Daemon

cover

Freedom TM

Daemon #2

Daniel Suarez

3 Stars

This was almost a 180 shift from the previous book. Everyone good was now bad and the Daemon and it’s minions were now the good guys.

And the first 3rd of the book was more of a soapbox preaching about economic philosophies. It wasn’t really interesting.

Then things got interesting, but it was more like a computer game. And Suarez seems to postulate that if only real life were more like a videogame then everything would be ok. The problem is that the system he puts in place could, and would, be abused, hacked and manipulated just like anything in life.

But the points he makes about our current socio-economic way of life simply doesn’t ring with me, as I believe the path we are on is one that is a necessity for the End to come.

Really too bad that Daemon wasn’t more of a standalone, because this really drags it down.

Daemon Daemon

Daemon #1

Daniel Suarez

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fantastic read! A lot of fun, intense action and techno-suspense. I’d like to thank Jeff for recommending this book to me.

Take the basic Terminator plotline of a supercomputer and sublimate that AI into a yes/no program that has been programmed by a genius now dead and see what it can do. If the programmer is smart enough, it can do almost anything.

And Sobol is a world class genius. It is fascinating to see all that he planned before he died. He recruits the right people for his cause and makes use of their training in various areas. It was kind of scary actually, to see the plan unfold.

Then you have the opposing team. A police detective, a mystery hacker, a government woman authorized to take the Daemon down. All interacting, failing and being overwhelmed. And seeing the almost inevitable march of the daemon is great. It gave me a sense of doom, which is hard to do.

The couple of things that kept it from being a 5star. Technobabble out your ears! I’m sure it is accurate, as Suarez thanks some programmers/hackers at the end of the book, but it become a little overwhelming. A scene of an underage girl being drugged and used for a sex video. Not “super” graphic, but graphic enough that it stood out in my mind. And finally, the completely overwhelming’ness of Sobol/Daemon. It was just too smart imo. Several times I felt like it was the bogeyman with unlimited threat power.

One warning. It does end on a cliffhanger, so make sure you have the sequel, Freedom (TM), on hand.