Directive 51

I found this book compelling and interesting. I love “civilization collapses” scenarios, so this was right up my street. I bought all the science fiction elements without a problem. This book was like a love song to rational thinking, as it shows one person after another in its huge cast solving problems with their lucid, reasonable minds. Although the novel tells you that people are out in the street attacking, robbing, and sexually assaulting each other, the reader doesn’t have to see too much of that. Instead you see stuff like an angry mob being quieted by a truthful speech. Or you have two embittered enemies who are both intelligent, honorable men sitting down together and solving their differences with the help of a show more moderator. I don’t think that is very realistic, but I love reading about it.

My favorite character was Lenny Plekhanov, and I just love the fact that he is a nerd with a disability who uses a wheelchair AND he is the sexy love interest. That made me so happy. When have you ever seen that? Immediately I started worrying that he was going to die, because usually the character with a disability dies, often smothered by a pillow for their own good. Sure enough, his life is under threat because he has a pacemaker and other implants that come in contact with his skin, and terrorists have released technology-destroying nano biotes that might stop all his machinery. I won’t tell you what happens. Anyway, everyone in the book might die at any time; they’re in a pretty dicey situation.

I am eager to read the second book, despite the fact that there was something bizarre about this one. All the characters are foaming mad about upholding the oaths that they swore. Everyone is constantly rabbiting on about who the president is going to be, and that the process has to follow the constitutional guidelines. If all technology were wiped out, and there was no food, and no transportation, and no communication, and people are running around killing each other, I don’t think anyone would care one iota who the president was or whether the government followed the rules on that. It would be the last thing on my mind, for sure. But these people are obsessed. In one scene, you have character A arresting character B to fulfill his oath. Character B telling character A the only thing that upsets him is that A is breaking his oath. Character C resigning so he doesn’t have to break his oath. Character D in torment over his oath. Really? I have never gotten the impression that politicos and four-star generals are very serious about the oaths they took to uphold the Constitution. But John Barnes is good enough that I’m willing to suspend my disbelief so that I can find out what happens next. show less

You know, I really liked how this book started off. I was really itching for a good apocalypse -- let's burn this whole thing down! And we got into the book, and it was good. It all burned. Good riddance to civilization.

And then we got into constitutional politics. Honestly, truly, I love politics, and I think the political bodies that the country would break up into if our communications and transportation broke down would be interesting. I'm just..not all that interested in following it.

Read it for the first half. If you're into it, continue it for the second. I don't think I'll be reading further into the series because the majority of the BURN IT DOWN BURN IT ALL DOWN AHAHAHAHHAAH is already over. Darn.

I normally like disaster books and speculation, but this was terrible. From a promising start about an unusual (and improbable, but that's not a flaw per se) premise for an world-wrecking scenario, the author piled improbabilities and sudden bolts from the blue until the plot and character reactions went far past my ability to suspend disbelief. The characters were the usual tropes (albeit well done), but the antagonists went from plausible to unbelievable, as did the reactions of the characters faced with the end of the technological world. [Dust] by Pellegrino and [The Rift] by Walter J. Williams handle the subject far better. Not recommended.

My biggest complaint about this book is that the first 120 pages should have been more like 60 or 70 pages. Far too much time got spent showing us Daybreak-prep in detail, and that made the book take much too long to get into. The VP's story was a necessary component, but there was too much Random AG Action for my taste. Frankly, I'd rather have seen much of that material get spun off and expanded (with some non-US stories!) for a supporting anthology...but I digress.

Once Daybreak really started rolling, the pace picked up tremendously. After about page 200, this started to read like a zombie apocalypse novel without the zombies. Something Has Happened, and it's up to the survivors to pick themselves up and start rebuilding society. (In show more that respect, it reminds me of the uptimers' Grantville from Eric Flint's 1632 series, but much grimmer. Richelieu didn't have nukes...) There's plainly more going on here than meets the eye, from just about all angles, and I'm torn between wanting to start the second book NOW and wanting to hold off until the third book comes out around October. (I do admit to having some reservations about the author's desire to rework the first two books and undo some editorial meddling; perhaps waiting is the best course...)

Overall: I liked the book and setting despite the slow start, and I want to see more of it, but I'm hesitant to read a book that is likely to get changed. Therefore, I cannot in good conscience recommend the series at this time. Once the proposed revisions are either finished or rejected, though, I'm all in. show less

Barnes projects into a very close future a merger of jihadist, xtian fundie, and anti-tech memes in a technothriller that is both plausible and frightening.

This book was maddening. Some parts of it were really good. Others dragged on forever. The whole book had the feel of setting up the rest of the series. I will probably give the next one a chance but it won't get much of a chance. This felt like a near miss.

This is a very intelligent adult novel that is much like the popular young adult novels we're seeing pop up everywhere. It takes place in the near future and follows a group of government officials and president(s)as they try to rebuild America after massive destruction caused by a group called "Daybreak". Daybreak has released nano swarm and biotes across the country (and the world) that has destroyed everything that makes modern civilization. This novel is fast paced, exciting and well written, the action starts on page one and continues to the last page. I enjoyed it and I hope you will to (especially those of us who are adults and enjoy the young adult novels that are cropping up since the success of Harry Potter and Katness).