What do you think?
Rate this book
Giraut #2
Earth Made of Glass
Welcome to the Thousand Cultures--in which humanity's hundreds of settled worlds are finally coming back together, via the recently invented technology of instantaneous travel. And in which Giraut and Margaret work as professional diplomats, helping to finesse the stresses and strains of so much abrupt new contact among wildly diverse cultures.
Now, however, their task is to bring in the terrifyingly hostile world of Briand, a planet of broiling acid oceans whose only habitable portions are Greenland-sized subcontinents that project out of the abyssal heat of the planetary surface into it stratosphere.
But Briand's physical hostility is nothing compared to the venom its two human cultures bear toward one another. Into this terrible world come Giraut and Margaret to try to do the right thing by the Cultures, by the inhabitants of Braind, and by one another.
Now, however, their task is to bring in the terrifyingly hostile world of Briand, a planet of broiling acid oceans whose only habitable portions are Greenland-sized subcontinents that project out of the abyssal heat of the planetary surface into it stratosphere.
But Briand's physical hostility is nothing compared to the venom its two human cultures bear toward one another. Into this terrible world come Giraut and Margaret to try to do the right thing by the Cultures, by the inhabitants of Braind, and by one another.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
211 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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 24, 2023
My favorite kind of SF: a star-spanning human civilization, "interesting" problems, well-drawn characters, cool tech. I love this kind of stuff! I read the first volume of this series back in 1995, so I’d forgotten the details of the setup. It’s a nice one: story-now is about 2850 CE. Human space is 39 worlds plus Sol system. The vast majority of the population lives in Sol system and the Inner Worlds. Total human population is around 50 billion. The first settlements were made via slower-than-light starships, with people in suspended animation (or as zygotes), which wasn’t always reliable. Much more recently, the “springers,” instantaneous travel booths, were developed, and are used both for interstellar and local travel. There’s a Council for Humanity, trying to reunite the scattered human settlements. There are discoveries of alien ruins, even abandoned starships, from thousands of years before, but no aliens yet. And there’s an Office for Special Projects, for clandestine stuff, that employs Giraut and his wife. The details that Barnes has worked out are impressive, and (mostly) convincing, with a few clunks. Even 20 years on, the novel feels fresh.
This book is about two cultures that settled on Briand, a barely-habitable, hot, high-gravity world, with just a couple of small inhabitable areas in the high country of the planet’s Antarctic. The Tamils are a recreation of an ancient literary civilization of Ceylon, and the Mayans are also lovingly recreated — the last living Maya people were killed in the Slaughters of 600 years ago. Sadly, the Tamils and the Mayans hate each others guts. Even more sadly, the Mayans original territory was rendered uninhabitable by a massive volcanic eruption. Both incompatible tribes are now jammed into one small area, which was supposed to be just for the Tamils. Total population on Briand is about 13 million.
Barnes’s writing has never been better. His characters come alive, and his descriptions of the alien landscapes of Briand, its fierce sunlight and violent storms, the beautiful Tamil city of New Tanjavur, and the Mayan temple complexes at Yaxkintulum are great. The book is written in close third-person viewpoint of Giraut Leones. The characters, city descriptions and plot twists are pleasing indeed. I did get tired of he marital infighting and make-ups between Giraut and his wife Margaret. The bigotry and hatred between the two tribes is sadly realistic.They come pretty close to patching things up so they can share the planet. The ending is sad but convincing: shit happens. Down-checked a bit for the tedious marital stuff, and some auctorial forcing, but this is an excellent book. 4+ stars.
This book is about two cultures that settled on Briand, a barely-habitable, hot, high-gravity world, with just a couple of small inhabitable areas in the high country of the planet’s Antarctic. The Tamils are a recreation of an ancient literary civilization of Ceylon, and the Mayans are also lovingly recreated — the last living Maya people were killed in the Slaughters of 600 years ago. Sadly, the Tamils and the Mayans hate each others guts. Even more sadly, the Mayans original territory was rendered uninhabitable by a massive volcanic eruption. Both incompatible tribes are now jammed into one small area, which was supposed to be just for the Tamils. Total population on Briand is about 13 million.
