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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781930235007
ISBN number: 1930235003
Label: Babbage Press
Manufacturer: Babbage Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 326
Printing Date: 1999-11
Publishing house: Babbage Press
Sale Popularity Level: 357114
Studio: Babbage Press
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Book one of John Shirley's pre-holocaust series, A Song Called Youth.
The Russians didn't use the big nukes.
The ongoing Third World War leaves parts of Europe in ruins. Into the chaos steps the Second Alliance, a multinational eager to impose its own kind of New World Order.
In the United States ... in FirStep, the vast space colony ... and on the artificial island Freezone -- the SA shoulders its way to power, spinning a dark web of media manipulation, propaganda, and infiltration.
Only the New Resistance recognizes the SA for what it really is: a racist theocracy hiding a cult of eugenics.
Enter Rick Rickenharp, a former rock'n'roll cult hero: a rock classicist -- out of place in Europe's underground club scene, populated by 'wiredancers' and 'minimonos' ... but destined to play a Song Called Youth that will shake the world.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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Shirley hits the ground running on this 1st novel of the series. You have great action, good plot, and some nice twist- all set in a future that looks scary close to the present world what more could you ask for!?! Love all the little details that make up the future - the desolve depression which has recently whipped out key banking info from a EMP burst causing a run on banks and ruining the American economy, to the worship of the Grid (internet), the rise of a new militant Russia who has started conventional warfare to solve its resource issue, and throw into that a new nationalist/fascist movement that is way more powerful than anyone realizes and you have the makings for a great series. Since I am waiting on the 2nd and 3rd book I have no idea if Shirley will carry this thru but all seems to start GREAT! Few critiques- where is China?!? With all heck breaking lose you think a superpower like China would be more involved- maybe he will touch on this in future books or I missed the explanation in this book? Shirley tends to almost write in "cliffnote" fashion giving you just enough brushed in character information to briefly understand many different people in his stories. Sometimes it works sometimes you have to remember who this character is and what their motivations are. But these are minor issues- get these books and have a BLAST! Also check out some of the other Shirley books- his Horror stuff is almost as good :)
Rated by buyers -
I've not got the patience to write a long, coherent review, so I will state only that fond readers of cyberpunk will enjoy -Eclipse-. Although the World War III setting makes -Eclipse- seem very dated (as speculative fiction, this book fails completely), the story is always exciting and very enjoyable. Worth spending an afternoon reading, if only as a light amusement.
Rated by buyers 
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After discovering John Shirley through his short horror fiction, I bought a copy of Eclipse and sat motionless for days to read it. In other words, I could not put it down. While this would be shelved in a store's science fiction section, it really is more than typical spaceships and lasergun fare. It falls more towards cyberpunk but exceeds it with a focus on characters instead of technology.
The basic premise of the rise of a neo-fascist "security" corporation during the starts of a limited nuclear war between the USA and Russia sets the background for the very believable characters, each with distinct personalities and flaws that come to life from the printed page. Mr. Shirley weaves a complex and intertwined tale of guerilla mercenaries, fading rock stars, and fasicst powermongers that would stand proudly with the great works on science fiction. If not for any other reason, his interpretation of developing cultural trends is at the same time illuminating and frightening.
Having only read the very first book*, I am anticipating no less enjoyment from Penumbra and Corona, the second and third works in the series.
I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a complicated read where each page yields a small reward.
* Sometimes I do need to spend a little time reading my college textbooks, too.
Rated by buyers -
World War III started but no one used the big nukes. While the USA and the New Soviets agreed to fight on European battlegrounds (and on a space station halfway between Earth and Moon), fascist fundamentalist Christian forces - under the name Second Alliance - are gaining in influence worldwide. Only the New Resistance sees the destructive power of the Fascists and starts a bitter and seemingly hopeless fight.
As this is only the very first part of the recently reissued trilogy, I don't know yet the outcome of the War, but one thing is for sure: John Shirley wrote one of the most intense future histories I have ever come across. The plot is based in the year 2029, and as this is a revised edition (the original version was released about 15 years ago), a lot of the historical background is real and does not only paint an imaginative dark future, but also shows the frightening doings of some actual American congressmen (Trent Lott and the racist Council of Conservative Citizens).
Shirley apparently has a strong dislike for WASPs (understandably), and together with the malleability of people's minds, he paints us a visionary picture of the future that could happen only just too easily.
Very graphic violence (nothing for the faint hearted), strong language and a shockingly surreal glimpse into the future will make sure that this book will have an everlasting imprint to your neurons.
Only one small point of criticism: for a "revised and updated" version, there were awfully many typos and especially misplaced periods and commas, but that doesn't take away one ounce of the intensity of this groundbreaking novel.
Rated by buyers -
John Shirley belongs to the generation of science fiction writers led by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling who are known as cyberpunks. Shirley was one of the early proponents of cyberpunk fiction. "Eclipse", the very first in his "A Song Called Youth" trilogy, is a vivid, stylistically hip mix of politics, rock and roll and computers. His lean prose is almost as elegant as Gibson's; here he depicts a near future in which Europe falls under the sway of a Neo-Nazi Christian fundamentalist tyranny, the Second Alliance (SA), in the aftermath of a limited nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. Opposing the SA are a motley band of rock musicians and socialist guerrillas known as the New Resistance. Those interested in reading some great cyberpunk fiction should acquire John Shirley's "A Song Called Youth" trilogy.
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