Customer Reviews

Messiah Node

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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.

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.

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

In the second book of this series, Fallen Host, the identity of the antichrist is revealed as the inquisitor Emmaline McNaughton. Now in Messiah Node, the author has returned to the story of Archangel Micheal and Deidre. Their Daughter Amariah is enjoying her 4th seder when a meteroite hits the Dome of the Rock. On the second day of seder, the prophet Eliaja show up for dinner and to begin Amariah's education as a messiah. Unfortunately Micheal is not happy about this developement and he defies heaven's summons.
Parallel to this, Page the AI who became a hero in Archangel Protocol and a cult figure in Fallen host, is thought by many as a potential messiah. He investigates crimes on the LINK that are blamed on him and his creator Mouse. This crimes sees aimed to inflamed the already tense situation in the Middle East. As violence escalates the world moves closer and closer to total war.
Mouse, Page's creator, on the run from law is strong-armed into working for Satan to help fix the malfunctioning Antichrist. Meanwhile Rebeckah, former leader of a LINK terrorist group is hounded by an inquisitor that seems to possesed by an evil spirite.
All of this leads to an interesting ending and makes me eager for the next book in the series, Apocalpse Array, coming in 2004.

The third installament in the Archangel Protocol. At present there are four books in this series; Morehouse is in the process of writing a prequel book called the "Resurrection Code". This book followed much in the manner as Fallen Host. I thought it was okay but the overly heavy religious themes get boring for me and the characters again seem to lack depth.

The story from Fallen Host continues but this time we are seeing from the eyes of Michael (archangel), Page, and Mouse. Other characters take their shot at telling from their points of view too; so we hear again from Diedre (her story is told in the first book), from the Dragon, and from Morningstar. Each chapter ends with a brief news bulletin describing world conditions as people are convinced the apocalypse is drawing closer. The plot follows as the new messiah and Anti-Christ are searched for.

This book is very creative and has a very complex plot. The world-building in this book (the whole series) is phenomenal. I find this whole series intellectually interesting but I don't take a lot of joy in reading this series. This book is no different.

The religious theme in this sci-fi series is overdone; there is no subtly to it. You are constantly having religious parable, cross-references, and consequences shoved at you. I don't particularly enjoy reading about religion and I find the depth of obsession with it in this series to be a bit silly. I also think that the character development and the plot development suffers from the fact that the story is parsed into little bits told from different characters' points of view. This method of writing worked much better in Fallen Host, there is propelled the story forward. In this story, for some reason, this method of writing parses the story up and makes the plot drag. Similarly you aren't allowed to have time to get attached to any of the characters.

I continue to read this series because I find the humanization of AI's interesting. I also find some of the "good" vs "evil" aspects of the story to be interesting. The world created is very detailed and interesting too. It is a bit disturbing though that, by far, my favorite characters are the Dragon of the East and Page. These are both AI's and seem to have more believable personalities and relationships than the human characters in the book.

This book is not as complete as Fallen Host and many things are left hanging. I will definitely read Apocalypse Array (the 4th book). I am not sure I will read the prequel though: I just don't get much enjoyment from these books. Lyda Morehouse also writes under the name Tate Hallaway and I am interested to read some of those books to see how her writing style crosses between genre.

Lyda's tale of a future controlled by theocracies and LINKed by the internet continues to roll along. Her characters are well developed and her writing style gets even stronger with each book. A few years her tale would have seemed simply entertaining, but with the 21st centurt unfolding as it is her novels are starting to feel uncomfortable close to reality. The fourth volume is expected out early next summer and I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

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