Barnes’s writing has never been better. His characters come alive, and his descriptions of the alien landscapes of Briand, its fierce sunlight and violent storms, the beautiful Tamil city of New Tanjavur, and the Mayan temple complexes at Yaxkintulum are great. The book is written in close third-person viewpoint of Giraut Leones. The characters, city descriptions and plot twists are pleasing indeed. I did get tired of he marital infighting and make-ups between Giraut and his wife Margaret. The bigotry and hatred between the two tribes is sadly realistic.They come pretty close to patching things up so they can share the planet. The ending is sad but convincing: shit happens. Down-checked a bit for the tedious marital stuff, and some auctorial forcing, but this is an excellent book. 4+ stars.
October 8, 2012
Originally published on my blog here in January 2001.
The sequel to A Million Open Doors is set over a decade later. The central characters, Giraut de Leones and his wife Margaret (who met in the course of the first novel) are in something of a rut in their relationship, despite the interest of their job as ambassadors seeking to help bring back together the splintered Thousand Cultures of humanity as instantaneous travel between the human colonised planets of the galaxy has become possible. They are given a new assignment, to travel to Briana, settled by two xenophobic cultures where the teleportation system is likely to bring war. The two cultures are literary, like Giraut's home Occitan background, put together by scholars, based on the ancient Maya and Tamil.
In Earth Made of Glass, as exciting and inventive as A Million Open Doors, we learn a lot more about how the splintered human cultures came into being. This is basically because Giraut, as narrator, is no longer an enthusiastic adolescent from a planet recently recontacted, but an older diplomat who knows a great deal about the ways in which human beings interact. (This does not, of course, make him able to understand his wife.) The development of Giraut's personality is a strong part of the novel, a lot of his narrative being taken up with introspection about the changes within him, and it is very well done.
One of the major strengths of the novel, like its predecessor, is the portrayal of the two cultures. This is a more difficult task here, where both of them will be far less familiar to most Westerners than the machismo of Occitan and the Puritans of Caledon. The Tamil culture, in which most of the action takes place, is particularly well drawn. This has something to say for today, as these cultures know that they are doomed by the cultural and economic imperialism of the Interstellars, as distinct cultures today are threatened by the American way of life. We are today far more homogeneous than at almost any time in the history of the human race, and so much is lost to us as a result. To go into a Spanish bookshop, as I did fairly recently, to find that almost all the books for sale are translations of English bestsellers is a good illustration of this. It may be convenient, but it is impoverishing.
The sequel to A Million Open Doors is set over a decade later. The central characters, Giraut de Leones and his wife Margaret (who met in the course of the first novel) are in something of a rut in their relationship, despite the interest of their job as ambassadors seeking to help bring back together the splintered Thousand Cultures of humanity as instantaneous travel between the human colonised planets of the galaxy has become possible. They are given a new assignment, to travel to Briana, settled by two xenophobic cultures where the teleportation system is likely to bring war. The two cultures are literary, like Giraut's home Occitan background, put together by scholars, based on the ancient Maya and Tamil.
In Earth Made of Glass, as exciting and inventive as A Million Open Doors, we learn a lot more about how the splintered human cultures came into being. This is basically because Giraut, as narrator, is no longer an enthusiastic adolescent from a planet recently recontacted, but an older diplomat who knows a great deal about the ways in which human beings interact. (This does not, of course, make him able to understand his wife.) The development of Giraut's personality is a strong part of the novel, a lot of his narrative being taken up with introspection about the changes within him, and it is very well done.
One of the major strengths of the novel, like its predecessor, is the portrayal of the two cultures. This is a more difficult task here, where both of them will be far less familiar to most Westerners than the machismo of Occitan and the Puritans of Caledon. The Tamil culture, in which most of the action takes place, is particularly well drawn. This has something to say for today, as these cultures know that they are doomed by the cultural and economic imperialism of the Interstellars, as distinct cultures today are threatened by the American way of life. We are today far more homogeneous than at almost any time in the history of the human race, and so much is lost to us as a result. To go into a Spanish bookshop, as I did fairly recently, to find that almost all the books for sale are translations of English bestsellers is a good illustration of this. It may be convenient, but it is impoverishing.
