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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Repetetive and Incomplete, May 13, 2001
This review is from: DoOon Mode (The Mode Series) (Hardcover)
Given how much I truly love the first three books of the Mode series, I never would have pictured myself giving the fourth, _DoOon Mode_, a negative review. Yet that's what I find myself doing. To be fair, this book suffers from several disadvantages: longtime fans of the series have been waiting for it for years--some as long as eight, since _Chaos Mode_ came out in hardback in 1993. My expectations were bound to be high after a wait like that, particularly when I learned that it was to conclude the series. I can also imagine that perhaps Piers Anthony lost the feel of these characters, this reality; though continuity errors were few, _DoOon Mode_ didn't really seem in synch with its predecessors. Now for what requires all those excuses. For starters, I didn't get any sense of depth from any character, even Colene, which may have been partially due to the frequent perspective-shifting--and this time, most of the perspectives were used a sum total of once. I couldn't really get into the heads of these protagonists, only seeing a slice of the action from their view. And while I'm on the subject of the action, it seemed awfully glossed over to me. Many things are skipped, shown entirely off-camera; I got little feel for the wonderful variety of the Virtual Mode, and instead have a hunch that Anthony was trying to cut travel scenes as short as possible. Saving, mind you, for one Xanth cameo that seemed totally unnecessary. The characters' conflicts aren't explored to any significant degree; plot threads turned up and were swiftly cut off, not appearing to serve any purpose in the meanwhile. (If anyone can figure out the *point* of learning that Nona's joy cannot be depleted, or the motivation for her change of mind/heart with regards to her home reality, could you please explain it to me?) Meanwhile, I also have problems with the amount of sex in this. All of the Mode books are heavily into sex-related issues; it's to be expected, and I'm not complaining about that. What bothers me is that the sex seemed purposeless here, thrown in simply to have it present. Even the new revelations about Colene's past trauma had the feel of something gratuitous. And the sexiness of the young women is frequently described--something which is just the tip of the repetition iceburg. Each new perspective brought yet another account of how the traveling party interacted, from a different and yet painfully similar viewpoint. I lost count of how many times Colene was described as a 'vessel of dolor.' That, to me, was wasted space that could have been better spent on more depth of plot. Which brings me to the most disturbing thing--while all of the characters do achieve conclusions, and those conclusions are marginally satisfactory, they're... well, shallow. Given how much I came to care about Colene and Darius, I was terribly disappointed with the book's conclusion; sure, they get the ending we all knew was coming, but it's so anticlimactic that I was dismayed all the same. (Not to mention that if there was a romance/sex scene that I wouldn't have minded seeing, it would be the consummation of that relationship--something which is entirely missing!) I have no real sense of closure with these characters. Their finale was quick, bland, and left a bad taste in my mouth. That said, it shouldn't be surprising that I don't recommend buying this one. Certainly not in hardback as I did. However, Mode fans will probably want to read it just to know how things turn out--and it *is* worth reading, for all that I've said; my opinion of it may not be the greatest, but I'm glad to have had one last chance to slip into the worlds of Colene, Darius, and their companions all the same. Just don't make it the first Mode novel you read, and don't get your expectations too high.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
I waited 8 years for this??, June 25, 2001
This review is from: DoOon Mode (The Mode Series) (Hardcover)
In 1991, a new, strange, wondrous novel was presented to me: Virtual Mode, by Piers Anthony--the story of a girl named Colene and her telepathic horse who traveled the "modes,"--an ever-shifting landscape of alternate worlds. There they encountered Provos, an old woman who remembered only the future and Darius, a projecting empath and Colene's love interest. We met the three feline "nulls," Pussy, Tom and Cat. Together they foiled the decadent Emperor Ddwng and popped off into the next volume... "Fractal Mode" blew me away. Colene and company entered a fractal universe, (something I've never seen in fiction!) and joined with Nona, a very powerful magic worker. After setting things right in Nona's world, the party disappeared into the third volume... "Chaos Mode" introduced Burgess, a creature who was every palentologist's dream. From there, the party shifted from Colene's world back to Nona's world, and many more adventures, until they all appeared again--back in Ddwng's palace! But then they went away again...This time for eight years. It seems, (as Anthony explains in his Author's Note), that the original series did not sell well, and that ended the series prematurely. We fans waited and waited, hoping that somehow, someway, the series could be continued. Finally, Tor Books decided to publish this, which turns out to be the last in the series. But...DoOon Mode simply doesn't live up to the excitement and wonderment of the preceding three volumes. This book is rather slow-paced and philosophical in contrast to the others. It doesn't match in quality, nor does it succeed in recapturing the characters, the moods and situations of its forerunners. Here, instead of crossing the modes rapidly and exploring strange new realms, we are stuck in Ddwng's mode, where there is very little in the way of action. We are reintroduced to the Nulls, who hog the first 46 pages before we even see Colene. In the first volume, the Nulls were characterized as rather two-dimensional slaves, and they never claim to be anything more. Yet in this book they suddenly act like the greatest philosophers and psychologists of the age. The feline Null, Pussy, formerly a fur-covered vamp, miraculously becomes the successor to Sigmund Freud in DoOon's final chapters. Other characters seem inconsistent as well. Colene, a suicidal, depressive girl, at least had direction and motivation in the previous volumes, but here just seems confused. Meanwhile, Nona, who was a spirited and rebellous character decides to settle down in her home mode and is written out faster than we want to see her go. Burgess and Seqiro the horse fade away into the background. And Darius? Darius is just...there. After the excitement and adventure of the first three volumes, it all just seems disappointing. But, let's give credit where credit is due, as I try to theorize what went wrong. In the course of eight years, Anthony has matured as a writer, and as a person. Perhaps the initial