Mother of Storms

I started to give this 4 stars, but it really deserves 4.6 or so, so I had to round it off to 5. It does move a bit slowly at first, and is sometimes a bit confusing, with too many characters introduced too quickly. Barnes should reread and study the works of Isaac Asimov, who was THE master of clarity. In fairness, it should be said that Barnes descriptions of hurricanes and their genesis are reminiscent of Asimov; it is the cast of characters that is confusing at times. Besides being an excellent story, MOTHER is a timely warning. The effects of global warming don't sound like fun. They probably won't be exactly as Barnes describes, of course, but they will be very similar, and very disastrous, if we fail to cut down sufficiently on deforestation and greenhouse gas production. When reading MOTHER, it is best to have a map of Mexico handy. I referred to my road atlas frequently (the place-names Barnes mentions are real). The descriptions of people weathering the superhurricane are very well done; one might have thought Barnes was expanding on eyewitness accounts of Katrina, but the copyright date is 1994. The scene where Di learns the identity of his brother Jesse's new squeeze is priceless, and I don't mean worthless. All in all, a very enjoyable read, if a shade below A Million Open Doors (Giraut) and Orbital Resonance (Meme Wars). [email protected]

This was the first book I ever read by John Barnes. Since then I have been hooked on his books. Unfortunately his books are very hard to find here in NZ, but still I managed to accumulate most over the years. I recently re re-read this book just to see why I loved it so much. Barnes has a very fluid style in his books and this is no exception. As it is deals with weather disaster theory it is kinda close to home. In this book internet has taken on a whole new meaning with XV. He highlights what it can do and also what harm can be done to the human psyche by it. He shows to what things some scum will go for their pleasure. The world order has changed, partially due to social unrest partially due to the fact it always changes. Problems start by an unprecedented release of methane into the air. A process that has dire consequences faraway from were the bomb exploded. Super hurricanes form. Devastating entire islands. Barnes weaves in small story lines unrelated to the main characters to illustrate what is happening at ground level and the extend of what is happening. In between all this destruction he finds room to develop love story lines. Some are doomed some are not Some take a take a very strange turn. One of the story lines between Carla and Louis Tynan can be seen as a precursor to the meme storyline he develops in later books. The book does not really have a happy ending, more an ending of hope that closure. I love this book because it weaves well it is a complete book. The whole picture is painted in all it's gory and pretty details. In all it's details it shows a plausible story, something that could happen because we (the human race) are stupid enough to make the mistakes he explores.

On the surface Mother of Storms is a tale of climatological disaster writ large. What I found more fascinating and engaging though were the incredible evolutions in technology Barnes proposes, and the geopolitical changes occuring up to and throughout the story. Barnes draws very plausible and I think subtle rationale to each of the political and technological changes in Storms. I will spare the reader here the details, as I don't want to deprive you of the excitement of discovering each nugget. However, Barnes outperforms his peers at extrapolating from the world of today and creating a surprisingly believable world of tomorow. I highly recommend Mother of Storms.

Years ago, I was a sci-fi freak. Then the market faded. John Barnes has revived and revitalized that oh-so-sweet science fiction genre where Common Man can lean his elbows on a bar at the edge of space and trade travel tales with a Phyrexian Wanderer over a mug of glfx. It's 2028. Various border realignments and world peace issues have created Pacificanada and an independent Alaska. Far above the West Siberian plain, and linked to the observing public via Passionet, pilot Hassan Sulari cuts in scramjets and launches his four crambombs (Compression Radiation Antimatter) into the North Slope, aimed to destroy a stash of prohibited weapons. And what follows, as Mother Nature raises her weary head from the bottom of the ocean and rebels at the centuries of mistreatment, chills the spine and tingles the hairs on the back of your neck. If you're of the opinion that the Winter of '96 California/Oregon floods were dramatic, think again... you ain't seen nothin' yet. I found myself ducking as unimaginable winds blew rubble and cars around me on the west Mexican coast, huddled on the backside of a crumbling block wall, wailing muddied children shivering with fear and wet and cold pushed up into my armpits with Clem Two ravaging her way through my village. Earlier, I held my breath, pointlessly, as four massive tsunami literally swept away the contents and the very existence of the mid-Pacific island where moments before I'd manned a military observation post. Pages before, I stretched my mind across a few million miles and hyperlinked to a datarobot scouring the grubby alleyways of phone conversations for the juiciest and most revealing of secrets being discussed as two "gentlemen" determined the fate of the world's satellite launching industry Louie is an aged but still phenomenally sexy Mel Gibson. Carla must be Sigourney Weaver. Liam Neeson carries off Diogenes, the NOAA primal worrier. Brad Pitt shines as Jesse. Ann Margret portrays XV artiste Synthi (Mary Ann in person). Roving reporter Brenda Starr-type? None other than Rosie O'Donnell in her spare time. Bottom line: Get it. Read it. Wonder how this guy sneaked into publication without you hearing about him before. Go out and get everything else he's ever written. Inhale deeply and sigh, smile - heck, grin! Sci Fi is back and its shirtsleeves are rolled up and ready to get seriously at it again.At least, that's what *I* did.