# Is Level 7 a Ripoff of John Barnes' Mother of Storms? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861 "2005-11-07T02:49:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/1 "2005-11-07T02:49:51Z")
OK, maybe “ripoff” is too strong a word. “Borrowing” is probably too weak a word. John Barnes wrote an SF novel called “Mother of Storms” about a catastrophic weather event that precipitates a storm that extends beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Now we have “Level 7” about a storm beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Could be a coincidence or it could be the Trilateral Commission is at it again. YOU be the judge, ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/2 "2005-11-07T03:02:04Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > OK, maybe “ripoff” is too strong a word. “Borrowing” is probably too weak a word. John Barnes wrote an SF novel called “Mother of Storms” about a catastrophic weather event that precipitates a storm that extends beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Now we have “Level 7” about a storm beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Could be a coincidence or it could be the Trilateral Commission is at it again. YOU be the judge, I just turned it off one hour into the movie. I new it would be bad but come on, even CBS should have some sort of standard. It’s actually worse than _Category 6: Day of Destruction_. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/3 "2005-11-07T04:00:10Z")
I don’t know. Did John Barnes somehow work in an attack of poisonous frogs in the middle of a bunch or tornadoes and hurricanes? Foolish humans! Your puny standards of “good” and “bad” are useless to understanding something this over the top. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/4 "2005-11-07T04:26:46Z")
Since Category 7 (Level 7 is a novel by Mordecai Roshwald) is a sequel to Category 6, we have to move the borrowing back a year. But without knowing anything else, really, how hard is to come up with the idea of super-powerful hurricanes? ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/5 "2005-11-07T04:28:59Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > I just turned it off one hour into the movie. I new it would be bad but come on, even CBS should have some sort of standard. It’s actually worse than _Category 6: Day of Destruction_. The writing quality level of disaster movies is inversely proportional to the level of disaster portrayed. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/6 "2005-11-07T04:33:58Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Since Category 7 (Level 7 is a novel by Mordecai Roshwald) is a sequel to Category 6, we have to move the borrowing back a year. Wow. I didn’t think anyone but me had ever even _heard_ of that book, much less read it. Never underestimate Dopers, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/7 "2005-11-07T04:35:08Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > The writing quality level of disaster movies is inversely proportional to the level of disaster portrayed. I have a great idea for a new disaster movie. Well, it’s not really a disaster. More of a problem. Well, it’s not really a problem either. More of an inconvience. Okay, get this. The country is full of cicadas. They don’t do anything, other than be loud, breed, and die. No mutant cicadas, no crop loss, or the like. But they’re damn loud! How will our heros help save the country from the completely ordinary cicadas? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/8 "2005-11-07T04:51:28Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I don’t know. Did John Barnes somehow work in an attack of poisonous frogs in the middle of a bunch or tornadoes and hurricanes? > > Foolish humans! Your puny standards of “good” and “bad” are useless to understanding something this over the top. That was the point where I turned it off. Poisonous frogs run rampant at a ritzy DC party. Click… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Long\_Road](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5a626/32.png) [@The\_Long\_Road](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Long_Road)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/9 "2005-11-07T04:53:26Z")
Whoops, hit submit too soon. I did tape the rest in case I can force myself to finish it. Can they get the classification correct in any of these movies? No such thing as a category 6 hurricane as someone called one in the movie. It would be an F6. Reminds me of another hurricane movie where they kept calling the storm a class 6. bleh. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/10 "2005-11-07T05:08:51Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > OK, maybe “ripoff” is too strong a word. “Borrowing” is probably too weak a word. John Barnes wrote an SF novel called “Mother of Storms” about a catastrophic weather event that precipitates a storm that extends beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Now we have “Level 7” about a storm beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Could be a coincidence or it could be the Trilateral Commission is at it again. YOU be the judge, A slight hijack, but what do you think of Barnes as a writer? I’ve been thinking of giving him a go–I’ve got _A Million Open Doors_ around here somewhere–but I don’t really know a lot about him. ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/11 "2005-11-07T05:14:15Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > Wow. I didn’t think anyone but me had ever even _heard_ of that book, much less read it. Never underestimate Dopers, I guess. I opened this thread _hoping_ that it was about the Mordecai Roshwald book. I just read it last month, and it is still on my nightstand. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/12 "2005-11-07T06:37:23Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > A slight hijack, but what do you think of Barnes as a writer? I’ve been thinking of giving him a go–I’ve got _A Million Open Doors_ around here somewhere–but I don’t really know a lot about him. Uneven. Some of his work is remarkably good, and some not so good. One thing is that you have to be able to stomach gritty, stomach-wrenching violence in most of his stories. I found the “Thousand Worlds” series (_A Million Open Doors, Earth Made of Glass, The Merchants of Souls_, and two stories-to-come) wonderful. I liked _Mother of Storms_, and was rather fond of the conceit in the “Timeline Wars” series (_Patton’s Spaceship, Washington’s Dirigible_,. and _Caesar’s Bicycle_). I did **not** like the “Meme Wars” series, and I’m confident I would dislike the one that began with _The Duke of Uranium_ (I read a little of the first book and decided it wasn’t my cup of tea). Two other novels, _Finity_ and _One for the Morning Glory_ were fun reads. _Finity_ is one of those stories that begins with a passably sane premise and then heads for Bizarro-space with it, but it was so well crafted that I was carried along in the best Alfred Bester manner. _One for the Morning Glory_ is a pastiche of the _Princess Bride_-knockoff school of hackwork that manages to be a good story internally despite being outstandingly funny satire. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/13 "2005-11-07T11:40:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I don’t know. Did John Barnes somehow work in an attack of poisonous frogs in the middle of a bunch or tornadoes and hurricanes? > > Foolish humans! Your puny standards of “good” and “bad” are useless to understanding something this over the top. Well, given that Hollywood is well known for adding bad stuff and deleting good stuff even in novels they buy the rights to, I don’t see them worrying about staying true to a story when the only thing they took was the idea. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/14 "2005-11-07T11:42:01Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Since Category 7 (Level 7 is a novel by Mordecai Roshwald) is a sequel to Category 6, we have to move the borrowing back a year. > > But without knowing anything else, really, how hard is to come up with the idea of super-powerful hurricanes? Well, not difficult at all for NOVELISTS. But we’re talkin’ Hollywood here. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/15 "2005-11-07T11:43:08Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Since Category 7 (Level 7 is a novel by Mordecai Roshwald) is a sequel to Category 6, we have to move the borrowing back a year. > > But without knowing anything else, really, how hard is to come up with the idea of super-powerful hurricanes? You mean they’re borrowing from two novelists SIMULTANEOUSLY in the same film? What an achievement! There HAS to be some kind of Oscar for this … ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/16 "2005-11-07T11:48:09Z")
> [@The Long Road](#): > > Whoops, hit submit too soon. I did tape the rest in case I can force myself to finish it. > > Can they get the classification correct in any of these movies? No such thing as a category 6 hurricane as someone called one in the movie. It would be an F6. Reminds me of another hurricane movie where they kept calling the storm a class 6. bleh. You have to understand. The Hollywood storm classification system goes all the way to 11 … ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/17 "2005-11-07T11:50:04Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I have a great idea for a new disaster movie. > > Well, it’s not really a disaster. More of a problem. > Well, it’s not really a problem either. More of an inconvience. > Okay, get this. The country is full of cicadas. They don’t do anything, other than be loud, breed, and die. No mutant cicadas, no crop loss, or the like. But they’re damn loud! How will our heros help save the country from the completely ordinary cicadas? I dunno, but I think we can save on special effects by having them crawl over postcards of some super metropolis and filming that. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/18 "2005-11-07T11:59:41Z")
> [@Larry Borgia](#): > > A slight hijack, but what do you think of Barnes as a writer? I’ve been thinking of giving him a go–I’ve got _A Million Open Doors_ around here somewhere–but I don’t really know a lot about him. I think he’s a really great idea man (who doesn’t always explore his ideas as thoroughly as he should) who’s a mediocre prose stylist and creates mediocre characters, but does really strong plotting and can write a mean action scene. Which I guess is the main reason I thought he’d been stolen from … he seems like the type of writer Hollywood would WANT to steal from. I do recommend Mother of Storms (really strong plot) and the Timeline series (great idea, with fascists from the future fighting it out with technologically advanced Athenians for control of various alternate realities, including but hardly limited to ours). ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/19 "2005-11-07T14:12:38Z")
There’s also Bruce Sterling’s _Heavy Weather_ , although that one was about a super-tornado (not the poor suckers at ground zero would care) ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861/20 "2005-11-07T16:01:29Z")
> [@Evil Captor](#): > > OK, maybe “ripoff” is too strong a word. “Borrowing” is probably too weak a word. John Barnes wrote an SF novel called “Mother of Storms” about a catastrophic weather event that precipitates a storm that extends beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Now we have “Level 7” about a storm beyond the normal scale of weather measuring thingies. Could be a coincidence or it could be the Trilateral Commission is at it again. YOU be the judge, No. “Mother of Storms” had decent writing, believable explanations for how sthings happened, and was a pretty good story. “Category 7” has none of these things. I, too, turned it off after 45 or so minutes(I was rapidly becoming nauseous and was gagging) and went back to a “Matrix Reloaded” rerun. I thought of starting a thread on all the errors in the first hour of this POS, but then realized it was so bad, I really didn’t care. I am just waiting for the next one, where they combine “10.5” and “Category 7” for an ultra-end-of-mankind movie titles “10.5.7 - The End of Reason.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-level-7-a-ripoff-of-john-barnes-mother-of-storms/329861.md?page=2)