John Barnes, The Armies of Memory

The Armies of Memory

John Barnes

Tor, Apr 2006, $25.95, 432 pp.

ISBN 0765303302

Office of Special Plans espionage agent troubadour Giraut Leones works the thin line between total withdrawal into the virtual reality box and the war with the "aintellect" insurgents. At fifty, Giraut intellectually prefers hiding inside the box to escape his growing melancholy, but must do his duty to the Thousand Cultures.

Though he is a target for assassination, Giraut continues to play songs that touch the hearts of those who come into contact with him. Still he wonders about his own heart's healing, as he sadly recalls those he lost to death but revisited through the "psypyx" that enables individuals to die yet live seemingly forever. Between the psypyx and his own music, Giraut seeks solace as he begins to learn that love and beauty heal hurts. He returns home to Nou Occitan with a deeper understanding of the universe, only to find treachery, betrayal and violence. Will he virtually flee into his music making him an easy target for his prey, but also enabling him to escape the horrors that engulf him, or will Giraut try to save humanity from its worst enemy, itself?

THE ARMIES OF MEMORY, the climax of John Barnes' Thousand Cultures saga, may prove to be the best science fiction tale of the year. As always the characters make the exhilarating storyline a one sitting reading experience. The heroic Giraut feels his age as he is tired and ready to retire, but also realizes that if he wants to live he must remain on the job until he stops those who want him dead. He also concludes that humanity needs him at a critical moment, but he fears he has nothing left except his music, and that may no longer be enough. Mr. Barnes is at his best with this stupendous science fiction story.