December 30, 2020
A very interesting novel, it was refreshing that the main characters were ordinary people, one with thinning hair and the other with sagging breasts. Also, you can't help comparing the Briand situation with Israel/Palestine and/or North Ireland.
May 26, 2017
I wouldn't recommend this book. Good writing, but frustrating characters in a way that feels like a romantic comedy. Particularly well described by this quote: "None of us could stand being judged by our younger selves. And frankly I wouldn't submit to it. My younger self had a lot of fun, got laid a lot, and wasn't afraid of anything, but he was also an asshole and I wouldn't want him as a friend now."
I'd say the opposite, myself, in all aspects. Though the book does end on a different perspective, it takes 99% of the book to get there... And the payoff isn't with the journey.
I'd say the opposite, myself, in all aspects. Though the book does end on a different perspective, it takes 99% of the book to get there... And the payoff isn't with the journey.
February 19, 2014
‘At the furthest reaches of the galaxy exist The Thousand Cultures, run by humans and drawing together through the new technology of instantaneous travel. Giraut and Margaret work as professional diplomats, easing the entry of new and diverse societies into The Thousand Cultures.
Their new mission is to prevent war between two cultures on the terrifyingly hostile world of Briand, all the time battling its harsh environment and trying not to let the strain of the task affect their own relationship.’
Blurb from the 1999 Millennium paperback edition.
Barnes’ sequel to the impressive ‘A Million Open Doors’ sees cultural agents from the Council of Humanity’s Special Projects Office Giraut Leones and his wife Margaret, sent to the 1.3 gravity world of Briand.
The backstory is that Humanity has been spread over numerous planets for hundreds of years, each of which is home to one or more cultures, some of which are (or were) recreated dead cultures from Earth’s past.
Most of the cultures have now been reassimilated into ‘Interstellar culture’ mainly due to the fact that ancient alien artifacts have been discovered on several worlds, and the Council of Humanity wants a united Human race to meet the inevitable First Contact.
Briand is a literary work of art in itself. It is a volcanic poisonous world whose only habitable areas are two island plateaux. On these were settled recreated Tamil and Mayan civilisations. Unfortunately, the Mayan plateau was rendered uninhabitable by a volcano eruption and the Mayans had to relocated on the Tamil plateau.
Tensions between the two cultures run high and the OSP agents are sent in to attempt a diplomatic solution.
Barnes’ scene-setting, descriptive skills and characterisation are top-notch and meld to produce a complex and compelling novel.
The Mayans, in an apparent bid to offer the hand of friendship, produce a prophet, Ix; a highly charismatic and Messianic figure whose charm and wisdom seduce many, but it may be that this is only the first move in a convoluted game of diplomatic and political chess in which all become embroiled.
It’s a novel about relationships (between individuals and cultures); about the nature of Truth, the power and danger of fundamentalist belief systems and it’s also about love.
The simmering hatred of the two cultures for each other is contrasted with the marriage of Giraut and Margaret, whose failure to communicate with each other is mirrored by the tension between the Mayans and the Tamils.
Their new mission is to prevent war between two cultures on the terrifyingly hostile world of Briand, all the time battling its harsh environment and trying not to let the strain of the task affect their own relationship.’
Blurb from the 1999 Millennium paperback edition.
Barnes’ sequel to the impressive ‘A Million Open Doors’ sees cultural agents from the Council of Humanity’s Special Projects Office Giraut Leones and his wife Margaret, sent to the 1.3 gravity world of Briand.
The backstory is that Humanity has been spread over numerous planets for hundreds of years, each of which is home to one or more cultures, some of which are (or were) recreated dead cultures from Earth’s past.
Most of the cultures have now been reassimilated into ‘Interstellar culture’ mainly due to the fact that ancient alien artifacts have been discovered on several worlds, and the Council of Humanity wants a united Human race to meet the inevitable First Contact.
