Daemon ~ Daniel Suarez

Funk Rating: 8 out of 10

This book had a solid 10 going into the last 50 pages. I was turning pages fast and furious and actually making time to read this. It's a spectacular ride that combines Internet technology, madmen, and some fascinating plot twists. It's Michael Chricton's Prey meets Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. On steroids, with some multi-player gaming thrown in for good measure.

If you like science fiction, this is a book you should definitely read. If you like technology fiction books, this is a page turner. If you lie at wake at night wondering how the world could go terribly wrong when everything is connected, when we have no real privacy anymore, and when machines are computationally fast enough to eliminate latency, this book will give you something to really stay awake at night and worry about.

But, and this is a big but for me, the bottom falls out in the last 25-50 pages. There really isn't an ending. I couldn't even find a cliffhanger and a "to be continued..." kind of line. It just sorta runs out of pages at a chapter break. Obviously there is a sequel coming, but he could have done so much more to at least tie this book off and let it stand alone. I would have more heartily recommended it if he did that.

As it stands, my rec would be to wait until book #2 comes out. Then buy them both together. Perhaps if you can just turn from the end of this one to the start of the next one it will work better... But, if you just can't help yourself, feel free to add this to your nightstand now. It's one of the more original stories in "near-in" science fiction thrillers out there...

Comments

[EricaJoy]

Check out this talk Daniel gave at Google in which he addresses the sequel a bit. I've linked to the specific portion where he talks about this subject. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUEGzjnGsiA#t=19m05s

[Michael Sippey]

I think I'm still gonna read this, even before the sequel comes out. The rest of it sounds great!

[M. Sobol]

I really enjoed it. Granted the ending was lacking but it had me going. Worst thing about new authors is they don't have a lot of books out. Really looking forward to Freedom next year.

[Dave Bayless]

I didn't like this one as much as I should have. The book has its moments--I certainly liked the "other world" aspect of online gaming. And, while his biology isn't as strong as his computer science, the author makes an interesting, if not entirely plausible, case for the vulnerabilities of an inter-connected world. I wish, though, that Suarez hadn't relied so heavily on the super-genius bad guy. I think I would have found the book more engaging if the events triggered by the antangonist had veered into some totally unanticipated direction. In any case, thanks for lending me your copy!