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Daybreak #1
Directive 51
Heather O'Grainne is the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Future Threat Assessment, investigating rumors surrounding something called "Daybreak." The group is diverse and radical, and its members have only one thing in common-their hatred for the "Big System" and their desire to take it down.
Now, seemingly random events simultaneously occurring around the world are in fact connected as part of Daybreak's plan to destroy modern civilization-a plan that will eliminate America's top government personnel, leaving the nation no choice but to implement its emergency contingency program...Directive 51.
Now, seemingly random events simultaneously occurring around the world are in fact connected as part of Daybreak's plan to destroy modern civilization-a plan that will eliminate America's top government personnel, leaving the nation no choice but to implement its emergency contingency program...Directive 51.
483 pages, Hardcover
First published March 31, 2010
99 people are currently reading
1511 people want to read
About the author
John Barnes
258 books198 followersJohn Barnes (born 1957) is an American science fiction author, whose stories often explore questions of individual moral responsibility within a larger social context. Social criticism is woven throughout his plots. The four novels in his Thousand Cultures series pose serious questions about the effects of globalization on isolated societies. Barnes holds a doctorate in theatre and for several years taught in Colorado, where he still lives.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bar...
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bar...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 262 reviews
August 21, 2011
First of all, I usually enjoy the 'end of the world' disaster type books (Dies the Fire, Armageddon's Children) and movies (Mad Max, The Day After Tomorrow, Resident Evil) but this one I found unbearable. The premise was solid, but the characterization was awful.
The author was obviously politically far right, which is fine, as a few of my favorite genre authors are quite conservative politically (S.M. Stirling, Brad Thor, possibly William R. Forstchen), but all of his characters were so far to either side that they were caricatures: The liberal president who has a breakdown after his friend dies; The tree hugging environmentalist who saves something small but causes mass destruction because of it.
I will say that some of the ideas were quite unique and fresh, but the cliche characterization was just too much of a turnoff, especially with all the debilitating and infantile government partisanship that has been happening recently.
Anyway, I made it halfway through the book before deciding that my time is too valuable to waste on this novel.
The author was obviously politically far right, which is fine, as a few of my favorite genre authors are quite conservative politically (S.M. Stirling, Brad Thor, possibly William R. Forstchen), but all of his characters were so far to either side that they were caricatures: The liberal president who has a breakdown after his friend dies; The tree hugging environmentalist who saves something small but causes mass destruction because of it.
I will say that some of the ideas were quite unique and fresh, but the cliche characterization was just too much of a turnoff, especially with all the debilitating and infantile government partisanship that has been happening recently.
Anyway, I made it halfway through the book before deciding that my time is too valuable to waste on this novel.
December 30, 2024
______________________
Nano-Apocalypse
The book begins with a scary premise. Hundreds of thousands of kooks, terrorists, rabid tree-huggers, fanatic anti-big government right-wing survivalists, extremist Islamic fundamentalists, end-of-the world Christian fundamentalists, animal activist Nazis, and other ilks of radicals and reactionaries discover each other on the Internet and realize that they agree on one thing: society needs to go back to where it belongs--the Middle Ages.
Engineers among these groups post plans (and kits) on the internet that allows thousands of small groups and individuals to build microscopic, self-replicating nano-bots that they can spread around the world. Some bots 'eat" plastic, rubber, petroleum products, turning them into white goo. Others attack electrical systems. Airliners start falling out of the sky; cars crash; telephones and radios fail. Teenagers go into shock when they discover the tiny people from their phones that they call Mom and Dad are in the house.
🌟 One very sad pity star. The book starts out quite strongly, but then, about half-way through its 400 pages, it runs out of gas (due to gas-eating nano-bots, I'm thinking). I was barely able to finish this novel, and if anyone offers to let me read the sequel, I'm calling Homeland Security.
Nano-Apocalypse
The book begins with a scary premise. Hundreds of thousands of kooks, terrorists, rabid tree-huggers, fanatic anti-big government right-wing survivalists, extremist Islamic fundamentalists, end-of-the world Christian fundamentalists, animal activist Nazis, and other ilks of radicals and reactionaries discover each other on the Internet and realize that they agree on one thing: society needs to go back to where it belongs--the Middle Ages.
Engineers among these groups post plans (and kits) on the internet that allows thousands of small groups and individuals to build microscopic, self-replicating nano-bots that they can spread around the world. Some bots 'eat" plastic, rubber, petroleum products, turning them into white goo. Others attack electrical systems. Airliners start falling out of the sky; cars crash; telephones and radios fail. Teenagers go into shock when they discover the tiny people from their phones that they call Mom and Dad are in the house.
🌟 One very sad pity star. The book starts out quite strongly, but then, about half-way through its 400 pages, it runs out of gas (due to gas-eating nano-bots, I'm thinking). I was barely able to finish this novel, and if anyone offers to let me read the sequel, I'm calling Homeland Security.
January 13, 2018
The start of the book was terrifyingly realistic as a mix of terrorists, earth-firsters and religious nuts spread the nanotech, biologic weapons and terror attacks to destroy modern technological society "the Big System". The middle was somewhat disappointing as society melts down along with technology but the narrative does not match the start. Many characters who don't have much to do with the whole story or get killed off just as they are defined. By the end, I was rolling my eyes at the looming conflict between the SouthEast and Northwest US enclaves. The basis of the conflict did not grab me as reasonable. 2 Stars
September 6, 2011
"It's the end of the world as we know it..."
In Directive 51 John Barnes sets about destroying civilization as we know it and then examining what it would take to put the world back together again from those various pieces. In 51, the end of civilization is brought about by a fringe group that one day decides to release a nano-virus plague that feasts on much of our modern technology, rendering it useless. It can also eat the rubber in tires, thus removing the automobile from the equation as well. Even though the group, known as Daybreak, is loosely connected via Internet chat boards, it's still remarkably effective in its plan of destruction.
Barnes also throws in a political storyline, involving terrorists hijacking the vice president's plane and wanting to crash it into Game Seven of the World Series between the Angels and the Pirates. The crash will also release the nano-virus in large quantities as well, so they have that going for them. The sitting president, in the midst of apparently cruising to re-election, is forced to shoot down the plane and then can't stop grieving long enough to fulfill his role as President. Meanwhile, his opponent is making political hay by looking Presidential. Eventually, the leader of the free world steps down and invokes Directive 51, which creates a line of succession should the president be incapacitated.
Fairly interesting for the first third of the book (detailing the events of the first day of Daybreak's attack), Directive 51 becomes rapidly less interesting the longer it goes along. There is some thinly veiled political commentary here that you will either eat up with a spoon or will find you extremely annoyed. I have to admit I found myself somewhere in the middle, sometimes embracing what Barnes had to say through his characters, while other times rolling my eyes.
In Directive 51 John Barnes sets about destroying civilization as we know it and then examining what it would take to put the world back together again from those various pieces. In 51, the end of civilization is brought about by a fringe group that one day decides to release a nano-virus plague that feasts on much of our modern technology, rendering it useless. It can also eat the rubber in tires, thus removing the automobile from the equation as well. Even though the group, known as Daybreak, is loosely connected via Internet chat boards, it's still remarkably effective in its plan of destruction.
Barnes also throws in a political storyline, involving terrorists hijacking the vice president's plane and wanting to crash it into Game Seven of the World Series between the Angels and the Pirates. The crash will also release the nano-virus in large quantities as well, so they have that going for them. The sitting president, in the midst of apparently cruising to re-election, is forced to shoot down the plane and then can't stop grieving long enough to fulfill his role as President. Meanwhile, his opponent is making political hay by looking Presidential. Eventually, the leader of the free world steps down and invokes Directive 51, which creates a line of succession should the president be incapacitated.
Fairly interesting for the first third of the book (detailing the events of the first day of Daybreak's attack), Directive 51 becomes rapidly less interesting the longer it goes along. There is some thinly veiled political commentary here that you will either eat up with a spoon or will find you extremely annoyed. I have to admit I found myself somewhere in the middle, sometimes embracing what Barnes had to say through his characters, while other times rolling my eyes.
