[.ca] A Million Open Doors (ISBN 0812516338)

From Amazon.com:
Giraut Leones lives in Nou Occitan, a place where young people spend most of their time gossiping, writing poetry, and fighting duels over various insults. Eventually we find that Nou Occitan is just one of humanity's "Thousand Cultures," an artificial colony set up on a terraformed world to bring art, chivalry, and other old-fashioned values to life. Some years ago the springer, a device enabling teleportation travel, was opened, resulting in friction between the traditional dilettantes and Interstellars, youngsters who adopt new ways of life. Giraut's old friend Aimeric is called back to his home colony of Caledony to aid in the economic recession and cultural explosion that will surely follow the opening of the springer there. When Giraut is betrayed by his entendedora (part mistress, part girlfriend), he seizes the opportunity to go along as an ambassador. A Million Open Doors becomes a coming-of-age tale as Giraut adapts to a culture radically different from his own. Caledony society is colorless, repressed, money-driven; it emphasizes religion and hard work. Bewildered by the discouragement of art or pleasure, Giraut opens a college to teach Occitanian culture to interested Caledonians. The threatened religious and political leaders, of course, look on this as an oddity, if not an outright seed of revolution. During the cultural and political upheavals on Caledony, Giraut and friends learn about life, love, diplomacy, and cross-cultural friendship. The premise--human colonies flung across the universe evolving on hundreds of different planets now being transformed by instantaneous space travel--has been explored before. But John Barnes's sense of humor and world-building skills make it great fun. --Bonnie Bouman

Where it all started...:
I just happened to read the book that follows this one, so for me, to read this book was to go backards in time, to see how Giraut and Margaret first met, to see his home world and her home world first hand, to see the merits and flaws of both characters and cultures and maybe gain more understanding of the universe John Barnes has designed. The book brings out the wonder and fear of contact, not between alien races, but human cultures. While the novel was published in 1992, it is very much a valid warning for today's readers. The world is much smaller than before, we can't stop that, but maybe we can limit the damage to ourselves, to our culture and to our souls. As for the story, once again, it was a wonderful ride. Seeming to go one way, it jerks off the rails and goes another, as if the very characters and the world in which Mr. Barnes has created had a life of its own. A surprise ending, yes, but also a realistic and even sad one.

What's All the Hubbubb, Bub?:
Even though the book is a fair read, good for a rainy weekend, or putting one to sleep of a night, I don't find it the award winning fair that so many critics' opinions say it is. If you like a bunch of dandies waltzing about, drinking and wenching, then having the hero throwing himself into an altogether stange, socialistic society in the aftermath of a romantic betayal, this is your book; but I found it lacked enough action to keep the storyline moving, and to hold this reader's attention. I am waiting to read "Earth Made of Glass", in hope that it is more attention keeping than "A Million Open Doors".

One of Barnes's better efforts:
This was the first John Barnes book that I read, and while I agree with other reviewers that it's not perfect, it's an imaginative and enjoyable read, with enough light touches to let you know not to take it too seriously. It interested me enough to go on to read several of his other works, most of which I've enjoyed (can't win 'em all).

Interesting and boring at the same time:
Yes, the theme is interesting, the plot is well constructed, the characters are conceivable. But: most of the positive characteristics of this novel are destroyed by long and boring philosophising. I really am not a friend of action and action only, but Barnes reflects too often and too much. And the whole subject of Occitan culture may be interesting for those who know about the old troubadour tradition, but the ordinary reader is certainly confused by it. His characters are believable in this Occitan context, but most of the readers have never come in touch with even the theoretical basis of a society like this. It may be interesting for the expert to discuss the oppositional viewpoints of a fundamental Protestant society with all its hypocrisy and a society that has its basis in artificial codes of honor and dignity. But both are far away from reality. And that is why they do not reflect any social problem in reality. Both should have been opposed to a realistic society of today, of course alienated from the here and now by science fiction settings. This is what science fiction is about. But here this novel discusses some theoretical problems and never arrives in reality. Some critics call Barnes a descendant of Robert Heinlein. Well, if so, he has still a long way to go.

A Million Open Doors:
John Barnes shows some promise in ï¿1/2A Million Open Doorsï¿1/2, enough that I would recommend it to a friend. Heï¿1/2s assembled a moderately original idea and some likeable characters into an enjoyable book, but there are some big flaws that drag it down, especially towards the end. The main character, named Giraut, leaves his home and moves to a culture known as the Caledons. Caledon society is a distopia based on the idea of rationality. If a group of computers known as ï¿1/2aintillectsï¿1/2 decides that a person is engaged in irrational behavior, such as doing favors for a friend or appreciating the wrong works of art, then they can be dragged off to a mental institution by the government. Upset by this stifling censorship, Giraut decides to open a school and teach dancing and music to some of the Caledon children. While this concept may sound interesting, Barnesï¿1/2 writing is all over the place. He canï¿1/2t seem to decide whether he wants to be writing a true hard science fiction novel or a parody. Are we really supposed to believe that Giraut could break through generations of conformity and start a revolution just by teaching some kids to play the guitar? Fortunately, he hurries the plot along without giving us too much time to worry about such questions. Also, Barnes is quite skillful at developing his characters. Unlike so many of todayï¿1/2s SF writers, he gives them real motivations and allows us to see how their behavior and their thoughts change as they get exposed to new ideas. However, I would be negligent if I didnï¿1/2t mention some important weaknesses. Barnesï¿1/2 choice of language is pretty bland, and his descriptions donï¿1/2t give you any real sense of what heï¿1/2s trying to illustrate. Also, he needs a decent editor to crack down on sentences such as ï¿1/2Thorwald started, I could see that his career as a blasphemer would be developing slowly; he seemed to be reacting as if what he had said a minute ago was hanging around in the air like old flatulence.ï¿1/2 He view of gender roles is still stuck in the 50ï¿1/2s; somebody should politely inform him that women are capable of doing more than just having sex and doing secretarial work. And thereï¿1/2s this annoying habit of substituting like-sounding futuristic words in place of common English ones. He writes ï¿1/2merceï¿1/2 instead of ï¿1/2mercyï¿1/2, ï¿1/2nopï¿1/2 instead of ï¿1/2nopeï¿1/2, etcï¿1/2 Finally, the conclusion is too rushed, as if he was working under a deadline and had to cram too much plot into too little space. Still, if you can look past these problems,, you can find some decent science fiction in ï¿1/2A Million Open Doorsï¿1/2. While it doesnï¿1/2t rank up there with the masters like Heinlein or Clarke, itï¿1/2s still a decent read.