Customer Reviews

Y2K: The Millennium Bug

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Robert Heinlein had one conspicuous flaw in his fiction: any character could, at any time, use the interjection "So?" as a complete sentence retort, and the tone conveyed was always that of Heinlein's own Show-Me State disdain for accepted truth. In Y2K: The Millennium Bug, Don L. Tiggre exhibits a similar shortcoming: any character can, at any time, speak or think in exclamation points, and the tone conveyed is usually that of Tiggre's own unbridled optimism coupled with his disbelief at the pervasiveness of conventional wisdom.

But I have read many times over every word Heinlein wrote, and while Tiggre isn't his equal-- NO ONE is-- he has produced an exceptionally fine read, one worthy of any big-name storyteller. It is important to bear in mind that while the possible (and completely unknowable) outcome of the Y2K problem makes a fascinating backdrop for the novel, it is the story itself which is paramount.

And a swell story it is, indeed.

Tiggre does a good job with this fiction. Although the events in Y2K, never came to fruition; it is still an enjoyable read. My favorite character was Jared. His trip with his family across the nation was great. We all would do what we have to do in similar situations, regardless of our religious beliefs. Alot of the crisis' written in this book could still come true. Especially as regards Russia. I also highly recommend "Transfer: the end of the beginning," by Jerry Furland, amazon.com. It is a reality based vision into the next decade.

Y2K:The Millenium Bug succeeds on a number of levels - as a fast-paced adventure thriller, as a manual for dealing with disasters, and as a book that makes you think. The characters are believable, the plot realistic and interesting. What more can one ask for in a book? This one ranks right up there with Kings of the High Frontier, Cryptonomicon, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for pure readability. Buy this book!

Y2K: The Millennium Bug is a well-crafted story about how half a dozen people react and develop during the turn of the Century to 2000 in America when computers fail, chaos ensues and riots follow. It's a tale of action, a superb final battle, characters that develop over the 540 pages and do normal, courageous and vile human acts. More importantly and interestingly, the characters are not super heroes but normal, if not very determined, to achieve their goals. This applies to both protagonists and antagonists.

Angel Jesus Ortega, a ruthless and streetwise LA thug, sees the Y2K computer crisis as a chance to take over LA and takes steps to accomplish this goal. His childhood girlfriend, Rosalia, whom he still loves, spurns his actions as Ortega keeps her locked up. This conflict, which spans the book, grows and develops into a tortuously clever psychological battle that continues apace as the wider, more physical action plays out. While this strange dual develops, there is a Randian pureness in Rosalia who attempts to change Ortega. Randians gleefully notice that the main antagonist is named Angel Jesus.

Meanwhile in Utah, the Mormons are more prepared to handle the emergency and do not have the riots the rest of the big cities in America experience. Dr. Jared Christensen, a Mormon doctor living in Florida has warned the Mormon Church in Salt Lake City of the Y2K crisis and is summoned to Utah to help out. As he drives with his family through a riot-plagued America from Florida to Utah he learns the lessons of the Second Amendment, the necessity of defending your life and family with a firearms. Here is an example of Tiggre's method of inserting ideology. He does it by showing his characters' actions instead of giving them long speeches.

We have more interesting and colorful characters. Merlyn T'bawa, a father-figure from Jamaica is building a strongly defended Galt's Gulch in Colorado with construction well along when the crisis hits. His methods, his insistence on voluntary contracts, his total commitment to laissez-faire are more examples of how we learn of Tiggre's purpose. It is at Merlyn's Dollar Ranch, in a huge climactic battle with Angel Jesus Ortega, who by then leads an army of thousands of thugs, that we have the psychological climax as well.

Merlyn's friend Army officer Lt. Colonel Alexis Thomas, who warns the Defense Department of the Y2K crisis, plays an important role. She really is an individualist but stays in the Army because she gets to do what she really likes more than anything else...fly modern combat helicopters. Her heroism and tenacity are matched by her disgust when the President of the US, during a briefing, hits on her breasts. Why who could this president be?

A Russian series of atomic bombs also adds to the worldwide action but Thomas, now promoted to general, literally flies into the plot, along with a little horizontal action in a hovering airborne helicopter on autopilot with her lover.

Y2K: The Millennium Bug is a steady outpour of tense action on many fronts, a whirlwind plot full of memorable characters and a philosophy of freedom presented through the characters, as well as a taut philosophical battle between characters and ideologies.

It is not perfect. While Tiggre has done his homework regarding the technical aspects of rifles and fire arms, he proceeds each chapter with a quote from rock groups like ABBA, Metallica, Queen, Savatage and Sting. While this was obviously an attempt to add ideological markers to the work, I believe there were too many and too diffuse so as to have a scattering effect upon the whole, as if to stop in the middle of a battle to debate the meaning of existence.

This criticism is insignificant when considering the work as a whole. Y2K: The Millennium Bug combines heroism, courage, moral, economic and other positive thinking into an action-packed plot that educates the reader without hitting him over the head. You like the good guys and hate the bad guys. The style is like that of Tom Clancy, with time and place headings on each chapter.

I enjoyed Y2K: The Millennium Bug very much. I missed a lot of sleep over three nights reading this amazing book. Best of all, one does not have to be computer nerd, a gun nut or libertarian to clearly understand this work. It's strength is its clarity, its presentation of credible action and the values the protagonists demonstrate. A teenage boy or girl or adults in their 40's or 50's could find heroes to emulate in this fine novel. Y2K: The Millennium Bug is a nominee for the Prometheus Award and is Xlibris's best seller. Don Lobo Tiggre is working on a new novel.

I unreservedly recommend Y2K: The Millennium Bug as a terrific read for people of all ages, all interests, all political persuasions!

Fred James Palmer, Alaska 1/17/99

In the final hours of December 31, 1999, the lights went out.

But you knew that already; what you¹re probably wondering is, what happened afterwards. I recommend you read Y2K: The Millennium Bug to find out.

This novel is much more than a story about the dark side of our reliance upon computers (and government). It is a thriller that follows the lives of a number of people: those who prepared for the worst, and prospered; those who were taken by surprise, but whose instincts and attitudes helped them to survive; and those whose dependence upon society¹s fragile infrastructure was total ‹ and fatal.

The book is full of characters I would love to know: people with no more native ability than your next-door neighbor possesses, but people who triumph because of their intellectual and moral integrity.

And, refreshingly, the bad guys are truly bad. I found myself booing and hissing them, even though Tiggre develops their characters with enough skill that there is no hint of melodrama.

Characterization is a necessary feature if a novel is to be really great, but there also must be a terrific story. And this book has one; rather it has several, and Tiggre excels in developing these complex stories while keeping them under control and weaving them together for a very satisfying ending.

Buy it, read it, and get ready for the Millennium!

‹ Robert B. Boardman author of Savior of Fire

I recently read the novel by Don Tiggre "Y2k, The Millennium Bug", I think it may have some serious clues for people thinking about relocation. Tiggre create's a plausible scenario of the gradual collapse of civilization as a result of y2k, it doesn't all happen on new year's day. There are people who are able to act without external guidance, and there are various people, organizations and places which escape relatively unscathed due to presently unidentified virtues and careful advanced planing.

There seems to be a key frequency in "End of the World as We Know It" novels that are actually good reading. In the 1930s, there was _When Worlds Collide_. In the 1950s, there was _Alas, Babylon_. In the 1970s there was _Lucifer's Hammer_. Finally there is one for the 1990s. Yes, there have been a lot of books published set after the holocaust-of-your-choice, most of them wish-fulfilment action adventures where the hero's ammunition is as unlimited as that in a Western movie. This novel features realistic people with realistic problems, and ammunition inventory is one of them on occasion. The scenario is that of massive computer failures and the effect they have on people and society in the wake of the (now) famous "Millennium Bug". (Contrary to popular belief, it's _not_ a bug, it's a design flaw that has been common knowledge among computer professionals who've been warning management and others for decades -- but I digress). All kinds of people. A financial manager in New York. A stripper in Las Vegas. A doctor in Florida. A gang leader in Los Angeles. A lecherous president in Washington. There are good guys, there are bad guys, there are neutrals who just want to be left alone. Just one sequence, the tension/release involving a leftover Soviet doomsday system that the post-Soviet Russians sort of forgot to disable that's run by a computer that suddenly doesn't expect to hear from Moscow for a century, is worth the price of admission. And that's not the best part. Oh, yes, for some reason most of the good guys in the book seem to have somewhat libertarian attitudes and most of the bad guys don't, and based on my personal experience, that is one of the most realistic aspects of the novel.

One of my all time favorite "the end of the world as we know it" novels has always been Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven's LUCIFER'S HAMMER.

With Y2K: The Millennium Bug, I've finally found another intelligently crafted doomsday novel. There are many vividly portrayed scenes in Don Lobbo Tiggre's novel that pop to mind during my daily life...scenes that hauntingly cause me to pause and wonder "what if?"

Don Lobbo Tiggre's reputation as a libertarian philosopher and political activist has been forged on the Internet as organizer of the fun loving bunch at Liberty Round Table, but fear not this book is not a political treatise. There are hints of Tiggre's political affiliation, but it never detracts from the gritty Y2K catastrophe story line.

Mark A. Laughlin Author of THE PHILOSOPHY IN DEFENSE OF FIREARMS

Tiggre's smooth writing and creative storytelling make this book the hottest fiction published in years! In its vision of how the world can be reborn out of chaos, it far surpasses Atlas Shrugged. Even if Y2K brings only minor disruptions in the world, this book's lessons on freedom and contractual societies ought to be learned by everyone.

There seems to be a key frequency in "End of the World asWe Know It" novels that are actually good reading. In the 1930s, there was _When W orlds Collide_. In the 1950s, there was _Alas, Babylon_. In the 1970s there w as _Lucifer's Hammer_. Finally there is one for the 1990s. Yes, there have be en a lot of books published set after the holocaust-of-your-choice, most of the m wish-fulfilment action adventures where the hero's ammunition is as unlimited as that in a Western movie. This novel features realistic people with realist ic problems, and ammunition inventory is one of them on occasion. The scenario is that of massive computer failures and the effect they have on people and so ciety in the wake of the (now) famous "Millennium Bug". (Contrary to popular belief, it's _not_ a bug, it's a design flaw that has been common kno wledge among computer professionals who've been warning management and others f or decades -- but I digress). All kinds of people. A financial manager in New York. A stripper in Las Vegas. A doctor in Florida. A gang leader in Los An geles. A lecherous president in Washington. There are good guys, there are ba d guys, there are neutrals who just want to be left alone. Just one sequence, the tension/release involving a leftover Soviet doomsday system that the post-S oviet Russians sort of forgot to disable that's run by a computer that suddenly doesn't expect to hear from Moscow for a century, is worth the price of admiss ion. And that's not the best part. Oh, yes, for some reason most of the good guys in the book seem to have somewhat libertarian attitudes and most of the ba d guys don't, and based on my personal experience, that is one of the most real istic aspects of the novel.