Customer Reviews

Candle

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A damned fine book. In particular it seems to validate, complete, and compliment Kaleidescope Century, his most controversial book. To the newcomer - this is a very good book with which to be introduced to John Barnes. Barnes is all about extrapolating very interesting, and EXTREMELY detailed future histories. His characters' individual stories are interesting ways for him to bring his histories out.

This is the third novel in the history of the 21st Century that many people are calling the "Meme Wars" series by default. (Not really an accurate title, since The Meme War doesn't start until 2048, and the first book in the series, Orbital Resonance, takes places a whole 25 years before the Meme Wars and is concerned with a vastly different topic.)

There is also a short story, Delicate Stuff, in his anthology Apostrophes and Apocalypses. The author's blurb before this piece indicates that there will be a total of 4 novels in this series, but I suspect he could do MANY more.

This book does a reasonably good job of standing alone. You can jump into it without any previous exposure to John Barnes and follow along quite well. But what it does best is provide an alternate point of view to the extremely dystopian Kaleidescope Century. In KC, we see the 20th century unfold from the point of view of 2 psychotic mercenaries. Candle shows us some events that are very closely linked to events in KC, but from the viewpoint of two very decent people who were unfortunately born at a difficult time in history. The themes are the same - who's in charge? Who has the right to be in charge? And how does one balance personal needs and desires against the good of society as a whole? But the treatment is completely different.

On a grander scale, Candle illuminates (no pun intended) two very important background characters who have figured only peripherally in the earlier books - Phil and Monica. Phil and Monica wind up being among the greatest heroes of the early 21st century. Phil, under a previous name, developed the CSL curriculum which figures prominently in Candle and in Orbital Resonance. And later, Phil and Monica author the FreeCyber meme which represents earth's last stand against Resuna/One True.

(to correct a previous reviewer, Phil and Monica are NOT related to anyone in Orbital Resonance.... Although Josh Quare's adopted daughter Alice IS the mother of Randy Schwartz.)

My only beef with this book was the ending, which actually shocked me considerably. It wasn't a bad ending, but after reading Kaleidescope Century, I had a hard time believing that One True would suddenly go so "warm-fuzzy". (As a side note, I think KC would have made more sense if Candle had been published first.)

If you like this one, pick up Orbital Resonance for certain. I generally recommend Kaleidescope Century too... but be forewarned - that book is NOT for the squeamish. Although it does give a more thorough explanation of Disksters.

What if the only conceivable solution to humanity's inadvertent attempts at Planetary Genocide is a global computer system that keeps everyone in check via a virus program running in their head and a cellular data link hard-wired to their brain? Not quite total control and domination, but enough influence that nobody is truly self-determinant. And the entire surface of the Planet is monitored almost 24 hours a day, so it is virtually impossible to remain outside the "system." John Barnes asks these questions, and the answers are not black and white at all. Through the entire book I kept trying to make a clear determination of weather the actions of One True (the global computer system) were justified or not, and I couldn't. The book deals with some dark subject matter, but I thought it ended on a very bright, positive note. If you ever shake your head at the insanity of human activity, wonder about the darker aspects of electronic surveillance and/or digital mind control, I highly recommend this book.

I really liked this book and I would recommend it to anyone wanting a quick sci-fi read. I found myself wanting more, and hopefully there will be more in this story line.

Barnes looks into the future with a feeling of validity like that of Kim Stanely Robinson in his Mars Trilogy. I've often wondered myself about some of the ideas presented in this book.

The characterization was well done. My only complaint was that their motives were sometimes confusing to me. Their actions made sense, but only to a degree.

Overall the book was a good blend of modern ideas with a tip of the hat to sci-fi classics like "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451". To some people the society presented would truly be a Utopia, but to most it would be somewhat of a nightmare.

At the end I wanted more to the story, but hopefully I'll get to see it.

But I still want a good description of what a diskster is...

It's hard to easily categorize this novel, as it is certainly nothing ordinary or well known. It is set in the same fictional milieu as Orbital Resonance and Kaleidoscope Century, and for those who have read those novels, there is much to find that is familiar, everything about the setting, but nothing about the Plot. Orbital Resonance was a Coming of Age story, Kaleidoscope Century was an Anti-Hero Cautionary story. What does that make Candle?

Candle is a story about personal control, internal and external, and what it really means to be human in relation to whether a person actually controls their own destiny, or has their destiny controlled by others. These are deep subjects, and this novel is neither as fast paced as Kaleidoscope Century nor as sympathetic as Orbital Resonance. Instead it tries to point out that a person is not really a person unless they are themselves free of external control. This is more and more important in the real world as various elements of society vie to control the minds of everyone they can in any way they can.