February 6, 2012
Well plotted but highly irritating book written by a wingnut for wingnuts. My first clue as to the political persuasion of the author came when I realized that this book, set approximately 20 years in the future, made absolutely no mention of climate change (which makes the desire of the earth-firsters to destroy civilization seem mysterious at best). Farther in, it becomes obvious that conservatives and Constitution-worshipping Republicans are heroes (1 character actually has children named Track Palin so-and-so and Ann Coulter so-and-so) and Democrats are fainting wimps and traitors of various kinds. It's an absorbingly plotted book, but it makes the Mack Bolan novels look like something written by a fainting lefty.
April 24, 2014
This book was something of a disappointment. I really enjoyed John Barnes's YA space opera Losers in Space, and I generally enjoy apocalyptic scenarios, and this is a smart, contemporary one, in which nanotech run amok is what ends civilization. Dubbed "Daybreak," Barnes describes interestingly the vast conspiracy that brings it about, bringing together disparate groups of anarchists, environmentalists, Muslim terrorists, rapture-ready Christians, Marxists, and everyone else convinced that the System is broken and the best way forward is to burn it all down and rebuild from scratch. This sentiment is pretty believable if you spend much time reading prepper websites or some of the more extreme Tea Partier and fundie blogs. How so many groups from such different backgrounds are united in such a cause is another interesting bit of set-up, as Daybreak turns out to be not just a nanotech "virus" that turns metal to goo, but also a "meme" that infects humans.
Once the action gets going, however, Directive 51 becomes a much more political novel. While we get some glimpses of what's going on in the landscape of post-industrial American civilization down among the ordinary folks, the center of the novel is power struggles among a succession of Presidents and would-be Presidents. The first is an aged Democrat Senator who becomes President by virtue of the Line of Succession rules, and promptly turns into such a Constitution-shredding power-hungry egomaniac that even the Secret Service conspires against him. He is replaced by a Republican who, though being extremely conservative and disagreeing strongly with some of the other protagonists, is also noble and responsible enough to promise not to enact any of his political agendas while they are still trying to put the country back together.
In other words: offered the One Ring, Democrats will grab it without hesitation and cackle like Gollum, while Republicans will gravely and somberly accept the burden while trying not to be corrupted by it, like Frodo.
Hmm, methinks a bit of the author's politics peeked through.
With much regret from those who brought about Daybreak, at times it read a bit like a more contemporary (and less racist) version of Lucifer's Hammer — though Barnes, at least, rather than sneering at those dirty hippies and showing them getting what they deserved, portrays the former terrorists and idealists as human beings, realizing just what a huge mistake they've made.
This is a very American novel, with lots of "Americans can pull together" and "We're still Americans" speeches. The ending is actually uplifting, as two rivals for power over what's left of the United States come together in the fact of what appears to be an even greater threat (i.e., next book).
I'm not giving it a mere 3 stars because of the author's (I suspect) libertarian politics, since lots of good SF is libertarian. Rather, I just found large stretches in the middle to be tedious, and the political parts were less interesting and more soapboxy than I like in an apocalyptic thriller.
Barnes clearly can write, and I might pick up the rest of this series at some point, but the fairly large cast of characters I felt was too spread out, and the story couldn't quite decide whether it was a SF novel or a political thriller. I wanted some action, but got more about the author's thoughts on gun control than gunplay.
Once the action gets going, however, Directive 51 becomes a much more political novel. While we get some glimpses of what's going on in the landscape of post-industrial American civilization down among the ordinary folks, the center of the novel is power struggles among a succession of Presidents and would-be Presidents. The first is an aged Democrat Senator who becomes President by virtue of the Line of Succession rules, and promptly turns into such a Constitution-shredding power-hungry egomaniac that even the Secret Service conspires against him. He is replaced by a Republican who, though being extremely conservative and disagreeing strongly with some of the other protagonists, is also noble and responsible enough to promise not to enact any of his political agendas while they are still trying to put the country back together.
In other words: offered the One Ring, Democrats will grab it without hesitation and cackle like Gollum, while Republicans will gravely and somberly accept the burden while trying not to be corrupted by it, like Frodo.
Hmm, methinks a bit of the author's politics peeked through.
With much regret from those who brought about Daybreak, at times it read a bit like a more contemporary (and less racist) version of Lucifer's Hammer — though Barnes, at least, rather than sneering at those dirty hippies and showing them getting what they deserved, portrays the former terrorists and idealists as human beings, realizing just what a huge mistake they've made.
This is a very American novel, with lots of "Americans can pull together" and "We're still Americans" speeches. The ending is actually uplifting, as two rivals for power over what's left of the United States come together in the fact of what appears to be an even greater threat (i.e., next book).
I'm not giving it a mere 3 stars because of the author's (I suspect) libertarian politics, since lots of good SF is libertarian. Rather, I just found large stretches in the middle to be tedious, and the political parts were less interesting and more soapboxy than I like in an apocalyptic thriller.
Barnes clearly can write, and I might pick up the rest of this series at some point, but the fairly large cast of characters I felt was too spread out, and the story couldn't quite decide whether it was a SF novel or a political thriller. I wanted some action, but got more about the author's thoughts on gun control than gunplay.
August 29, 2012
This is a densely packed techno thriller. It is the first book in a trilogy, so not all questions are answered. It reminds me in many ways of Kim Stanley Robinson's 40 Days of Rain. It is densely populated with a large cast of characters, from the people who helped bring about this end of civilization, called the Daybreakers, to the politicians and government types that make up the DC world. Most of the book is focused on the government - how it reacts, what department's do, succession questions, policies, and procedures. I found it one of the most fascinating books I have read since the Jump 225 trilogy a number of years ago.
I felt, unlike some, that his cast of characters, although none perfect, showed humanity, and it was his attention to minute detail that brought the book alive for me - like the TV reporter following the Republican challenger around the campaign tour in the last week of the election just as Daybreak hits. He is hired by an elderly lady, who has a big rambling old house, and a friend with a printing press, for food and lodging, and to become the National Affairs editor of the new paper newspaper that she is starting up (the novel takes place an unidentified time in the near future -about 15-20 years), and he thinks about the job, wonders if he can find a fedora and maybe one with a hatband to stick a press card in it. A humorous aside, one of many, that shows the characters in a few brush strokes (although we knew him earlier as a brilliant TV journalist/cameraman), - the mention of the hat and press card shows that he understands the long history of journalism and the proud nature of it, and that the news must go on. I found many such small details to bring the book alive. Even throw-away characters had character. And some showed up again when you didn't expect them to.
It is the story of a meme, one that seems to have no head - no person directing it's activities, although maybe a large group, but it is self-replicating, found through systemic semiotic analysis that looks at patterns that emerge from nowhere, and unlike fads, seems to have a purpose, to grow, and subsume other splinter groups/ideas into it's message. It is very hard to understand at times - the whole meme structure of it is explained in non-layman's terms and again for us newbies, but it is exciting. I read until 3am, and then I still didn't want to quit. It is somewhat dry at times, like KSR's trilogy, but it also scary, plausible to me, and has great consequences for our lives, our political systems, and humanity itself. Having watched internet memes come along and grow in ever increasing numbers, I see how this book took that idea, fresh two years ago, and created this book from it. Two years ago, you only really heard of memes in an academic setting. Today they are part of the cyber vocabulary. Worth the time to read, IMO. Professional reviewers made comparisons to Nevil Shute's On the Beach, and I find it apt - the picture not so much of the mechanics of what happens, but the people themselves. I found it exceptional and one of the best I have read in several years. I have done an inter-library loan for book two, Daybreak Zero, since our libraries around here don't have it.
