptic scenarios, and this is a smart, contemporary one, in which nanotech run amok is what ends civilization. Dubbed "Daybreak," Barnes describes interestingly the......more

This is a densely packed techno thriller. It is the first book in a trilogy, so not all questions are answered. It reminds me in many ways of Kim Stanley Robinson's 40 Days of Rain. It is densely populated with a large cast of characters, from the people who helped bring about this end of civilizati......more

There are chunks of this book that are quite good, and some interesting ideas are presented. But there are just so many things wrong with this book. I don't care if Barnes is a right-winger. He doesn't try to hide it and it has a minor effect on the overall story. Comments follow, Loaded with spoil......more

What I thought was going to be a good post-apocalyptic thriller turned out to be a compelling political thriller set in a post-apocalyptic America. I've been looking for a well written post-apoc story (the last few I've read have been underwhelming to say the least), so I was a little taken aback wh......more