Directive 51
Written by John Barnes
Narrated by Susan Ericksen
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
View our feature on John Barnes's Directive 51. The first book in a new post-apocalyptic trilogy from "a master of the genre"
Heather O'Grainne is the Assistant Secretary in the Office of Future Threat Assessment, investigating rumors surrounding something called "Daybreak." The group is diverse and radical, and its members have only one thing in common-their hatred for the "Big System" and their desire to take it down.
Now, seemingly random events simultaneously occurring around the world are in fact connected as part of Daybreak's plan to destroy modern civilization-a plan that will eliminate America's top government personnel, leaving the nation no choice but to implement its emergency contingency program...Directive 51.
John Barnes
John Barnes (b. 1957) is the author of more than thirty novels and numerous short stories. His most popular novels include the national bestseller Encounter with Tiber (co-written with Buzz Aldrin), Mother of Storms (finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula awards), Tales of the Madman Underground (winner of the Michael L. Printz Award), and One for the Morning Glory, among others. His most recent novel is The Last President (2013).
Related to Directive 51
Titles in the series (3)
Directive 51 Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Daybreak Zero Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Last President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
Daybreak Zero Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Through Many Fires Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Time to Endure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Genesis Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Minus America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Way Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Braving the Storms Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Three Days After Impact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ashfall Apocalypse: An Apocalyptic Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strengthen What Remains Stories: Combo Pac Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Prodigals - A Journey Home in the Dark: A Post Apocalyptic EMP Survival Thriller Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Toward Yesterday Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/55 Years After Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Exodus Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lethal Rain (Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rebuilding Hope Box Set Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brace for Impact Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Solar Reboot Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extinction Point Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5War's End: The Storm Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nightmare in Slow Motion Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Scriptures: End of Days Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Convulsive: The Complete Series: A Pandemic Survival Near Future Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5FIVE YEARS AFTER 2.5 Smoke and Mirrors Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Escape the Fall Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Perdition: An Apocalyptic Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Survivors: A Novel of the Coming Collapse Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Endurance: An Apocalyptic Thriller Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Fall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Science Fiction For You
The Dune Audio Collection Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Before the Coffee Gets Cold: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Three-Body Problem Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Rising (1 of 2) [Dramatized Adaptation]: Red Rising 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Red Rising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gideon the Ninth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune Messiah: Book Two in the Dune Chronicles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray: Classic Tales Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Morning Star Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Golden Son Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coraline Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose The Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Parable of the Talents Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dune: House Atreides Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Clockwork Orange Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Institute: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How High We Go in the Dark: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5House 23: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stories of Your Life and Others Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Live in Concert Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Parable of the Sower Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Troop Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All Systems Red Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whalefall: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/52001: A Space Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Directive 51
106 ratings9 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this book very much. It was a page turner. Particularly impressive is the author's knowledge of the United States. He provides specific geographic details about the many places that feature in this pre- and post-apocalyptic story.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5You know, I really liked how this book started off. I was really itching for a good apocalypse -- let's burn this whole thing down! And we got into the book, and it was good. It all burned. Good riddance to civilization.
And then we got into constitutional politics. Honestly, truly, I love politics, and I think the political bodies that the country would break up into if our communications and transportation broke down would be interesting. I'm just..not all that interested in following it.
Read it for the first half. If you're into it, continue it for the second. I don't think I'll be reading further into the series because the majority of the BURN IT DOWN BURN IT ALL DOWN AHAHAHAHHAAH is already over. Darn.2 people found this helpful
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Gave up on it about halfway through. It started off interesting enough, and exciting enough, but then it got bogged down. Couldn't tell where it was going, or if it was even going anywhere at all. No suspense, no mystery, no discernible plot.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This book was maddening. Some parts of it were really good. Others dragged on forever. The whole book had the feel of setting up the rest of the series. I will probably give the next one a chance but it won't get much of a chance. This felt like a near miss.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5I normally like disaster books and speculation, but this was terrible. From a promising start about an unusual (and improbable, but that's not a flaw per se) premise for an world-wrecking scenario, the author piled improbabilities and sudden bolts from the blue until the plot and character reactions went far past my ability to suspend disbelief. The characters were the usual tropes (albeit well done), but the antagonists went from plausible to unbelievable, as did the reactions of the characters faced with the end of the technological world. [Dust] by Pellegrino and [The Rift] by Walter J. Williams handle the subject far better. Not recommended.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Not many books are "page-turners". This one is ... and it's hard to put it down. Strong story line. The only fault I find with it is that character development is a little weak. Still, the book is very well written and the story moves right along. I'm now reading the sequel, "Daybreak Zero".
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This book just doesn't work for me – I started it in April 2011 and put it down after 50 pages. At that time I was finding it difficult to concentrate because of things happening in my life so I did not blame the book and decided I would give it another go at a later date. I picked it up again 2 weeks ago and got to page 260, which is just past the halfway mark, and decided I could not read anymore of it. The main problem? It is as slow as molasses in January. The characters are bland or flat or both. And there are too many of them with too many pages between each visit. I found myself too often trying to remember who this person was. Not good. Oh, and the politics, which seems to be what most of this novel is really about (and not the end of the world as we know it), just trudges. I found myself skimming so much of this book (and I am not a skimmer), looking for any sign that something might be happening, that I soon realized I wasn’t reading it at all, which is the point of reading…isn’t it….to read? So I picked up another book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a very intelligent adult novel that is much like the popular young adult novels we're seeing pop up everywhere. It takes place in the near future and follows a group of government officials and president(s)as they try to rebuild America after massive destruction caused by a group called "Daybreak". Daybreak has released nano swarm and biotes across the country (and the world) that has destroyed everything that makes modern civilization. This novel is fast paced, exciting and well written, the action starts on page one and continues to the last page. I enjoyed it and I hope you will to (especially those of us who are adults and enjoy the young adult novels that are cropping up since the success of Harry Potter and Katness).
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Directive 51 (A Novel of Daybreak)John BarnesAce (2011), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 512 pagesUnnaturally deadly things, followed by fire, flood, famine... Industrial sabotage/ecoterrorism/'kill the Big System' is a really scary premise. The collapse of virtually all things technological drops the world back to the near-Dark Ages. Trying to maintain a Constitutional Government is what Directive 51 (a real thing) is about. No small thing in the absence of nationwide communication, a small group of people work to bring things back together from the brink of a second Civil War. Civilization itself is at stake.