Book Review - Daemon by Daniel Suarez
Category Book Review Daniel Suarez Daemon
I'm a techie, and this book was nearly impossible to put down... Daemon by Daniel Suarez. I was lucky in that I started it as I boarded a plane for a cross-country flight. If this had been Suarez's fourth or fifth novel, I would have enjoyed it quite a bit. Knowing it's his first makes it even better...
Matthew Sobol, a genius who made a fortune in the computer gaming industry, dies from brain cancer at the age of 34. At nearly the same time he dies, two programmers who work for his company, CyberStorm Entertainment, meet a rather gruesome end to their lives. The homicide investigation reveals that the two deaths were "ordered" via an internet hack, and that serious preparation had been made to pull off the two murders. But when they finally determine who likely killed them, they face a dilemma... You can't prosecute a dead man for murder. Sobol appeared to have left software agents, or "daemons", running on the net to trigger actions based on news feeds or particular events culled from RSS. Of course, the 'net is a huge entity, and it's impossible to tell where other attacks might come from, or even if there are any more. But there definitely *are* more to come, and it's only getting worse. Sobel's daemons are enlisting the assistance of "wetware", and soon Sobol's "entity" has the ability to inflict rewards or harm on just about any element of society that it chooses. This new "game" has life-and-death stakes, and it's up to the authorities to figure out if there's even a way to beat it...
I imagine that anyone with an interest in tech will immediately be drawn into this novel by about the third chapter. Then as the gaming element kicks in, it brings a whole new slant to your daily existence. One of the review quotes on the back cover reference The Matrix, and I can see (and appreciate) the comparison. Suarez does an excellent job blending science fiction and gaming strategy into a compelling read that shows just how much of what we are is based on technology. If I could have a steady supply of this type of sci-fi storytelling, I'd be a happy man.
I'm a techie, and this book was nearly impossible to put down... Daemon by Daniel Suarez. I was lucky in that I started it as I boarded a plane for a cross-country flight. If this had been Suarez's fourth or fifth novel, I would have enjoyed it quite a bit. Knowing it's his first makes it even better...
Matthew Sobol, a genius who made a fortune in the computer gaming industry, dies from brain cancer at the age of 34. At nearly the same time he dies, two programmers who work for his company, CyberStorm Entertainment, meet a rather gruesome end to their lives. The homicide investigation reveals that the two deaths were "ordered" via an internet hack, and that serious preparation had been made to pull off the two murders. But when they finally determine who likely killed them, they face a dilemma... You can't prosecute a dead man for murder. Sobol appeared to have left software agents, or "daemons", running on the net to trigger actions based on news feeds or particular events culled from RSS. Of course, the 'net is a huge entity, and it's impossible to tell where other attacks might come from, or even if there are any more. But there definitely *are* more to come, and it's only getting worse. Sobel's daemons are enlisting the assistance of "wetware", and soon Sobol's "entity" has the ability to inflict rewards or harm on just about any element of society that it chooses. This new "game" has life-and-death stakes, and it's up to the authorities to figure out if there's even a way to beat it...
I imagine that anyone with an interest in tech will immediately be drawn into this novel by about the third chapter. Then as the gaming element kicks in, it brings a whole new slant to your daily existence. One of the review quotes on the back cover reference The Matrix, and I can see (and appreciate) the comparison. Suarez does an excellent job blending science fiction and gaming strategy into a compelling read that shows just how much of what we are is based on technology. If I could have a steady supply of this type of sci-fi storytelling, I'd be a happy man.
| Permalink |
Comments
Posted by dave At 03:28:39 On 19/04/2009 | - Website - |