Briand is a literary work of art in itself. It is a volcanic poisonous world whose only habitable areas are two island plateaux. On these were settled recreated Tamil and Mayan civilisations. Unfortunately, the Mayan plateau was rendered uninhabitable by a volcano eruption and the Mayans had to relocated on the Tamil plateau.
Tensions between the two cultures run high and the OSP agents are sent in to attempt a diplomatic solution.
Barnes’ scene-setting, descriptive skills and characterisation are top-notch and meld to produce a complex and compelling novel.
The Mayans, in an apparent bid to offer the hand of friendship, produce a prophet, Ix; a highly charismatic and Messianic figure whose charm and wisdom seduce many, but it may be that this is only the first move in a convoluted game of diplomatic and political chess in which all become embroiled.
It’s a novel about relationships (between individuals and cultures); about the nature of Truth, the power and danger of fundamentalist belief systems and it’s also about love.
The simmering hatred of the two cultures for each other is contrasted with the marriage of Giraut and Margaret, whose failure to communicate with each other is mirrored by the tension between the Mayans and the Tamils.
September 8, 2017
This one of those books I have told my friends about. About the incredible details around the Tamil and Mayan cultures, the detail of the hate between two etnic groups, the details of the prophetic story that unfolds. How Giraut and his wife are trying to figure stuff out and hope to resolve the issues between the two people by listening to groups, understanding who is in control, the demographic structure and navigate to bring all together. And then I tell my friend the very unsatisfying end in relation to all that detail that we have gone through.
Oh, the fact that there is a Thousands Culture planetary human space is total irrelevant to the story. There is just a planet, two cities, and two secret agents that are working on it. Barnes added also some deep layer of misunderstanding in the relation between Giraut and his wife Margaret. This requires us to read a lot on mismatched man-wife conversations, some deep insights on their heritage, and things she doesnt like about him and he does like about her. After a hard day of work trying to grasp all the details of the Tamil/Mayan key figures, the couple ended up with some weird conversations, fights and behaviors I was not waiting for. On the other hand, it did make the characters more real as fights, sex and love was intertwined in the story. Sadly it did not help me in the story. The details in the society relationships was already enough for me, and I was not really needing more detail on deep personal relationships.
And then the end. It The story went through all the details of the couple, Tamils, poetry, Mayans and a prophet and then someone from outside the story fooled us all and pulls the plug in like 15 pages. Gone are the 380 pages before. Bah and wow - that was unexpected and great! And although the detailing would merrit 4 stars, the overkill about the Giraut-Margaret relation brings it down to 3.
Oh, the fact that there is a Thousands Culture planetary human space is total irrelevant to the story. There is just a planet, two cities, and two secret agents that are working on it. Barnes added also some deep layer of misunderstanding in the relation between Giraut and his wife Margaret. This requires us to read a lot on mismatched man-wife conversations, some deep insights on their heritage, and things she doesnt like about him and he does like about her. After a hard day of work trying to grasp all the details of the Tamil/Mayan key figures, the couple ended up with some weird conversations, fights and behaviors I was not waiting for. On the other hand, it did make the characters more real as fights, sex and love was intertwined in the story. Sadly it did not help me in the story. The details in the society relationships was already enough for me, and I was not really needing more detail on deep personal relationships.
And then the end. It The story went through all the details of the couple, Tamils, poetry, Mayans and a prophet and then someone from outside the story fooled us all and pulls the plug in like 15 pages. Gone are the 380 pages before. Bah and wow - that was unexpected and great! And although the detailing would merrit 4 stars, the overkill about the Giraut-Margaret relation brings it down to 3.
December 11, 2021
Earth has spanned out to the thousand cultures via light speed. Now with the invention of the springer, instantaneous travel is available and the worlds are being brought back to interstellar society. Food and shelter are no longer a problem for humanity. The biggest struggle is ennui, to find something worth doing now and for a lifetime. Giraut and Margaret are falling victim to it even though they have joined the Office of Special Projects. Shan has an assignment for them which will hopefully bring them out of their doldrums. Inhospitable Briand is home to two cultures, Tamil and Maya. It was fine when they were on separate plateaus, but the Maya home fell victim to the whims of the planet and Mayatown was built inside New Tanjavur. When Yaxkintulum was built some Maya stayed behind. Now the two groups hate each other and the violence is likely to spread.
