Customer Reviews

Circuit of Heaven

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dennis Danvers is absolutely brilliant at taking some impossible premise and making it believable. This is the third novel of his that I've read and probably the best. In this one, a brave new world has been created, in which you can "upload" yourself into some kind of really far-out computer, and live forever in cyber-immortality. Most of humanity has already done so and is now living happily in "the Bin," while a few holdouts still populate an increasingly empty earth.

This is the background for the love story of Nemo and Justine--one living in "the real world" and the other in "the Bin." But, it's far more complicated than that. Who are these people, really? What does it mean to be a human being? What is the nature of personal identity? And, is immortality always worth the cost? These questions are explored not in theory, but in the story, and the story is beautiful.

What would you do? Give up eternal life for the person you love? Or give up real life for computerized immortality? And how would you decide? Profound and thoughtful story with an unobtrusive spiritual dimension. I recommend it highly.

I seem to gravitate to post-apocolyptic tales, whether they be happy or troubled scenarios, and thoroughly enjoyed this complex and gripping adventure.

While the concept of converting living human personalities into virtual ones has been done before, most excellently by Frederick Pohl in his "Gateway" series for example, I relished Danvers' believable portrayals of persons good and evil, "real" and virtual, human and construct.

There were sufficient twists and surprises to keep my up beyond my usual bed times, and I was genuinely touched by the ending. It's a keeper.

In 2081, most of the human population has had their consciousness "uploaded" into a giant computer called the Bin. The Bin is a virtual, electronic world that approximates our own. Except there is no crime, disease or death. However, most people inside the Bin are unhappy and stagnating.

Outside the Bin, there are only about 2.5 million people. The Earth's population consists of survivalists, the criminally insane, religious fanatics, and Christian fundamentalists. As you can imagine, the world is a pretty interesting place to live in.

Nemo, our 21-year old protagonist, lives in this world. After his parents abandon him to upload themselves into the Bin, he lives in his old neigborhood, fixing CD players and VCRs for barter. He lives with his protector, a Construct named Lawrence (a seven foot lizard with 4 souls), and his best friend Johnathan (a Christian fundamentalist). Nemo doesn't want to enter the Bin because his grandmother, to whom he was very close, chose to die outside the Bin.

One day, while Nemo is visiting inside the Bin with his parents, he meets Justine. Justine is Nemo's dream woman, and she seems to have no memory of her life outside the Bin.

The mystery and relationship between Justine and Nemo grows as they discover the secrets of those in the Bin, and those outside of it.

I really enjoyed this novel and I would highly recommend it to SF fans. My only complaint is that it wasn't long enough. It's 373 pages, but the size of the book is only about half the size of a normal hardcover. The cover states that Dennis Danvers is hard at work at a sequel, which I will definitely pick up as soon as it comes out.

Dennis Danvers gives the reader a plot unlike the common action-packed cyberpunk novels. His book is based on a whirlwind love story between two people from separate worlds. Nemo exists in the rundown world left behind by the flawless world Justine lives in.

The Bin is the computerized world in which Justine and the majority of the world choose to live. Looking in on this world one could see its appealing options. The Bin is a place where people live the life they always wanted to live. They can choose how they look and can behave however they please. In addition, when a man enters the bin he is guaranteed immortal life. Unlike the real world, there are no instances of death, sickness, or poverty. To enter this world one must be uploaded into the computer, leaving the body behind to be burned.

The two lovers meet during one of Nemo's few visits to his parents and seem to have the perfect love, almost too perfect. Unfortunately Nemo has always despised the life in the Bin, which tests the strength of their love. Danvers makes several references to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that suggest the love Nemo and Justine share compares to that of the two star-crossed lovers in the play. Yet, Danvers didn't think one conflict would be enough, leaving the lovers with much more in store for them.

Although Danvers' novel is unlike the traditional cyberpunk novel, it proves to be a great book. His plot is full of surprises that left me unable to put it down. He delivered the plot beautifully making Circuit of Heaven a must read.

