The Armies of Memory

Giraut #4

by John Barnes

Giraut Leones, special agent for the human Thousand Cultures' shadowy Office of Special Plans, is turning fifty--and someone is trying to kill him.

Giraut's had a long career; the number of entities that might want him dead is effectively limitless. But recently Giraut was approached by the Lost Legion, an Occitan underground linked to an alliance of illegally human-settled worlds beyond the frontier. Also, it turns out that the Lost Legion colony has a "psypyx" --a consciousness-recording--of Shan, onetime boss of the Office of Special Plans. If they have that, they have literally thousands of devastating secrets.

Now, returning to his native Nou Occitan, Giraut will encounter violence and treachery from human and artificial consciousnesses alike. As bigotry and mob violence erupt throughout the rapidly destabilizing interstellar situation, Giraut will be called on the make the ultimate sacrifice, for the sake of civilization itself…

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

429 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

John 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...

Reviews

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very welcome to those who have been waiting for the next installment of the OSP adventures, and builds up more of the created world. We learn more about Shan's past, and WHY there has been no contact with Addams, as well as the secret involving the springer. My biggest complaint is wondering how many years we will have to wait for the cycle to conclude in A FAR CRY. (My guess is that the Predecessors will turn out to be not-dead-yet, and have a critical role in the relations of organic and machine intelligence.)

[Avi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barnes kind of runs out of things to have happen before he runs out of story, so the last third or so of the book is a kind of dull exposition, but it's still set in a fascinating universe that has been growing wonderfully with each new book. He also does a great job of showing us the events in the earlier books through the lens of memory of the now-older protagonist, which I really enjoyed.

[Macha · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. i like this series, but this entry was particularly neat. the central character was interesting, and so was the theme of creative work as an index of being human in a posthuman world.

[David Kopaska-Merkel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the fourth part of a series of four, and I have not read the first three. I don't really recommend reading series this way, but sometimes the problems created are bigger than other times. In this case, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and will look for the first three to read in order.

This is a far future high tech world in which AIs are commonplace, widely mistrusted, and few people die the real death. Archiving copies of your mind is routine, so most people can be resurrected after fatal events. There are aliens, at least some of which are not friendly ones, and AI, some of which might be friendly, and plenty of ordinary humans, some of which definitely are not. The viewpoint character is a singer and songwriter who is also a highly skilled secret agent.

There is lots of intrigue, action, and personal moments too.

[Garry · Rating 2 out of 5]

You see this over and over in genre fiction, where the author feels compelled to tie up loose ends, answer questions posed throughout the series, and show the protagonist's fate. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

It's kind of an "eh" here. The actual story itself is not flawed but too much is jammed into one final book. There are flashbacks, ground-shaking revelations, and for some reason, we needed to know why one particular character hated ai's with such ferocity. Eighty percent of it wasn't necessary I hate to say. I like Barnes. I don't always agree with his politics or economics, and he gets religion sooooo wrong, but man, he takes cool concepts and runs with them. There was some of that here, but the story flow was so lumpy that it was hard to appreciate them.

One can skip this book and be fine with the rest of the series.

[Anthony Faber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Giraut #4 Giraut is 50. Some mysteries are cleared up, but it's open ended enough that there might well be another.

[Guido]

Why you might like it: Polity/world design with engineering texture. Rubric match: not yet scored. Uses your engineering/rigor/first-contact/world-building rubric. Tags: near-future, polity, ideas

[Dwayne Wojtowicz · Rating 1 out of 5]

John Barnes' "The Armies of Memory" just confirmed the reason why I don't read Science Fiction novels: they drag on and make no sense.

I do understand that "Memories" is the conclusion of a series of novels, but it should refer back to any incident or event to collaborate the present events in this story.

I couldn't even tell you what the primary characters premise was in this book. Nor could I tell you in a few words what the book was about.

Sorry, but this just rates as the second book that I don't like.

[Milele]

A Giraut Leones novel, re-read Sept 25

[Snail in Danger (Sid) Nicolaides · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thematic course change over the course of the series made it less effective, I think. Dates approximate.

[Exokiwi · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me simply the sequel that we could have done without. Giraut and the audience did not need this story

[Jeff Youngstrom]

my review