The Maya have been secretive and wanted no contact with outsiders. Until now. They send a prophet to New Tanjavur. Can the three rules that Ix is preaching bring peach and understanding between the two cultures?
The writing was clear, understandable, a steady pace, but slow. This is where I wish I was a speed reader. There wasn't a lot of action, mostly the characters describing the cultures, their attitudes, reasons for doing things, marital problems, the setting--complaining (or bearing) the heat and gravity or the great beauty of the tanks. Three stars.
The Maya have been secretive and wanted no contact with outsiders. Until now. They send a prophet to New Tanjavur. Can the three rules that Ix is preaching bring peach and understanding between the two cultures?
The writing was clear, understandable, a steady pace, but slow. This is where I wish I was a speed reader. There wasn't a lot of action, mostly the characters describing the cultures, their attitudes, reasons for doing things, marital problems, the setting--complaining (or bearing) the heat and gravity or the great beauty of the tanks. Three stars.
March 16, 2015
This is in large part a novel about hermeneutics, although the word is never used: how do you read a sacred text, how interpretation depends on all kinds of context (immediate, global, canonical, sociocultural), and -- most interesting -- how it is possible for a community to profoundly reinterpret its sacred texts in a way that moves from violence to peace, from a literal to a spiritual reading. The community, in this case, is an artificially recreated Mayan community; there's a similarly artificial Tamil community, but the themes are stronger in the case of the Mayans.
Oh, there's a plot, too, and it's a pretty good one (except for the cluelessness of the main character who is completely oblivious that ). But the real draw for me is the religious theme, and the beauty with which both cultures are portrayed.
In addition to hermeneutics, we see a prophet being made; discerning his message; spreading his message; learning to live according to his message; and being rejected, . Good stuff.
Oh, there's a plot, too, and it's a pretty good one (except for the cluelessness of the main character who is completely oblivious that ). But the real draw for me is the religious theme, and the beauty with which both cultures are portrayed.
In addition to hermeneutics, we see a prophet being made; discerning his message; spreading his message; learning to live according to his message; and being rejected, . Good stuff.
January 12, 2011
This is the sequel to A Million Open Doors, which was my introduction to Barnes. It's twelve years later, Giraut and Margaret are agents of the Office of Special Projects of the Council of Humanity, they're feeling middle-aged, and they've just had their vacation cut short for a new assignment to a really unpleasant planet. On Briand, two cultures that were artificial literary recreations and not overly tolerant of alternative viewpoints to begin with have been forced by inconvenient natural phenomena to live rather closer together than was envisioned when these two cultures were sold this very last of the partially-terraformable worlds at the end of the colonization period. And then things start to go wrong for Giraut, Margaret, and everyone else.
This is not a happy book, but it is consistently interesting. I should perhaps mention, for those who were put off by the violence of Mother of Storms and Kaleidescope that it has very little of that kind of graphic violence.
This is not a happy book, but it is consistently interesting. I should perhaps mention, for those who were put off by the violence of Mother of Storms and Kaleidescope that it has very little of that kind of graphic violence.
August 15, 2024
More socio-political SF in the sequel to A Million Open Doors. The aliens are coming, and humanity -spread over a Thousand Cultures and hundreds of worlds- thinks it proper to show a united front when they do. So when the two cultures on a frontier planet begin to exhibit strong signs of descending into conflict over its scarcely habitable real estate, a desperate intervention is attempted.
Enter husband and wife team Giraut and Margret. From the off things look hopeless. Between the manufactured cultures of Indian Poets and Mayan fanatics there seems to be no common ground. Hatred is rife. Hatred is normal. There are riots, beatings, murders, rapes. And on top of all that, Giraut is suffering a midlife crises, Margret is often unaccountably morose... in short, their marriage is failing.