The book gets deeply into the minds of the central character and to some degree his opponent as well. It also showcases some of the effects of growing old out of a profession and a lifetime of activities based on youth and vigor.

For fans of the first two books, a variety of questions are resolved, but even larger ones are raised. I can't reveal more without revealing things that are left to the end of the novel, but it raises questions based on things the other books have speculated will happen in the future.

Overall, I felt the book was excellent, but as I said, also quite different.

I'm gonna start with this: I like the book. I'll read it again, in a year or so, when I don't remember all of the words anymore. So, don't go not buying the book.

John Barnes' "Meme Wars" universe, which this book is set in, is an interesting future... but he's made it too SMALL. The "parents" of one of the main characters in this book are also the parents of the main character in _Orbital Resonance_, and they get killed in _Kaleidoscope Century_, and they're the ones who did the things that made... well, EVERYTHING... happen. Tying several different stories together into a single milieu is a neat idea, but this is a bit much; the real world is LOTS bigger than this.

From all the reviews I read of this book, I was concerned that it would be short on action and long on talk. After all, the setup is not necessarily compelling: two guys hiding out in the snow, trying not to call attention to themselves. It doesn't make for an action-packed plot.

Luckily, quite a lot of the book is given over to the two main characters telling their life stories, filling in some of the history of the Meme Wars. Most of the philosophical exposition happens inside this panoramic and engaging context, so it works better than the high school debate-style discussion I feared and expected.

Once again, John Barnes has managed to make reading about abstract, high minded concepts be fun.

Out of the mainstream SF writers to emerge in the last ten or so years, John Barnes has stood out for a number of reasons, notably his consistent quality (especially given how prolific he seems), his excellent storytelling abilities and his interesting extrapolations of new ideas without getting so far "out there" that he loses the reader completely. In a previous book "Kalidoscope Century", Barnes gave us an overview of his near future history, including a look at the "Meme Wars" where basically intelligent computer programs used people as pawns to take over the planet (that's oversimpifying by a bit, actually). In this novel Barnes takes us back to just after that time, where hunter Currie Curran lives with his wife in a world where the meme "One True" controls everyone through its program Resuna, adjusting thoughts and memories and emotions in order to make everyone more effective and happy. Currie used to hunt "cowboys", people who hadn't been "turned" by One True and lived independent lives on the edge of society. There's one still left called Lobo and Currie goes out to hunt him one last time. It doesn't go well and Currie ends up Lobo's prisoner with his link to One True missing and his copy of Resuna disconnected. Here the story actually begins as Barnes tries to use this as a backdrop to explore the meaning of individuality and what it means in a wrecked society that needs repairing, as well as showcasing his imagination. The problem mostly lies with the execution. After the initial rather thrilling sequence of Currie remembering the first hunt against Lobo and then going out and getting the guy again, the book sort of loses all momentum and stops dead while the two fellows swap stories about what they were doing during the Meme Wars. While Barnes can craft a good tale, these tales on the whole come off as rather static and it's hard to get any kind of suspense when you have two grown men drinking wine and sharing a bath in the name of male bonding. Some action starts to get generated towards the end but the ending itself pretty much comes out of nowhere and seems way too warm and cuddly as well as far too forgiving of a lot of things that Barnes himself brought up. All in all, somewhat disappointing given the premise, Barnes really doesn't make it as interesting as he could (as he's proved in the past) and that makes the book frustratingly uneven. Fans will probably enjoy it to some extent, since it's not bad, just average, but newcomers would be wiser to start with some of his earlier novels and work down from there.

Anyone who loved the setting of Kaleidescope Century, and couldn't get the alternate-future out of their minds will enjoy this book. The characters are more sympathetic than in _Century_, but the same issues of free will, memes, etc. are explored in even more depth.

Recommended.

Good Points-As mentioned above I liked this book particularly the argument between Lobo and Curly and their sharing of experences of the Meme Wars.

Bad points-It does seeem to go flat towards the middle and don't even get me started on the ending

Overall it was a good book and what I didn't like about it didn't tarnish the overall book quality.
If you liked the the Timewar serise you will like these books.

The usual John Barnes goodness, set in what appears to be the same universe as Kaleidoscope Century (among others). Like those others, the talent and originality that caused some to hail him as the New Heinlein are marred by graphic depictions of extreme violence.

Overall, a very thought-provoking and ultimately uplifting novel - but I'll never lend it to my mother; the sick parts would make her cry.