Harmonies of The 'Net

A well thought out conclusion to what hopefully isn't the end of the series! Jane's Afterward at least hints more books are forthcoming. We get to see the deepest and darkest parts of Stephens' upbringing, and the misunderstandings the Wesley especially can make in interpreting other's actions. Gripping - if at times disturbing - stuff.

The report is sent. For all the good it will do. And while Loren Cantrell wraps a few matters up - including some last ditch efforts to heal Homi - Stephen is released to the planet for a few days RnR. Much to the displeasure of the Recon adviser Lexi who wasn't consulted and would have stridently rejected such a course of action, believing Stephen far too traumatised from being subjected to Cocheta show more input, to cope with much more stress. However as Lexi herself allowed Stephen to end up in that situation against her Admiral's orders, she finds herself in disfavour - or at least perceives that to be the case. As with all of Jane's work that I've read so far, it is the character's individual perceptions that really stand out as great writing, and enable a lot of empathy - even with conflicting viewpoints.

Meanwhile the NetAt have responded to the report with a high priority embassy come to take Stephen back into the fold. As it turns out they've been classmates with most of the principle characters, and as NetAT they are used to having absolute command in pretty much all circumstances. Loren however quickly refutes that notion, leaving them to spread their disgruntlement as they can. For Spacers they deal with planetside remarkably well. This however proves to be the straw on the camel that is Stephen's back, and he flees - as he later explains due to the Cocheta's sense of Preservation.

What you are left with is a fascinating insight into feeling and coping with the circumstances of when and if non-physical aliens are real. The artifacts are indesputable, but what is real to Stephen doesn't meet Wesley's standards, real, unreal, mad and sane. Who are you to make the judgement - even if the stability of mankind's expansion depends upon it.

Superb, read them all, and cry shame on the publishers who abandoned it.

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reread - as above. It is the darkest of the set, and somewhat distrubing at times as there are some fairly powerful hints around the troubles Stephen endured at the Academy. This does seem to have been written after the prequel, or at least there are many themes expressed in it that haven't previously been explicitly stated. It may simply have been Jane keeping detailed notes of her thought processes! show less

This is part of Fancher's Netwalkers trilogy. It features compelling characters, tight fast-paced plotting, intrigue, good world-building, and, far from least, excellent writing. But for publishing difficulties unrelated to the excellence of the writing it would have been promoted and read far more widely when it first came out. It is now out of print in paper editions and available only from second hand sources, but it is now also available as an ebook with the rest of the trilogy at Closed Circle Publishing, an internet ebook publishing site run by Fancher, C.J. Cherryh and Lynn Abby, where they make available their out of print books in ebook format along with new works as written. I recommend Fancher's work highly

Wesley Smith and his protege, Stephen Ridenour are both gifted programmers. Stephen is also a remarkable beautiful boy and had been used by the administrators at the Vandereaux, the student academy. Stephen was an orphan and had no political levers to advance his position in the hierarchy, only his remarkable programming ability, personal beauty and sensitivity to the net. The story traces the challenges faced by a politically weak student among upper classmates who take advantage of the weak and use them unmercilessly. Wesley vacillates between being a sympathetic supporter of Stephen and a suspicious critic thinking Stephen uses his abilities to manipulate his peers. Stephen goes on an Indian like spirit quest with a native on the show more planet and makes contact with an entity in the mountain that is intent on straightening out the connections on the net to prevent failure and subsequent ruin throughout the system. Deep story with entertaining value. show less