Barnes' world building is first rate, meticulously thought through and somehow realistic in all its inherent unlikeliness (and, like AMOD, Jack Vance colourful). Just as well-realised are his characters: they seem like real people, with real people's failings and insecurities (usually, and especially in SF, I don't have much time for such things, but -even though he does lay it on very thick- the strength of Barne's writing had me actually caring about Giraut's marriage, about the petty squabbling and jealousies of other characters - a surely deliberate conditioning to make the climax all the more devastating. My eyes didn't roll once).
This is not action SF. It's a socio-political thriller with added feelings. And it perhaps didn't need to be 400+ long. But it was engaging. It was interesting. It was affecting. I will be continuing this series.
A note on my Orion copy: the dust jacket synopsis details a completely other novel than EMoG. It's another Thousand Cultures book, featuring the same couple, but one set on a totally different world with different peoples and problems... and one that doesn't actually seem to exist (as far as I know, there are two more novels in this series, and neither have this storyline). A rather bizarre mistake.
Enter husband and wife team Giraut and Margret. From the off things look hopeless. Between the manufactured cultures of Indian Poets and Mayan fanatics there seems to be no common ground. Hatred is rife. Hatred is normal. There are riots, beatings, murders, rapes. And on top of all that, Giraut is suffering a midlife crises, Margret is often unaccountably morose... in short, their marriage is failing.
Barnes' world building is first rate, meticulously thought through and somehow realistic in all its inherent unlikeliness (and, like AMOD, Jack Vance colourful). Just as well-realised are his characters: they seem like real people, with real people's failings and insecurities (usually, and especially in SF, I don't have much time for such things, but -even though he does lay it on very thick- the strength of Barne's writing had me actually caring about Giraut's marriage, about the petty squabbling and jealousies of other characters - a surely deliberate conditioning to make the climax all the more devastating. My eyes didn't roll once).
This is not action SF. It's a socio-political thriller with added feelings. And it perhaps didn't need to be 400+ long. But it was engaging. It was interesting. It was affecting. I will be continuing this series.
A note on my Orion copy: the dust jacket synopsis details a completely other novel than EMoG. It's another Thousand Cultures book, featuring the same couple, but one set on a totally different world with different peoples and problems... and one that doesn't actually seem to exist (as far as I know, there are two more novels in this series, and neither have this storyline). A rather bizarre mistake.
June 8, 2023
Kind of an Empire Strikes Back sequel. Everyone dies. (Not really.)
Our team is deployed to a new world to shake things up, but instead of calling in the troups, they let things simmer, placing all their hopes in a would-be prophet. Things seems to be turning around until human nature suffers revision to the mean, and poof it all ends.
Our team, their leader, the entire department, and those pesky aliens. All remain in question.
I guess I'll have to read the next one.
Our team is deployed to a new world to shake things up, but instead of calling in the troups, they let things simmer, placing all their hopes in a would-be prophet. Things seems to be turning around until human nature suffers revision to the mean, and poof it all ends.
Our team, their leader, the entire department, and those pesky aliens. All remain in question.
I guess I'll have to read the next one.
February 17, 2020
Barnes is one of those authors I really don't agree with half the time but I really don't care. He looks at racism, adultery, and economics from a sci-fi perspective as well as adding in some middle-aged angst. I get the feeling sometimes that Barnes wants technology to fix the human heart but must keep concluding that it cannot.
July 10, 2018
I really disliked this book. Nothing happens. The characters wander around talking to other characters spouting philosiphy about a dead hindo culture that is supposed to be the bases of their beliefs. I barely made it through the first 100 pages and could not take any more.
August 16, 2018
Too hard sci-fi, Did not finish...
January 16, 2020
I generally like Barnes. I've really enjoyed several of his books. However, I felt this book didn't match his usual high standards and was in fact a bit weak. Disappointing. Not recommended.