I felt, unlike some, that his cast of characters, although none perfect, showed humanity, and it was his attention to minute detail that brought the book alive for me - like the TV reporter following the Republican challenger around the campaign tour in the last week of the election just as Daybreak hits. He is hired by an elderly lady, who has a big rambling old house, and a friend with a printing press, for food and lodging, and to become the National Affairs editor of the new paper newspaper that she is starting up (the novel takes place an unidentified time in the near future -about 15-20 years), and he thinks about the job, wonders if he can find a fedora and maybe one with a hatband to stick a press card in it. A humorous aside, one of many, that shows the characters in a few brush strokes (although we knew him earlier as a brilliant TV journalist/cameraman), - the mention of the hat and press card shows that he understands the long history of journalism and the proud nature of it, and that the news must go on. I found many such small details to bring the book alive. Even throw-away characters had character. And some showed up again when you didn't expect them to.
It is the story of a meme, one that seems to have no head - no person directing it's activities, although maybe a large group, but it is self-replicating, found through systemic semiotic analysis that looks at patterns that emerge from nowhere, and unlike fads, seems to have a purpose, to grow, and subsume other splinter groups/ideas into it's message. It is very hard to understand at times - the whole meme structure of it is explained in non-layman's terms and again for us newbies, but it is exciting. I read until 3am, and then I still didn't want to quit. It is somewhat dry at times, like KSR's trilogy, but it also scary, plausible to me, and has great consequences for our lives, our political systems, and humanity itself. Having watched internet memes come along and grow in ever increasing numbers, I see how this book took that idea, fresh two years ago, and created this book from it. Two years ago, you only really heard of memes in an academic setting. Today they are part of the cyber vocabulary. Worth the time to read, IMO. Professional reviewers made comparisons to Nevil Shute's On the Beach, and I find it apt - the picture not so much of the mechanics of what happens, but the people themselves. I found it exceptional and one of the best I have read in several years. I have done an inter-library loan for book two, Daybreak Zero, since our libraries around here don't have it.
August 20, 2016
There are chunks of this book that are quite good, and some interesting ideas are presented. But there are just so many things wrong with this book.
I don't care if Barnes is a right-winger. He doesn't try to hide it and it has a minor effect on the overall story.
Comments follow, Loaded with spoilers, you were warned.
Shaunsen. Wow. Anticipating Trump by five years, Barnes produces a total wacko who slithers into the presidency. But really, he was just so silly I laughed several times. Jar Jar Shaunsen.
So here's the problem. Barnes needs a crisis so he can set up a discussion about Directive 51. Fair enough. What does he give us?
First, a couple of million soft-headed Democratic Internet hippies all fall for a giant collection of memes. They share techniques on how to destroy civilization. Somehow they form a network of nodes, and agree that on date X we'll Bring Down The Man. This meme system is so powerful that not one single person even thinks "WTF, this might not end well." And outside the system, not one person notices that sales of Liquid PlumR must have gone up about a million percent in a few months. Let's think for a moment just how BIG the USA is, and how many people it would take, each making a local impact, to bring down most of civilization. Let's not think about whether this also happened in the rest of the world. But not ONE person outside the Daybreaker set ever noticed anything odd. Not ONE Daybreaker ever went "oops, aarggh!" with their Stuff. No one's mom ecer said, "Jimmy, whatcha doing down there 'n' why's it smell so bad?"
Anyway, let's suppose we're past that. The USA (maybe the world) is in trouble. But not enough for Barnes's plot. So, in 2024, just 14 years after the book appeared and maybe 15 after it was written, we have people all over the world who can quietly assemble ginormous fusion bombs - in a world that's falling apart because of the hippie goo. And boom. There. NOW we can discuss Directive 51.
Not enough? OK, let's have a big rock fall from the sky, and some EMP pulses. Whoa! Whodunit? Someone asks that. The answer is "robot bases on the Moon" and the bigwigs in the room are all "oh yeah, huh, so what's for lunch?" Later on they test a hypothesis about the pulsemaker, and discover that the pulses didn't come from Earth (and imply that it wasn't the Moon either). Again, everyone's "huh, well, staple my shoes and call me a slowpoke. More coffee?"
Then it's all trains and horses and raids. I expected zeppelins at any moment. Instead I got dreary meetings and philosophy - necessary to the plot but dull nonetheless.
I really liked the part where they tied a message to a kite and had it picked up
No discussion yet of how Daybreak managed to zombify the critical faculties of millions while not at all impairing their ability to do things. A simple reference to the FoodBabe and Dr. Oz and a couple of homeopathy and anti-vaxxer and Obama-birther sites would have sufficed. This part of the book is ridiculous except it isn't because it's happening in real life.
Anyway, I was disappointed in how much resolution of plotlines was left for the next volume. It's enough to make me think there will be a volume 3, and maybe 4, and ... sigh.
So - a good idea for a book overall; good storytelling at the micro level, but way too much handwaving at the macro level to set it all up. I wish I'd read something else instead.
I don't care if Barnes is a right-winger. He doesn't try to hide it and it has a minor effect on the overall story.
Comments follow, Loaded with spoilers, you were warned.
Shaunsen. Wow. Anticipating Trump by five years, Barnes produces a total wacko who slithers into the presidency. But really, he was just so silly I laughed several times. Jar Jar Shaunsen.
So here's the problem. Barnes needs a crisis so he can set up a discussion about Directive 51. Fair enough. What does he give us?
First, a couple of million soft-headed Democratic Internet hippies all fall for a giant collection of memes. They share techniques on how to destroy civilization. Somehow they form a network of nodes, and agree that on date X we'll Bring Down The Man. This meme system is so powerful that not one single person even thinks "WTF, this might not end well." And outside the system, not one person notices that sales of Liquid PlumR must have gone up about a million percent in a few months. Let's think for a moment just how BIG the USA is, and how many people it would take, each making a local impact, to bring down most of civilization. Let's not think about whether this also happened in the rest of the world. But not ONE person outside the Daybreaker set ever noticed anything odd. Not ONE Daybreaker ever went "oops, aarggh!" with their Stuff. No one's mom ecer said, "Jimmy, whatcha doing down there 'n' why's it smell so bad?"
Anyway, let's suppose we're past that. The USA (maybe the world) is in trouble. But not enough for Barnes's plot. So, in 2024, just 14 years after the book appeared and maybe 15 after it was written, we have people all over the world who can quietly assemble ginormous fusion bombs - in a world that's falling apart because of the hippie goo. And boom. There. NOW we can discuss Directive 51.
Not enough? OK, let's have a big rock fall from the sky, and some EMP pulses. Whoa! Whodunit? Someone asks that. The answer is "robot bases on the Moon" and the bigwigs in the room are all "oh yeah, huh, so what's for lunch?" Later on they test a hypothesis about the pulsemaker, and discover that the pulses didn't come from Earth (and imply that it wasn't the Moon either). Again, everyone's "huh, well, staple my shoes and call me a slowpoke. More coffee?"
Then it's all trains and horses and raids. I expected zeppelins at any moment. Instead I got dreary meetings and philosophy - necessary to the plot but dull nonetheless.
I really liked the part where they tied a message to a kite and had it picked up
No discussion yet of how Daybreak managed to zombify the critical faculties of millions while not at all impairing their ability to do things. A simple reference to the FoodBabe and Dr. Oz and a couple of homeopathy and anti-vaxxer and Obama-birther sites would have sufficed. This part of the book is ridiculous except it isn't because it's happening in real life.
Anyway, I was disappointed in how much resolution of plotlines was left for the next volume. It's enough to make me think there will be a volume 3, and maybe 4, and ... sigh.
So - a good idea for a book overall; good storytelling at the micro level, but way too much handwaving at the macro level to set it all up. I wish I'd read something else instead.
February 4, 2017
What I thought was going to be a good post-apocalyptic thriller turned out to be a compelling political thriller set in a post-apocalyptic America. I've been looking for a well written post-apoc story (the last few I've read have been underwhelming to say the least), so I was a little taken aback when I realized this was more about the politics and struggle for power after the government, and technology, in the US has vanished. I was taken aback, but pleasantly surprised.
Directive 51 is a real presidential directive, directing the highest person left on the totem pole (after some planned, or unplanned, catastrophe hits our government and "decapitates" it) in how to proceed in getting the government running again under the Constitution. Most of it is classified, for obvious reasons, but it does give SF writers some really good room to craft a story. And John Barnes does that here, mostly.
