Messiah Node [Mass Market Paperback]

Lyda Morehouse (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2003

A potent mix of technology and salvation is the trademark of Lyda Morehouse's brilliant novels. Now, Messiah Node takes her uniquely-imagined world one step closer to its fate-as AIs and archangels, prophets and criminal masterminds face the final day of reckoning.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With eerie precision, a meteorite falls on the Dome of the Rock, destroying it. Given a world run by religious authorities, that event promises to be the opening salvo in a tremendous conflict, and the sign posted at the virtual site--"Temple under construction"--that used to be a neutral space for all religions, bars visitors and points to other signs of impending doom. One of those is the proliferation of messiahs, including the often perplexed AI, Page, claimed as messiah by a cult popularly known as Maizombies despite his being a devout Muslim. Angels and demons walk the earth, too, drawing mere mortals into their age-old fray willy-nilly to fulfill prophecies or merely as tools. Morehouse knows how to pace her story, weaving strands of plot and drawing the reader ever deeper into its fascinating but unnerving world. Although the third book in a tetralogy, this one includes enough backstory to stand solidly on its own. The final volume ought to be riveting, for apocalypse is on the horizon. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

Readers will cheer. (Booklist)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Roc (June 3, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451459296
• ISBN-13: 978-0451459299
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,506,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lyda Morehouse writes about what gets most people in trouble: religion and politics. Her first novel Archangel Protocol, a cyberpunk hard-boiled detective novel with a romantic twist, won the 2001 Shamus for best paperback original (a mystery award given by the Private Eye Writers of America), the Barnes & Noble Maiden Voyage Award for best debut science fiction, and was nominated for the Romantic Times Critic's Choice Award. She followed up Archangel Protocol with three more books in the AngeLINK universe: Fallen Host (Roc, 2002), Messiah Node (Roc, 2003), and Apocalypse Array (Roc, 2004). Apocalypse Array made the short list for the Philip K. Dick award. She lives in Saint Paul with her partner of twenty years and their amazingly adorable son, Mason.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner!!, June 6, 2003

By 

Ember (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messiah Node (Mass Market Paperback)

Lyda Morehouse has delivered another excellent book. Her characters continue to be rich and complex, with likable villains and odd heros. The well-paced plot pulls the reader along, introducing new characters, revisiting old ones and constatly adding to the intrigue and depth of a world where church and state are one.

So often, an author starts out a series with fireworks for a first book and by the third has slid down to the fizzle of warm soda pop. Not so with Messiah Node. Another excellent offering from Ms. Morehouse.

Get this book & settle in for a good read. If you haven't read the first two, do so.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Apocalypse Wow!, June 14, 2004

By 

Susan Cannon Harris (Chesterton, IN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Messiah Node (Mass Market Paperback)

MESSIAH NODE is set a hundred years from now, but it feels like it could happen tomorrow. That's what makes the third book in Morehouse's series so compelling. Built around a sudden escalation of the Israel/Palestine conflict, MESSIAH NODE draws a chilling portrait of a world in which political and spiritual power have become indistinguishable, and the armies of the Big Three monotheistic religions are at daggers drawn and ready to unleash global destruction. While unknown forces maneuver the world to the brink of apocalypse, an artificial intelligence, a pro-Israel ex-soldier, a rogue wire wizard and an earthbound archangel try to save themselves, the world, and what they care about while staying one step ahead of the Inquisition.

Like its predecessors, MESSIAH NODE is fast-paced, action-packed, full of engaging and innovative characters who are always ready to laugh at themselves and their predicaments. At the same time, in this novel, Morehouse's universe gets darker, and she is not afraid to ask us to feel some of the heavier emotions that her characters are struggling with. Morehouse's development of Rebeckah, who was a supporting player in ARCHANGEL PROTOCOL, is particularly challenging, and her willingness to take on the Israel/Palestine conflict should get her some kind of purple heart for political fearlessness.

MESSIAH NODE is funny, riveting, frightening, and full of surprises; and it could not possibly be more relevant. In a world full of false shepherds and hysterical sheep, MESSIAH NODE offers us a fresh new look at the End Times mentality that got us into this mess we call the twenty-first century, and gives us some hope that we may eventually get out of it alive.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exciiting entry in this powerful cutting edge series, June 12, 2003

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Messiah Node (Mass Market Paperback)

The world of the future is a very different place than the world we know now. All good citizens are linked via a virtual reality net that is more alive to some people than the actual world. Citizens must belong to a recognized religion and each religion has its own Inquisitors who have the power to operate in the secular world. Disenfranchised citizens have access to mouse.net; this custom made lower level link uses old hardware, cannibalized parts and throwaways that can be fixed.

A meteorite struck and destroyed the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, leading many to think that the end times are approaching. The angel Elijah has come during a Passover Seder for Amirah, the daughter of the Archangel Michael who refuses to let him have her. Morningstar has found his antichrist and must find someone to cure her of her affliction and the only possible person is Mouse, hacker extraordinare. As the world rushes towards its doom, only Mouse, criminal to the world order, has the power to stop events from reaching a crisis point.

Although Lyda Morehouse uses many religious symbols, this is not a theological work of science fiction but condemnations of runaway technology, and the integration of church and state. The religious symbols are representative of a world in control by extreme right wing fundamentalists as a result of a bomb that destroyed and changed much of the planet. MESSIAH NODE takes place in a world that is all too believable given the current state of events today. Ms. Morehouse is a talented powerhouse who writes on the cutting edge.

Harriet Klausner