⭐⭐⭐ Daemon (Daemon, #1) by Suarez
| Full Title | Daemon (Daemon, #1) |
|---|---|
| Authors | Daniel Suarez |
| Year Published | 2009 |
| Date Read | December 14, 2018 |
| Rating | 3/5 stars |
The strength of the book comes in the first 1/3 where Suarez sets up a story that doesn’t seem too unrealistic given current technological trends. I found myself pondering whether something like this could come about, and there are a few obvious parallels to our current world — the book’s online game & World of Warcraft, the AutoM8 cars and self-driving technology being developed by Uber/Google/others to mention two. The fact that the technical details are specific enough to ring a bell for software engineers definitely helps the story in this regard (the author’s insert mentions he consulted in the programming space). However, as the story continues the situations described become progressively less believable, and as a stand-alone narrative I don’t think the writing quite holds up. At one point, the way in which the author described a motorcycle reminded me of drawings I’d make when I was a child in middle school.
Overall I would give a soft recommendation to people
that have some technical interested in technology. I think this is an easy pass for most others.
PS If you haven’t yet read Marshall Brian’s Manna, go read that first as it has a much higher ROI per word and deals with the same subjects.