Mostly. The story is told, basically, in two ways: either you see the inside the beltway group (the political side) or you see the "rest of America" group (the federal agents outside Washington, the everyday characters and even the "bad" guys). John Barnes' strength lies mostly inside the Beltway. The story is about a planned multi-targetted terrorist attack on America called Daybreak. Mostly, nanobytes are introduced into the environments, nanobytes that will attack anything with an electric frequency. They can also self-reproduce. Soon, America has essentially been "degaussed" (not exactly, but you get the picture), and soon the struggles of a modern culture that has to face life without any modern help cry havoc. This part of the story was not Barnes' strongest writing. It felt forced, in fact, it felt as if he already had the story from inside the Beltway and was told to expand. Since most of the first part of the book is the set up and introduction of characters, most of the first part of the book is spent outside the Beltway, and it doesn't start out as strong as it ends. The political part of the book (inside the Beltway) is rather good writing and filled with honest tension, nothing seems forced in this writing.
Another style in his writing are the short chapters that follow a timeline. Some of those early chapters are only minutes apart from one another, although, geographically, they can be all over the world. And that was it's early detriment. With so many playing characters at the beginning, the short chapters fairly flow all over the place. The story would pick up with some characters after a few chapters and I would have to pause to remember who these people were. As the story progresses, the different characters start to thin out (some through attrition, it is a post-apocalyptic story after all, and some through apparent abandonment) so the confusion goes away.
This is the first in a trilogy and, at first, I was wondering if I was going to start book two. But more than halfway through, Barnes seems to have found his pace and it ended rather strong for me. I will be more than ready to get to the second book.
Directive 51 is a real presidential directive, directing the highest person left on the totem pole (after some planned, or unplanned, catastrophe hits our government and "decapitates" it) in how to proceed in getting the government running again under the Constitution. Most of it is classified, for obvious reasons, but it does give SF writers some really good room to craft a story. And John Barnes does that here, mostly.
Mostly. The story is told, basically, in two ways: either you see the inside the beltway group (the political side) or you see the "rest of America" group (the federal agents outside Washington, the everyday characters and even the "bad" guys). John Barnes' strength lies mostly inside the Beltway. The story is about a planned multi-targetted terrorist attack on America called Daybreak. Mostly, nanobytes are introduced into the environments, nanobytes that will attack anything with an electric frequency. They can also self-reproduce. Soon, America has essentially been "degaussed" (not exactly, but you get the picture), and soon the struggles of a modern culture that has to face life without any modern help cry havoc. This part of the story was not Barnes' strongest writing. It felt forced, in fact, it felt as if he already had the story from inside the Beltway and was told to expand. Since most of the first part of the book is the set up and introduction of characters, most of the first part of the book is spent outside the Beltway, and it doesn't start out as strong as it ends. The political part of the book (inside the Beltway) is rather good writing and filled with honest tension, nothing seems forced in this writing.
Another style in his writing are the short chapters that follow a timeline. Some of those early chapters are only minutes apart from one another, although, geographically, they can be all over the world. And that was it's early detriment. With so many playing characters at the beginning, the short chapters fairly flow all over the place. The story would pick up with some characters after a few chapters and I would have to pause to remember who these people were. As the story progresses, the different characters start to thin out (some through attrition, it is a post-apocalyptic story after all, and some through apparent abandonment) so the confusion goes away.
This is the first in a trilogy and, at first, I was wondering if I was going to start book two. But more than halfway through, Barnes seems to have found his pace and it ended rather strong for me. I will be more than ready to get to the second book.
February 20, 2012
Directive 51 is an entertaining end of the world - or at least, end of the contemporary technological world - novel. It requires more suspension of disbelief than most near-future sci-fi thrillers, but it's generally worth the effort.
I felt that the central characters seemed quite weak until about halfway through the book, at which point they began to grow much more interesting as individuals (continuing to grow in the sequel). Politicians especially seemed shallow, and as "Directive 51" is a political function (being the executive order determining the precise mechanism for appointing a presidential successor) they assumed more importance than necessary to the story.
The doomsday mechanism is called "Daybreak," and in my opinion using that in the title would have brought the story together more effectively. Still, the novel is exclusively concerned with "Daybreak," and as such it's a very tense and exciting thriller.
I had three significant problems with suspension of disbelief, but I need to embed them in spoiler tags.
I felt that the central characters seemed quite weak until about halfway through the book, at which point they began to grow much more interesting as individuals (continuing to grow in the sequel). Politicians especially seemed shallow, and as "Directive 51" is a political function (being the executive order determining the precise mechanism for appointing a presidential successor) they assumed more importance than necessary to the story.
The doomsday mechanism is called "Daybreak," and in my opinion using that in the title would have brought the story together more effectively. Still, the novel is exclusively concerned with "Daybreak," and as such it's a very tense and exciting thriller.
I had three significant problems with suspension of disbelief, but I need to embed them in spoiler tags.
July 26, 2011
This book has planted itself at the top of my list of favorite Science Fiction books. I will admit that this list doesn't have many books, as SF has never been my favorite genre, but I'm glad I picked this one up. It's one of the better-written books I've read in quite some time. It was a long 500 pages (inasmuch as the type-face was small), but it flowed very well. I became engaged in the lives of the characters, and I was happy that he showed them, even the ones that should have been good guys, with the flaws that everyone has. I think it was a very realistic look at a possible near-future. Very believeable, from the people, to the scenarios and technology, and I'm glad to see that there's a second book that will continue the story. I will find it somewhere at the earliest possibility.
February 10, 2011
pretty much a waste of ink but i suppose the daybreak people would be delighted. too many abbreviations. i can't shake the notion that, that seems a cheap trick to sound high tech or slick with no substance.
December 31, 2023
The best things about this book are some of the big ideas, particularly the structure of the Daybreak meme/cult and the potential complications of Directive 51. Unfortunately, the writing is mostly middling.
Most of the other big ideas have used before, although Barnes manages to combine them in some interesting ways. There are clearly elements from Prey, State of Fear, On the Beach, Alas, Babylon, The Last Centurion, and One Second After. Other reviewers have noted more from books I haven’t read. Barnes really throws everything but the kitchen sink at humanity.
The writing style is short, chronological chapters, with interweaving story lines and a large cast of characters. It is similar to Frederick Forsyth and Tom Clancy, with a little John Ringo (who is thanked in the acknowledgments) thrown in. Barnes writing skills are just average, nowhere near as good as the above authors (with the exception of Forstchen, who is worse).
Some of the characters were complex and interesting. Barnes clearly makes an effort to give characters both good and bad traits, sometimes changing over time. However, the large cast leaves many as two dimensional caricatures, seemingly there only to facilitate some plot point.
There are a more than a few events that stretch credibility too far. This weighs down the story as they accumulate. There isn’t enough dramatic tension after the first third and the ending just fizzles out without much resolution.
This book has received quite a bit of criticism of a political nature. The author’s viewpoint seems to be on the right side of the political spectrum, but it is hard to characterize briefly, some kind of eclectic constitutional libertarianism. The usual suspects on the left are portrayed unflatteringly, but so are Republicans, religious conservatives, preppers and even libertarians. The only unambiguously “good” characters are a couple of journalists, hardly what you would expect from a reflexive right winger.
I think what really infuriates leftists is the portrayal of environmental activists as naïve and murderously anti-civilization and anti-humanity. 5 stars for that! Many of them are and it is always welcome to have it pointed out. It is currently rampant with climate hysteria. Today’s Extinction Rebellion acts a lot like the book’s Daybreak cult - thankfully, so far without their technological know-how.
Overall, I would rate this book at 4-5 stars for the best ideas, but only 3 stars for the execution, which would round down to a 3-star rating strictly on the merits. I am instead rounding my rating up to 4 stars to counterbalance some of the politically motivated downrating by leftists.
Most of the other big ideas have used before, although Barnes manages to combine them in some interesting ways. There are clearly elements from Prey, State of Fear, On the Beach, Alas, Babylon, The Last Centurion, and One Second After. Other reviewers have noted more from books I haven’t read. Barnes really throws everything but the kitchen sink at humanity.