Dennis Danvers Circuit of Heaven is cyberpunk with the added bonus of a classic, troubled love story. In the novel, Danver takes you into the lives of two young people who live in completely different worlds. Most of human society has chosen to give up their physical being to live eternally in the bin, a virtual reality world where life goes on forever, there is no death disease or crime.
Nemo is a twenty-one year-old boy whose parents chose to follow the mainstream and live in the bin. Nemo, however, disputes life in the bin, and he only travels to the virtual reality twice a year to visit his parents. On one such trip, Nemo meets Justine, a young woman who lives in the bin. Nemo and Justine fall deeply in love; but they both live in separate worlds. Will Nemo chose love and give in to his strong beliefs against the bin, or will he risk losing the love of his life to remain a mortal?
In Circuit of Heaven, Danvers creates a perfect love story, while adding the elements of a Cyberpunk novel; there is the presence of artificial intelligence, life in a utopian virtual reality, and a desolate and indefinite view of the future of life on earth and the affect that technology will have on it. This is the perfect novel for the Cyberpunk fan with a romantic side.

This book was predictable with a twist. You'd figure something out, and turn out to be right, but then Danvers would put a add something to what you'd just figured out. It had you rooting for the good guys, then feeling sorry for the bad guys. The ending was a little bit too easy, the final conflict not conflicting enough, but overall a good book.

Circuit of Heaven is, for pratical purposes, a fantasy novel not truly sci-fi. Like any fantasy novel where the main character enters and leaves some alternate magical universe, here we find the main character torn between two worlds by his love for a woman. The author makes repeated references to Romeo and Juliet throughout the novel and makes no secret that he is, in many ways, following this timeless tale of 'star crossed lovers.'

This novel is quite satisfying, has a great narrative flow which is easy to read, and I found the sci-fi alternate reality more intriuging than most fantasy novels.

John

In 2081, the majority of the worlds population lives inside the Bin, a place where disease, crime, and death are non existent. It is a virtual society. People have their consciousness uploaded into a virtual body. Only about 2 million people live outside of the bin. They mostly consist of Christian fundamentalist, the criminally insane, and rebels-like Nemo.

Nemo was abandoned by his parents at the age of ten and left with a construct named Lawrence. (Lawrence is a seven foot lizard with several personalities-or souls) Nemo fixes old CD players and reads his grandmothers diary on the outside. He made a choice when he was ten to never go into the Bin. Mainly because of the hostility towards his parents, and also because his grandmother choose to die in the real world. The most he would do was visit his parents twice a year.

During one of his visits he meets a beautiful young lady, Justine. Nemo almost instantly falls in love with her. Nemo is torn between good and evil, which would be the Real world and the Bin.

The story has so many twists and turns that it is nearly impossible to put it down. I definitely recommend this book. I am very interested in reading his sequel, and will be satisfied if it is half as good as this one.

I had to read a book by a Richmond author for an honors class at Virginia Commonwealth and Danves was recommended by my professor. I am glad that he did because it only took 3 pages to hook me. i tore through this book in 2 days and I am ready for more. Sci-fi Romeo and Juliet in a world that was very well imagined. Highly Recommended

I almost didn't start this book. At the time I didn't know the writer's work, and the cover blurb mentioned something about computers. My mind supplied the label "cyberpunk," a term so outmoded and stale that the writers who popularized this type of story deny ever writing the stuff.

This story takes place in a future where billions of people have uploaded their personalities into a vast electronic system to live trouble-free virtual existences. The point of the book isn't computers or technology. It is about characters and, for me a least, literary resonances.

This is a fun book to read. Danvers' book doesn't evolve directly from Romeo & Juliet or Rebecca, but the characters discuss literature and it has meaning in their lives, just as it has in yours and mine. The protagonist is nicknamed Nemo, identified by another character as the manic submarine captain from Jules Verne. But Nemo is also called "Little Nemo" once, the fanciful traveller from Winsor McCay's great old comic strip, "Little Nemo in Slumberland." Clearly "The Bin," the virtual home of most of humanity, is a kind of Slumberland, a dream world.

Another memorable character is the "construct" (a being created
artificially by cloning and downloading three personalities recorded from other people), Lawrence the Dragon. Somehow he reminded me of Barney the Dinosaur, since his role was as sort of a guardian for Nemo while he was young, but much more likable. I don't want to give away details about other characters and their relationships, since they are complex and revealed with considerable suspense.