Published by Tor, 1992, 309 pages
ISBN 0-812-51633-8
$5.99

A Million Open Doors offers a million reasons for enjoyment. Well, not exactly a million, but plenty nonetheless. The hero of the tale, Giraut, is a swashbuckling cavalier called a jovent. He gets to fight duels over insults real and perceived, preen with his friends and entendedora (paramour), and otherwise preserve the planetary culture of New Occitan.

However, times they are a changing, and the human empire is undergoing a renaissance. It's reaching out to a thousand far-flung worlds--New Occitan included--and bringing them back into the fold. The culture clash between jovent and Interstellar forms the initial bit of swordplay.

John Barnes offers a clever tool of the trade. The epee used in duels is called a neuroducer. It does not cut per se, but instead fools the mind into believing flesh has been stuck, cut, or sliced. Treatment is more psychiatric ward than trauma unit, and sufficient "shocks" by repeated visits to the hospital can result in death. Fortunately, medical transponders embedded in people automatically trigger a "911" call if they've fallen to a neuroducer and can't get up.

The other bit of techowonder is the springer-- a super "beam me up" transporter between planets. Giraut, saddened by the defection of his entendedora to the Interstellar culture, accepts a spot in the state department to accompany his friend Aimeric to a hell hole of a planet. Got that? Good, because it's a bit fishy considering his taste for Occitan culture, and Barnes sweeps the rationalization under the rug. Still, Giraut's on a world that's a cross between a theocracy and a logic-ocracy with a nervous breakdown, and soon to be right in the middle of a revolution. Can you say Tienmen Square?

The damndest thing is--it all fits, and it's a great ride. Barnes weaves a thoroughly likable and sympathetic Giraut into a tale of good old fashioned ambition. The political and economic system presents an unusual slant on socialism, communism, and capitalism. The various gizmos are cool, like the psypyx which transfers a dead person's thoughts, emotions, and memories into another person, and "nanoconstruction" of buildings.

I would point out one gaffe. During the revolution, a young girl, Elizabeth Lovelock is raped and murdered. However, on page 214, Elizabeth Lockwood is ready for the funeral. After that, they bury Elizabeth Lovelock.

Other than that, A Million Open Doors adds up to one enjoyable novel. If some underlying assumptions play out a bit too conveniently, once you accept them, you'll be mighty pleased with the book.