The writing style is short, chronological chapters, with interweaving story lines and a large cast of characters. It is similar to Frederick Forsyth and Tom Clancy, with a little John Ringo (who is thanked in the acknowledgments) thrown in. Barnes writing skills are just average, nowhere near as good as the above authors (with the exception of Forstchen, who is worse).
Some of the characters were complex and interesting. Barnes clearly makes an effort to give characters both good and bad traits, sometimes changing over time. However, the large cast leaves many as two dimensional caricatures, seemingly there only to facilitate some plot point.
There are a more than a few events that stretch credibility too far. This weighs down the story as they accumulate. There isn’t enough dramatic tension after the first third and the ending just fizzles out without much resolution.
This book has received quite a bit of criticism of a political nature. The author’s viewpoint seems to be on the right side of the political spectrum, but it is hard to characterize briefly, some kind of eclectic constitutional libertarianism. The usual suspects on the left are portrayed unflatteringly, but so are Republicans, religious conservatives, preppers and even libertarians. The only unambiguously “good” characters are a couple of journalists, hardly what you would expect from a reflexive right winger.
I think what really infuriates leftists is the portrayal of environmental activists as naïve and murderously anti-civilization and anti-humanity. 5 stars for that! Many of them are and it is always welcome to have it pointed out. It is currently rampant with climate hysteria. Today’s Extinction Rebellion acts a lot like the book’s Daybreak cult - thankfully, so far without their technological know-how.
Overall, I would rate this book at 4-5 stars for the best ideas, but only 3 stars for the execution, which would round down to a 3-star rating strictly on the merits. I am instead rounding my rating up to 4 stars to counterbalance some of the politically motivated downrating by leftists.
December 4, 2014
What started as a good idea on the storyboard, probably that is, lost itself between then an publication.
The premise of a terrorist attack is nothing new, yet right from the beginning the book seems more like a first draft than something ready for print.
The use of exact times, rapid switching between locations, and the divisions between 'chapters' served no purpose in the actual timeline. Knowing that at such a time in the pacific the same thing was going on at 3:02 PM in DC exactly made no impact on my mind, and by the end of the book I had stopped reading anything but "About the same time" or "X hours later" when I reached those headings.
As for the characters, there were at least two dozen of them, all had claims to the main protagonist spot, the main antagonist, and relative unimportant character until convenient for the plot. Even this dynamic wouldn't be as bad if the characters had actual development, relatable traits, or just weren't killed as soon as they seemed unneeded. In this first book at least half a dozen major-ish characters are killed because the author decided they were no longer needed, plus at least a dozen minor characters who received more development than the major ones. This author comes across as a Game of Thrones copycat who fails miserably.
There not a ton I can say about the story besides it contains too many technical terms the author takes pride in explaining over and over again, meetings in which nothing is decided, rapid jumps to events elsewhere, which characters who don't matter, and scenes which are pointless at best. The story is more about the author wanting to make it work than letting it work, and because of this, fails to succeed.
Overall, while this book isn't the worst I've read, it is in the top ten to twenty.
The premise of a terrorist attack is nothing new, yet right from the beginning the book seems more like a first draft than something ready for print.
The use of exact times, rapid switching between locations, and the divisions between 'chapters' served no purpose in the actual timeline. Knowing that at such a time in the pacific the same thing was going on at 3:02 PM in DC exactly made no impact on my mind, and by the end of the book I had stopped reading anything but "About the same time" or "X hours later" when I reached those headings.
As for the characters, there were at least two dozen of them, all had claims to the main protagonist spot, the main antagonist, and relative unimportant character until convenient for the plot. Even this dynamic wouldn't be as bad if the characters had actual development, relatable traits, or just weren't killed as soon as they seemed unneeded. In this first book at least half a dozen major-ish characters are killed because the author decided they were no longer needed, plus at least a dozen minor characters who received more development than the major ones. This author comes across as a Game of Thrones copycat who fails miserably.
There not a ton I can say about the story besides it contains too many technical terms the author takes pride in explaining over and over again, meetings in which nothing is decided, rapid jumps to events elsewhere, which characters who don't matter, and scenes which are pointless at best. The story is more about the author wanting to make it work than letting it work, and because of this, fails to succeed.
Overall, while this book isn't the worst I've read, it is in the top ten to twenty.
September 28, 2012
I gave up on this book after getting about halfway through it. The author's political biases read loud and clear. This is usually a complaint by conservatives about what they perceive to be liberal biases in matters read, but this one is even more blatant in the other direction. Children named after Ann Coulter, enviros presented as very stereotypical and therefore a facade of real people, Republicans in the Washington establishment packing heat and knowing how to use it, by God!, libertarians in their totally self-sufficient "castles," and worst of all, a truly nutcase Democrat with presidential aspirations who would totally disregard the fact that all infrastructure is breaking down with regularity and great rapidity for the sake of getting elected in a week's time ensuring the electorate that "Don't worry, a vote for me will get us all out of this mess." -- this got in the way of enjoying whatever story the author wanted to present.
On top of that, I was less than impressed with the means by which the activists would bring down the "Big System." Biotes to dissolve tires and plastics? Nanoswarms to affect motors and electronics? Seems these methods would have already been known to non-activist scientists, but nope, all of these various folks managed to develop these self-sustaining agents unbeknownst to the outsiders. The only parts that rose to the occasion were the machinations in Washington. The rest was not worth my continuing to the end.
On top of that, I was less than impressed with the means by which the activists would bring down the "Big System." Biotes to dissolve tires and plastics? Nanoswarms to affect motors and electronics? Seems these methods would have already been known to non-activist scientists, but nope, all of these various folks managed to develop these self-sustaining agents unbeknownst to the outsiders. The only parts that rose to the occasion were the machinations in Washington. The rest was not worth my continuing to the end.
March 12, 2014
I wanted to like this one better than I did. It's a solid premise, and I dig both techno-thrillers and disaster novels. I'll even cheerfully ignore the caricatures of steel-jawed heroes and slimy politicians that traditionally inhabit this kind of story.
However, I also want the disasters to make sense, both on a technical and a human level. Directive 51 succeeds on a technical level -- the nanomachines and bioweapons portrayed seem chillingly possible -- but I don't buy into it at all on the human level. I get that Barnes is playing with ideas of memes and autosuggestion, but there are a lot of characters taking actions that make no sense at all given their lives. The Unabombers of the world exist, but they don't have kids with asthma whose lives depend on modern technology. There are a lot of people in this book like that, and I just could not accept the idea that they would successfully form a secret movement to destroy the modern world.
There's a lot of good stuff in this book. I just wish my suspension of disbelief hadn't collapsed so regularly.
However, I also want the disasters to make sense, both on a technical and a human level. Directive 51 succeeds on a technical level -- the nanomachines and bioweapons portrayed seem chillingly possible -- but I don't buy into it at all on the human level. I get that Barnes is playing with ideas of memes and autosuggestion, but there are a lot of characters taking actions that make no sense at all given their lives. The Unabombers of the world exist, but they don't have kids with asthma whose lives depend on modern technology. There are a lot of people in this book like that, and I just could not accept the idea that they would successfully form a secret movement to destroy the modern world.
There's a lot of good stuff in this book. I just wish my suspension of disbelief hadn't collapsed so regularly.
November 29, 2014
I liked the premise of this book but the execution was left a bit lacking. The story and action carried me halfway through this book but then I had to force my way through the rest.
It started to dawn on me that I constantly felt the author was cutting away right before the really interesting stuff was happening and returning after it had happened. It is not the author's fault that I don't like multiple story lines or the point of the view of the "mind of the killer". I kept imagining the author yelling "Cut!".
Some of the characterization was nice but a lot of the people seen close up for only a brief period were caricatures, rather than characters.
I really wanted to like this because, as I said, the premise is great, it's a series, and some of the characters were ones I'd like to follow. Unfortunately I won't be seeking out the rest of the series.
It started to dawn on me that I constantly felt the author was cutting away right before the really interesting stuff was happening and returning after it had happened. It is not the author's fault that I don't like multiple story lines or the point of the view of the "mind of the killer". I kept imagining the author yelling "Cut!".