spark of inspiration for this series has changed over time. Also, the fact that it was never a best-seller could make it far less fun for him to write. As interest declined over the three volumes, the wind went out of his sales, and perhaps the writing of this final novel was more of a chore. It almost seems to be a novel written out of a sense of duty to please his fans. This is evident in the very editing of the book--mistakes abound. Words are dropped, or added. Bad English is allowed to see print. Even continuity errors creep up. Pussy speaks on page 212, even though she isn't in the scene! But it's not a matter of mistakes that cause me to dislike this book. It's the redirection of Anthony's writing style. The first three books were more action-oriented, as the modes slipped by and adventure and danger lurked beyond every mode boundary. In this last book, the characters just sit and talk and talk and talk to the Nulls. And then they talk some more. Why? How? As I've said, the nulls were supposed to be slaves of limited mentality. Now, they can carry on a philosophical conversation for 30 pages without a sweat. The grand finale attests to this: Pussy directs Colene through a sort of "reversion therapy" session, in which she forces Colene to confront her childhood traumas and fears. (insert Parental Warning here about graphic descriptions of gang rape and child molestation). But my nagging doubt about this story is...why Pussy? Where did she get the mental and emotional experience to do such a thing? Why her? If Nona had helped Colene this way it would have been touching. If it had been Colene's mother, it would have been poignant. If it had been Darius it would have been moving and romantic. If it had been Seqiro it would have been touching. Any of those characters had the background to help Colene, and the novel would have worked out more believably and dramatically. But Pussy? Sheesh! All this sloppiness and inconsistency just goes to show that Anthony's interest in the story has shifted in the intervening eight years since the third volume. Too bad. Too bad. How nice might it have been, if he'd been able to stick with it in the first place? We'll never know. But hopefully in the future, I'll forget the careless writing and simply remember that everyone ended up happy on the last page. I suppose that's all that matters, but, believe me, getting there was definitely NOT half the fun. I bought this book, but I didn't quite buy it. Bye, Piers.
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16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Finally we got our closure, July 6, 2001
This review is from: DoOon Mode (The Mode Series) (Hardcover)
I am not surprise that there is so much variety of opinion about DoOon Mode, the last book of the Mode series. A lot of people have criticized this series for his used of sexual explicit scenes of rape and child abuse involving a 14 years old girl. DoOon does offer this and more in this concluding book of the series. I have to disagree with those that thought the book was a disappointment. It would have been a disappointment if he has never written an ending of what happen to Colene. I think it is nice that Piers decided to listen to his fans and finishing to publish this book. Some don't like the use of the Nulls characters in the series and thought that they were too stupid in Virtual Mode. I don't agree. They weren't stupid just slaves. Piers used the same style that he used in Fractal Mode. To use the first chapter of the book to introduce fully the new anchors before Colene and her gang show up in the scene. But let's talk about the merit of this book. I found the story enthralling and poignant. Throughout the book we learn a lot more of why Colene is a depressed and suicidal teenager. We got hints in Virtual Mode when she told Sequiro how unhappy she was when she visited Panama before the rape. The rape just exacerbates a downhill trend that was killing her slowly already. We learned even more about Maresy and why she is important to Colene. In a way, this is ultimately Colene story and we get all the answer of our questions that came up throughout the previous 3 books. I did enjoying learning more about the Nulls society. I don't know if they are philosophers but they indeed are worthy people that unfortunately know that they are doom in DoOon to do as they are asked or died. They are aware of their condition. They have been conditioned to behave in certain ways and as usually Colene changes all that. Pussy, Tom and Cat are loyal characters and friends and I think it makes sense, when the times come, that Pussy helped Colene to face her fears, the same way Colene helped Pussy in her world. It would have been better to have Nona instead but at the same time, Nona couldn't evade her duties forever so we lost her previously in the story. The action and pace was good, although there is more dialogue and inner-dialogue in this book than the previous one but not by much if we think of Chaos Mode who has a lot of inner dialoge. Darius surprised me as the end when he kept his word to send the Chip back to the evil emperor but still foiling him. It was pleasant too to have Sequiro back with Colene together with Maresy. The character that was most underused was Burgess unfortunately. A warning to readers. If you don't like sexual explicit scenes don't read the book. Because it have them and plenty. They are in the proper places and they are justified but nevertheless, some of them are not for the faint of heart. To understand Colene's fears and trauma it is needed to look very deeply in all the horrible things that had happened to her. I like the catharsis style that Piers used to release Colene's fears. I find the ending satisfying and sad, since I know that they are not going to be more Mode books exploring the Virtual Mode. Finally, for readers' asking why is revealed in the story that Nona has the same ability than Colene of self-regenerating happiness/sadness. My opinion is that Piers' wanted to show the temptation for both Darius and Nona to get married. It would have solved Darius problem since he needed a bride that he could love and not kill. It would have offered Nona a chance to marry a handsome and noble guy and avoid being queen, but they both knew that doing such would have not solved their personal problems and created more, since they both loved and cared for Colene and that would have indeed killed her. At least this is my interpretation. I am sure that other can find other interpretation. So, do I recommend this book to buy? Absolutely. If you are Piers' fans and a Mode's fans, you should buy it and create your own opinion about it. If you want it hardcover or paperback is another story. You decide how much you want to pay. If you are new to the Mode series and Piers' work, if will be better to read the previous ones just to understand what is going on. When I read this book I didn't bring any expectations I just wanted a closure to Colene story and I got that. Everything else is bonus.
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