Jonathan Arnold reviewed Directive 51 by John Barnes (Daybreak Series)
Review of 'Directive 51' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Directive 51 tells the story of an apocalypse brought on by a disparate yet effective terrorist group described by the umbrella term Daybreak. Set in the near future, a storm of nanobots and other terrible toys destroys most modern machinery, sending the US and the world back to the days before most machines. The country, not surprisingly, fractures and this first book of the Daybreak trilogy tells the story of the beginning of the end, as sides begin to form.
Told from many different viewpoints (not quite a voice per chapter like say Song Of Ice & Fire), Barnes does a good job of making all the characters stand out, even ones that don't last very long. They are on both sides of Daybreak, although we still don't know what, if any, "intelligence" is running the whole thing. We just get to hear about it from the inside, via some …
Directive 51 tells the story of an apocalypse brought on by a disparate yet effective terrorist group described by the umbrella term Daybreak. Set in the near future, a storm of nanobots and other terrible toys destroys most modern machinery, sending the US and the world back to the days before most machines. The country, not surprisingly, fractures and this first book of the Daybreak trilogy tells the story of the beginning of the end, as sides begin to form.
Told from many different viewpoints (not quite a voice per chapter like say Song Of Ice & Fire), Barnes does a good job of making all the characters stand out, even ones that don't last very long. They are on both sides of Daybreak, although we still don't know what, if any, "intelligence" is running the whole thing. We just get to hear about it from the inside, via some very low level operatives. But we do hear about the US government trying to battle the awful, escalating events, from the very top of the power pyramid, the President and on down.
Not sure why so many reviews complain of the "far right" viewpoint of Barnes. In fact, I was wondering why everyone at the highest levels were being so selfless but then finally a few grabbed for power. And the power grabbing was spread across ideological grounds, so I don't see it. I don't really understand one side's point of view. By the end of the book, there were two main sides, but on one of them, the guy had been working hard at keeping things together and then he suddenly didn't, grabbing for power, and his explanation didn't really make much sense.
But I really enjoyed it and there were some truly terrifying moments. Barnes wasn't shy about really messing things up and it was really breathtaking! I am anxious to give the next book, [b:Daybreak Zero|8455175|Daybreak Zero (Daybreak, #2)|John Barnes|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1283704411i/8455175.SY75.jpg|13319302], a try, while I still remember all the main players. I'm tempted to give it 5 stars, just to balance out some of the ridiculously low scores, but I'll keep it personal and call it a 4 star book.