Read
October 26, 2025Why 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
January 6, 2017
A bittersweet story following Giraut #1 It is so sad to see what can happen over time. It all makes sense, but you can't help but feeling sorry for Giraut
March 31, 2014
As I moved through John Barnes' "Earth Made of Glass," I gradually reduced in my mind my rating of it. Nothing happens through most of its 416 pages. The first third of it describes in agonizing detail the architecture, philosophy, and arts of the Tamil culture on the subject planet. The second third does the same for the Maya culture. The main characters do nothing but wander around and talk. Probably the worst bits of those two thirds of the book are the bits highlighting the protagonists' marital troubles (interspersed with graphic "intimate" scenes out of the blue). The final third of the book takes the cake, though. Finally some things start happening. But, the protagonists aren't the ones doing them. Instead, between the almost constant material on their marital woes and "intimate" life, we basically get news reporting on what the plot should be. It's all talk and description. What finally pushed the book over the edge down to an Abysmal 1 star out of 5 rating is the ending. I don't know what Barnes thought the point of the book was, but this ending makes it all moot. Four hundred and sixteen pages of gossip/travel magazine and hundreds of pages of personal problems with a painfully obvious denouement for a "plot" ending like this. Don't bother. I'm going to see if I can borrow the remaining books in the series to see if they're worth reading. But for this one, just read the wikipedia summary. And that's only if you want to continue with the rest of the series.
The books in his "Thousand Cultures" series are:
1. A Million Open Doors -- Kindle version not available
2. Earth Made of Glass - Kindle version not available
3. The Merchants of Souls (Giraut)
4. The Armies of Memory (Thousand Cultures)
The books in his "Thousand Cultures" series are:
1. A Million Open Doors -- Kindle version not available
2. Earth Made of Glass - Kindle version not available
3. The Merchants of Souls (Giraut)
4. The Armies of Memory (Thousand Cultures)
October 9, 2015
This book was really slow-moving. It was nine tenths exposition and rising action, and one tenth climax, falling action, and resolution. I only kept reading because I found the sociological aspects of it kind of interesting. It's set very far in the future where humanity has spread to many different planets and solar systems and has developed methods for immortality and "springing" from place to place instantaneously. They embed pre-fabricated "cultures" on terraformed planets. The protagonists are sent to try to bring peace to one such planet where the two cultures planted there have been in a constant state of violence for decades. It's very similar to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, even with a "Gaza Strip-type" area known as "Mayatown." I won't go any farther into the story for risk of spoilers. But, like I said, the sociological and philosophical aspects were interesting enough to keep me reading. But it took me longer than usual to read. The plot movement was not that good. The big twist at the very end was no twist at all and in fact was very obvious. So based on that, I give it two stars. It was okay.
February 9, 2010
A very quick read. I wish I hadn't noticed the comparisons to Heinlein on the dust jacket, because it was very hard afterwards to not think Stranger in a Strange Land as I was reading this. A shame, since Barnes does a much better job with some of the same material. Overall: solid, thought-provoking hard SF. Interesting treatment of the messianic themes that entirely avoids Heinlein's obnoxious forays into omniscience. There's no side trip to Heaven here to cheat the essential question of doubt. There's plenty of other material here as well. The personal relationships between the main characters are often painfully true to life, though Barnes seems to have a heavy hand at times. There's some interesting musing on why humans keep going in a world where their efforts aren't actually necessary to survive that hits close to home for me, after all of these months of unemployment, but it isn't as keenly focused as in an Iain M. Banks. A good book, but not really much new ground broken.
July 13, 2011
I liked the exploration of how instantaneous travel subverts a culture. Here, the cultures become watered down by the interest of other planets, the economy is wrecked by the new trade and connections, and each planet has a society based on a human subculture.
August 16, 2012
Still great hard SF and excellent culture building, but straining a little bit too hard at the mantle of character development. I am glad to have learned that there are two more books in this series, though.
April 14, 2008
Science Fiction
July 22, 2011
Fewer provocative ideas than A Million Open Doors and glaringly bad prose at points. The series metaplot (aliens!) is barely mentioned.
June 19, 2010
John Barnes continues to delight me, I'm already grieving for when I reach the end of the series.
May 31, 2011
Cultural anthropology blended with sci-fi.
My dream profession.
My dream profession.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews