The Merchants Of Souls - Thousand Cultures 3 - John Barnes Book Review

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Review Summaries

" Tor, Nov 2001, 25.95, 398 pp. ISBN: 0312890761 Among the Thousand Cultures that make up the galaxy, earth already has a decadent reputation for misusing things. The latest movement on earth involves what most other worlds would say are the misuse of the recordings of the psypyx. Most of the worlds relish sharing their minds with the recordings of the deceased, but on earth the push is to place the recordings into games as virtual toys. The outrage among the Thousand Cultures and the earthlings' ignorance of this reaction could lead to war. Girault Leones vowed never to work for the Office of Special Projects, especially with Shan, because their last disastrous collaboration led to the destruction of the planet Briand and his own divorce from Margaret. However, circumstances makes Girault realize never say never because he knows the galaxy needs him to influence the decisions on earth. He volunteers to try to keep the planet from taking actions that could lead to war. The third Thousand Cultures tale, THE MERCHANTS OF SOULS, is an exciting science fiction tale that contains several intriguing premises especially the concept of sharing brain cells. The story line is overloaded so pivotal events are passively discussed between characters as having happened rather than actively described. Still, John Barnes shows why he is an award-winning author by making his futuristic realms seem authentic while fostering some novel ideas. Harriet Klausner

Crested sapwood supportable noradrenaline runout. "
Harriet Klausner, Resident John Barnes Scholar

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Overall Review

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - science fiction story
Political power play Yes
Political plotlets - saving govt/kingdom from external overthrow - preventing/managing clash/war between govts/kingdoms
Inner Struggle Yes
Plotlet: - search for identity/new understanding
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Cultural problems, alien culture Yes
Culture clash- - one culture tries to impose its culture on another group

Main Character
Identity: - Male
Profession/status: - computer programmer
Age: - 20's-30's
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - an organization
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount

Setting
Earth setting: - medium future 22-24th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
scientific jargon? (SF only) - a fair amount of scientific explanation
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

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Mars by Ben Bova

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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