Some of the characterization was nice but a lot of the people seen close up for only a brief period were caricatures, rather than characters.
I really wanted to like this because, as I said, the premise is great, it's a series, and some of the characters were ones I'd like to follow. Unfortunately I won't be seeking out the rest of the series.
May 18, 2023
A broken arm has given me the time to actually _finish some books_... So that's one small positive.
This one I set aside because I was enjoying it, and I wanted to wait for a copy of the sequel and final book in the trilogy to arrive, rather than endure a long interval. I ordered it when I was last here on the Isle of Man in November, but it didn't get here before I left.
Finally finished it now.
There is an extended torture sequence that I found very hard going indeed, and that definitely took the edge off for me. There are several very unpleasant scenes, but Mr Barnes does tend to do that. Not always, but it's a thing.
This is a darker, grimmer book than the 1st of the trilogy, and it's less enjoyable. Daybreak has destroyed most of the world, and what's left of civilization is crumbling. That is horribly plausible, to me.
Mostly Barnes makes it fairly clear who the goodies and the baddies are, but not always. There's black and white but there's also a lot of grey. I like that.
There are some twists and turns that I didn't see coming, although most of them are clearly telegraphed.
To be honest, there are so many viewpoint characters, so many locations, that I regularly got lost. I forgot who was who, where they were, and what they were doing. There is a *lot* going on and it requires effort from the reader to keep track of it. A six month break in the middle was really not a good idea. I think I'd have got a little more out of it if I knew my North American geography better, too, but I don't, so... Tough, I guess. Chapters are often long, but are broken up into scenes, each labelled with the location. Handy, but not enough for me, I'm afraid.
But it's good, it's solid, and it's not quite like anything else. It's a bleak brutal realist American version of the great British world-disaster SF of the 1960s and early 1970s, as typified by John Wyndham and "John Christopher" (who I got to meet once). Think _the Day of the Triffids_.
That's not a bad thing, and it's a welcome counterpoint to the typically quite upbeat, positive style of a lot of modern American SF... Which is probably why I enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson so much.
Barnes is a bloody good writer and deserves more credit. He's one of the best working today.
This one I set aside because I was enjoying it, and I wanted to wait for a copy of the sequel and final book in the trilogy to arrive, rather than endure a long interval. I ordered it when I was last here on the Isle of Man in November, but it didn't get here before I left.
Finally finished it now.
There is an extended torture sequence that I found very hard going indeed, and that definitely took the edge off for me. There are several very unpleasant scenes, but Mr Barnes does tend to do that. Not always, but it's a thing.
This is a darker, grimmer book than the 1st of the trilogy, and it's less enjoyable. Daybreak has destroyed most of the world, and what's left of civilization is crumbling. That is horribly plausible, to me.
Mostly Barnes makes it fairly clear who the goodies and the baddies are, but not always. There's black and white but there's also a lot of grey. I like that.
There are some twists and turns that I didn't see coming, although most of them are clearly telegraphed.
To be honest, there are so many viewpoint characters, so many locations, that I regularly got lost. I forgot who was who, where they were, and what they were doing. There is a *lot* going on and it requires effort from the reader to keep track of it. A six month break in the middle was really not a good idea. I think I'd have got a little more out of it if I knew my North American geography better, too, but I don't, so... Tough, I guess. Chapters are often long, but are broken up into scenes, each labelled with the location. Handy, but not enough for me, I'm afraid.
But it's good, it's solid, and it's not quite like anything else. It's a bleak brutal realist American version of the great British world-disaster SF of the 1960s and early 1970s, as typified by John Wyndham and "John Christopher" (who I got to meet once). Think _the Day of the Triffids_.
That's not a bad thing, and it's a welcome counterpoint to the typically quite upbeat, positive style of a lot of modern American SF... Which is probably why I enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson so much.
Barnes is a bloody good writer and deserves more credit. He's one of the best working today.
November 19, 2013
Post apocalyptic books, TV shows, and movies are certainly quite popular right now and I can see why. There are set in a world that is both familiar and yet also transformed. They follow ordinary people thrown into extraordinary circumstances. Stripping away the comforts of civilization, law, and order and seeing what is left of a man or a woman is often a major (and engaging) theme. The sense of not knowing, of that there is a great unknown land out there now, hiding maybe something better (did somewhere escape the apocalypse? Is there hope beyond the horizon?) or something much, much worse (bandits? Warlords? Monsters?), can be quite engaging. I don’t WANT to see the world end by any means, but as a setting for fiction, it is a good one. It can be grim, dark, and depressing, but it can also be hopeful, full of adventure, and even inspirational.
The comparisons between the series that begins with this book and others in the genre are inevitable. _Directive 51_ squarely falls into the technologically-caused/affecting apocalypse (rather than say the human disease subgenre, or anything alien or zombie related). The best and most apt comparisons might be made with such fare as _Ill Wind_ by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason, the TV series _Revolution_, the Change novels by S.M. Stirling to an extent (at least the technologically affecting aspects), and even to a large degree some of Barnes own work, specifically his Century Next Door series (of which I have read _Kaleidoscope Century_ and _Candle_). Much of this novel (though less so in the second book, which I am reading right now) has a definite Tom Clancy techno thriller feel to with, with lots of high tech weapons, elite military units, and high level Washington strategy sessions, though without giving too much away I hope, this feeling declines as technology begins to succumb to the near civilization ending dangers of this series.
The threat, while not completely original perhaps, was certainly an all encompassing danger to anything older than mid or late 19th century technology. The forces at work to spread the threat – a combination of nanotechnology and bioengineered microorganisms that attack working electronics, gasoline, and petroleum products such as tires and plastic– included at first what seemed to be an odd mix of civilization hating survivalist types, ecoterrorists, pie-in-the-sky drawing unicorns on notebooks New Agers, and “classic” terrorists from overseas. How could they coordinate together to take down not just the United States but indeed all of world civilization? These groups sometimes had little in common, didn't work well together, weren't particularly organized people to start with, and lacked any leader. What seemed at first confusing, just a boogeyman that the author created (the eco freaks strike at Big Bad Oil, Plastic, and Internet Using Civilization), something that should have fallen apart if even ever coalesced into a threat, gradually makes more and more sense as the book progresses (readers of Barnes’ Century Next Door series will see an answer early on).
These questions didn't really put me off from the book though as especially in the early stages the story has a very fast pace, with engaging, edge of your seat, classic techno thriller action and intrigue, bouncing from leaders in Washington to events overseas to eco terrorists spreading the nano/bio threat at home, to the struggle by the military and law enforcement to find these people and stop them. Very engaging. Just when things start to slow down (inevitable, given the end of much of the techno thriller gadgets like drones and fighters) questions start to arise as to what caused these antagonists to do what they did and succeed. The protagonists have similar questions and answers do arise as they try to determine what happened, who is at fault, is the danger on going, and what can be done to reverse it.
It was a fun book. I had a few quibbles with some of the secondary characters blending together a little for me, though that is a common problem in the techno thrillers I have read. I don’t think the dangers from radiation were quite given the attention they deserved (not saying how radiation appears…spoilers!) but then given the decline in communication speed and technology and the life and death struggles the leaders face maybe giving short shrift to radiation dangers was inevitable. I did like the idea of hobbyists – arts and crafts people, farmers who adhered to more traditional techniques, steam railroad and black powder gun enthusiasts – stepping forward and helping as 21st century civilization started to end. I also liked how one particular Western U.S. town started to rise to prominence, one that made me laugh but also made a great deal of sense.
I don’t think the book broke any new ground with the genre or subgenre, but it was an enjoyable read.
The comparisons between the series that begins with this book and others in the genre are inevitable. _Directive 51_ squarely falls into the technologically-caused/affecting apocalypse (rather than say the human disease subgenre, or anything alien or zombie related). The best and most apt comparisons might be made with such fare as _Ill Wind_ by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason, the TV series _Revolution_, the Change novels by S.M. Stirling to an extent (at least the technologically affecting aspects), and even to a large degree some of Barnes own work, specifically his Century Next Door series (of which I have read _Kaleidoscope Century_ and _Candle_). Much of this novel (though less so in the second book, which I am reading right now) has a definite Tom Clancy techno thriller feel to with, with lots of high tech weapons, elite military units, and high level Washington strategy sessions, though without giving too much away I hope, this feeling declines as technology begins to succumb to the near civilization ending dangers of this series.
The threat, while not completely original perhaps, was certainly an all encompassing danger to anything older than mid or late 19th century technology. The forces at work to spread the threat – a combination of nanotechnology and bioengineered microorganisms that attack working electronics, gasoline, and petroleum products such as tires and plastic– included at first what seemed to be an odd mix of civilization hating survivalist types, ecoterrorists, pie-in-the-sky drawing unicorns on notebooks New Agers, and “classic” terrorists from overseas. How could they coordinate together to take down not just the United States but indeed all of world civilization? These groups sometimes had little in common, didn't work well together, weren't particularly organized people to start with, and lacked any leader. What seemed at first confusing, just a boogeyman that the author created (the eco freaks strike at Big Bad Oil, Plastic, and Internet Using Civilization), something that should have fallen apart if even ever coalesced into a threat, gradually makes more and more sense as the book progresses (readers of Barnes’ Century Next Door series will see an answer early on).
These questions didn't really put me off from the book though as especially in the early stages the story has a very fast pace, with engaging, edge of your seat, classic techno thriller action and intrigue, bouncing from leaders in Washington to events overseas to eco terrorists spreading the nano/bio threat at home, to the struggle by the military and law enforcement to find these people and stop them. Very engaging. Just when things start to slow down (inevitable, given the end of much of the techno thriller gadgets like drones and fighters) questions start to arise as to what caused these antagonists to do what they did and succeed. The protagonists have similar questions and answers do arise as they try to determine what happened, who is at fault, is the danger on going, and what can be done to reverse it.
It was a fun book. I had a few quibbles with some of the secondary characters blending together a little for me, though that is a common problem in the techno thrillers I have read. I don’t think the dangers from radiation were quite given the attention they deserved (not saying how radiation appears…spoilers!) but then given the decline in communication speed and technology and the life and death struggles the leaders face maybe giving short shrift to radiation dangers was inevitable. I did like the idea of hobbyists – arts and crafts people, farmers who adhered to more traditional techniques, steam railroad and black powder gun enthusiasts – stepping forward and helping as 21st century civilization started to end. I also liked how one particular Western U.S. town started to rise to prominence, one that made me laugh but also made a great deal of sense.
I don’t think the book broke any new ground with the genre or subgenre, but it was an enjoyable read.
July 26, 2024
3.5 bumped to 4.
The story is good. Good writing. It dragged a bit and had quite a bit of technical explanations. I did not like the choppiness of how it was laid out. It was difficult to follow the story for each character.
The story is good. Good writing. It dragged a bit and had quite a bit of technical explanations. I did not like the choppiness of how it was laid out. It was difficult to follow the story for each character.
December 9, 2023
Daybreak is a loosely organized movement of groups and individuals who are disenchanted with the modern world, and they take action to sabotage it. Directive 51 is the POTUS' plan to keep executive leadership intact, while remaining true to the Constitution, in the event of national emergency.
The saboteurs get more than some of them bargained for, and the powerful elite find that even with an official directive, it may be hard to do the right thing.
Great character development in this book--so often, a story like this has shallow, one-dimensional characters, but these are people who face hard decisions and have inner conflicts as they do their best to survive and rebuild a nation.
The saboteurs get more than some of them bargained for, and the powerful elite find that even with an official directive, it may be hard to do the right thing.
Great character development in this book--so often, a story like this has shallow, one-dimensional characters, but these are people who face hard decisions and have inner conflicts as they do their best to survive and rebuild a nation.
May 10, 2010
This book is definitely geared for the techno-babble reader. Presenting a doomsday scenario where an undefined group has determined to wipe out the "big system" by creating nano technology that destroys electronics, plastic and apparently, synthetic rubber, as in tires. The premise is that the group responsible isn't organized but rather is made up of people who just talked on the internet and spotaneously decided this would be the right thing to do worldwide. They also managed to coordinate worldwide attacks on the same day, and develop complex technology to carry out their threats (but with no leadership or central coordination. It is explained similar to an internet search that takes on a life of it's own. The President's immediate response is to have some kind of nervous breakdown immediately that completely incapacitates him and he has to be replaced by an acting president who seems to have no idea of how dire the situation is.
It is extremely rare that I put down a book before finishing it, but I am finding this one very difficult to have any interest in. The entire premise is just too implausible to me and the author spends inordinate amounts of time trying to explain the idea of a thought that thinks itself and the pseudo science in so much detail I found myself skipping entire pages without seeming to loose anything of the plot. Most of the "action" takes place in meetings with government officials that is similar to watching CSPAN, with lunch being served. The story is told in jumps from one time to another, noted by headings labeled in local time zones that don't really make sense. (i.e early morning in the Middle Eastern country where the first event takes place is not "about the same time" or "a few minutes later" as early morning in California.) Characters are brought in for little mini-chapters throughout the book, some are actually revisited several times, but are not always related to the central plot; however since main characters are presented the same way throughout, and often left sitting for several jumps at a time, it took me half the book to figure out which characters were in fact main characters or even recurring. Timing is an issue overall since the book clearly takes place in the future - President Obama is referred to as historical, but when in the future is not clear until the end of the book in spite of continual references to our present being the past. (It is 2024 by the way.) Worst of all, at the end of "part 2" when all of the major plotlines have been clearly resolved, Part 3 begins again with really little to go on. Maybe I will just skip a few pages there too.
It is extremely rare that I put down a book before finishing it, but I am finding this one very difficult to have any interest in. The entire premise is just too implausible to me and the author spends inordinate amounts of time trying to explain the idea of a thought that thinks itself and the pseudo science in so much detail I found myself skipping entire pages without seeming to loose anything of the plot. Most of the "action" takes place in meetings with government officials that is similar to watching CSPAN, with lunch being served. The story is told in jumps from one time to another, noted by headings labeled in local time zones that don't really make sense. (i.e early morning in the Middle Eastern country where the first event takes place is not "about the same time" or "a few minutes later" as early morning in California.) Characters are brought in for little mini-chapters throughout the book, some are actually revisited several times, but are not always related to the central plot; however since main characters are presented the same way throughout, and often left sitting for several jumps at a time, it took me half the book to figure out which characters were in fact main characters or even recurring. Timing is an issue overall since the book clearly takes place in the future - President Obama is referred to as historical, but when in the future is not clear until the end of the book in spite of continual references to our present being the past. (It is 2024 by the way.) Worst of all, at the end of "part 2" when all of the major plotlines have been clearly resolved, Part 3 begins again with really little to go on. Maybe I will just skip a few pages there too.
February 26, 2014
Originally published at Mhairi Reads
Set in mid 2020's USA, Directive 51 opens with protagonist Heather O'Grainne investigating a social phenomenon known as 'Daybreak'. Made up with people from all walks of life and beliefs, united by their desire to take down what they call the 'Big System', Daybreak is about to become a terrible reality. With civilisation rapidly collapsing as biotes and nanoswarm devour anything plastic or electronic, the US government struggles to minimise the damage and maintain control.
This isn't just Heather's story though; Directive 51 is told from a large number of perspectives. The reader gets a feel for what's going on around the USA, from both sides of the conflict, but it means the story feels fragmented and, particularly in the first third of the novel, very slow to get going. It also made it kind of difficult to engage and empathise with the characters as they are pretty one-dimensional for a while. I did become invested in a few of them by the end of the novel.
The writing is dense and has a serious amount of unnecessary exposition going on (not helped by the small print in my paperback copy) so it took me a while to get through this novel. Realistically it could have been a much shorter novel (and a better one for it). It's also very heavy on the US Constitution - most of the conflict in Directive 51 isn't to do with Daybreak and the end of the world as we know it but with issues surrounding the continuance of government. If that kind of novel bores you to tears, I suggest you give this one a miss.
I did enjoy the sci-fi side of Directive 51, particularly how the world begins to adjust to a post-Daybreak life and technology level though, of course, some manage better than others. Being a big fan of disaster movies, I love a good apocalypse scenario and the sudden and catastrophic failure of things like plastic and electronics is a great one.
Despite my expectations, the ending left me wanting to know what happens in the rest of the series. I get the feeling that my favourite characters are never going to catch a break sadly but that's the point in an end of the world thriller I guess. Whether or not I actually pick up Daybreak Zero remains to be seen.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Similar Reads: Black Monday by R. Scott Reiss (also listed as Bob Reiss).
Set in mid 2020's USA, Directive 51 opens with protagonist Heather O'Grainne investigating a social phenomenon known as 'Daybreak'. Made up with people from all walks of life and beliefs, united by their desire to take down what they call the 'Big System', Daybreak is about to become a terrible reality. With civilisation rapidly collapsing as biotes and nanoswarm devour anything plastic or electronic, the US government struggles to minimise the damage and maintain control.
This isn't just Heather's story though; Directive 51 is told from a large number of perspectives. The reader gets a feel for what's going on around the USA, from both sides of the conflict, but it means the story feels fragmented and, particularly in the first third of the novel, very slow to get going. It also made it kind of difficult to engage and empathise with the characters as they are pretty one-dimensional for a while. I did become invested in a few of them by the end of the novel.
The writing is dense and has a serious amount of unnecessary exposition going on (not helped by the small print in my paperback copy) so it took me a while to get through this novel. Realistically it could have been a much shorter novel (and a better one for it). It's also very heavy on the US Constitution - most of the conflict in Directive 51 isn't to do with Daybreak and the end of the world as we know it but with issues surrounding the continuance of government. If that kind of novel bores you to tears, I suggest you give this one a miss.
I did enjoy the sci-fi side of Directive 51, particularly how the world begins to adjust to a post-Daybreak life and technology level though, of course, some manage better than others. Being a big fan of disaster movies, I love a good apocalypse scenario and the sudden and catastrophic failure of things like plastic and electronics is a great one.
Despite my expectations, the ending left me wanting to know what happens in the rest of the series. I get the feeling that my favourite characters are never going to catch a break sadly but that's the point in an end of the world thriller I guess. Whether or not I actually pick up Daybreak Zero remains to be seen.
Rating: 2.5 stars.
Similar Reads: Black Monday by R. Scott Reiss (also listed as Bob Reiss).
September 9, 2013
I learned about Directive 51, the first book of the Daybreak trilogy, from a Big Idea post in John Scalzi's blog.
The novel is an apocalyptic work where the failure of technology leads to the collapse of civilization. Recent works in the genre include One Second After (America brought down by electromagnetic pulse), Dies the Fire (which I haven't read, though where the cause is magic-like), and TV's Revolution (nanobots).
Daybreak is in the "grey goo" technological terror sub-genre, using a combination of engineered nanobots and microscopic organisms, with a kicker -- in this case deliberately released by something TBD -- to destroy the technologies that enable modern civilization.
In one sense, it's anti-Singularity, which I find welcome.
Civilization falls quickly, and author Barnes doesn't dwell on the human suffering. In fact, he kind of glosses over the suffer, struggle, and deaths of hundreds of millions of people, to make room for a Constitutional crisis that leads to a looming civil war between two successor American governments. Only the basis of conflict (after an initial and thwarted usurpation of power) felt contrived; in general, I didn't find the constitutional crisis particularly compelling.
I will probably skim through the rest of the trilogy to see what happens.
The novel is an apocalyptic work where the failure of technology leads to the collapse of civilization. Recent works in the genre include One Second After (America brought down by electromagnetic pulse), Dies the Fire (which I haven't read, though where the cause is magic-like), and TV's Revolution (nanobots).
Daybreak is in the "grey goo" technological terror sub-genre, using a combination of engineered nanobots and microscopic organisms, with a kicker -- in this case deliberately released by something TBD -- to destroy the technologies that enable modern civilization.
In one sense, it's anti-Singularity, which I find welcome.
Civilization falls quickly, and author Barnes doesn't dwell on the human suffering. In fact, he kind of glosses over the suffer, struggle, and deaths of hundreds of millions of people, to make room for a Constitutional crisis that leads to a looming civil war between two successor American governments. Only the basis of conflict (after an initial and thwarted usurpation of power) felt contrived; in general, I didn't find the constitutional crisis particularly compelling.
I will probably skim through the rest of the trilogy to see what happens.
May 17, 2010
I'd been waiting quite a while for the next John Barnes novel. I'm a big fan of his Giraut and Meme Wars series, so when I saw the description of this novel I was a bit nervous as it seemed to be more of a mainstream thiller, rather that the hard-SF I've liked of his. The premise is interesting and the "attack" (quotes are meaningful here) takes some time to evolve, but that is part of the journey. There is a large cast of characters that we leap around to follow and some I found less interesting that others, but I'll concede that I never once felt like skimming even the more boring ones. Overall an enjoyable read and I'm interested enough to see where this heads in the next two volumes. I have a suspspicion that this series may be linked to "Meme Wars", but that probably isn't the case...we'll see.
April 24, 2010
Apocalypse as alternate reality game/meme complex: it's a terrifyingly plausible and contemporary idea, and Barnes puts it to excellent use.
With a very short term focus (the book covers the first six months after a decisive blow to the "Global System," Barnes avoids many of the tired tropes of the post-apocalyptic genre: no warlords, descent to barbarism, blah blah blah. He tells the story of the perpetrators and survivors - civilians and the remaining government officials, trying to preserve what's left of civilization in the face of technological and ideological rot.
There are a couple places that are a bit contrived, but overall this is the best post-apocalyptic in ages, and it's absolutely irresistible. I was up half the night for two nights gulping this down.
With a very short term focus (the book covers the first six months after a decisive blow to the "Global System," Barnes avoids many of the tired tropes of the post-apocalyptic genre: no warlords, descent to barbarism, blah blah blah. He tells the story of the perpetrators and survivors - civilians and the remaining government officials, trying to preserve what's left of civilization in the face of technological and ideological rot.
There are a couple places that are a bit contrived, but overall this is the best post-apocalyptic in ages, and it's absolutely irresistible. I was up half the night for two nights gulping this down.
May 12, 2011
It was kind of slow. This book seems pretty similar to S.M. Stirling's "Dies the Fire" in that the modern world is suddenly taken away. The destructive force behind the chaos in "Directive 51" is a bit more believable. However, a person who is not at least fluent in science isn't going to get most of the explanations. I think the characters are kind of lame and the dialogue is weak.
That said, the novel is on the brink of being very good. There is definitely a mystery about the source of Daybreak as well as the struggle of the survivors. Stirling's series of the Change got better, so I'm hoping the follow-up to "Directive 51" will be better as well.
It was good enough to get me to read the next book....barely.
That said, the novel is on the brink of being very good. There is definitely a mystery about the source of Daybreak as well as the struggle of the survivors. Stirling's series of the Change got better, so I'm hoping the follow-up to "Directive 51" will be better as well.
It was good enough to get me to read the next book....barely.
June 3, 2010
Some exceptional concepts unfortunately obscured by a somewhat muddled plotline, lacking in cadence. Not nearly as good overall as some of Barnes' previous novels. A criteria for measuring a genre novel as literature is whether the reader would be as well off with a 10 page plot synopsis....sorry John. One the upside, although it is neither good nor bad Hemingway, and not even good Clancey, it's good enough for standard technothriller pulp, and on the beach or on the plane, that's often good enough.
September 26, 2010
I listened to this book in my car. I almost gave up on it halfway through the first cd. By the end of that disc it finally piqued my interest and I stuck with it. (if I had been reading this book and not listening to it, I absolutely would have given up). In the end, it was just awfully long. Too long. Not entirely impressed.
April 13, 2014
This book was maddening. Some parts of it were really good. Others dragged on forever. The whole book had the feel of setting up the rest of the series. I will probably give the next one a chance but it won't get much of a chance. This felt like a near miss.
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