September 7, 2009

Daemon, by Daniel Suarez

Filed under: Light Reading, Science, Science Fiction, Society, Technology, Thriller — Tags: , , , , — david @ 10:59 pm

Great book!

It’s not often that I’ll start out a blog review like that…but this book really surprised me. The story was extremely well thought out, the characters likeable (or not, as appropriate), and the action kept the story moving along.

Now, I have to preface this by saying that this is a Geek novel. There are very specific references to computer hardware and protocols that would probably turn off non-Geeks. Fortunately, I am a Geek (Badge #L33T ;-), and I appreciated this book all the more for the accuracy of the technical details. Suarez is himself a computer security-type Geek, and that comes through in the detail of the book. It was like he was talking both of my primary languages (English and Geek).

Would this book appeal to non-computer types? Maybe. My wife is interested in reading it based on the parts of the book I’ve described. She’ll probably just gloss over the technical stuff that she wouldnt’ find interesting, which is probably fine. It’s not critical to following the story. In fact, you could probably remove it and the story would be fine. I could easily see a movie being made from this novel and the writers/director leaving out the technical details to increase mass market appeal.

So what is so appealing? It’s a typical What If? scenario. What if a computer genius invented a program (the “Daemon”) that could evolve and adapt to new scenarios to meet whatever goal was programmed into it? What if that program was spread across the Internet and couldn’t be eradicated by virus cleaners? And what if the creator of the program was a mad genius bent on changing social norms based on advanced technology?

That’s what this book is. It’s an excursion into a computer doomsday scenario–the typical AI takes over the world–but with so much thought put into it that you find yourself wondering if the Daemon is such a bad thing. Of course, killing people, which the Daemon has no problem doing, is bad…but is targeting evil corporations that make millions by swindling others, is that a bad thing?

That’s the cool part here. Imagine an evil corporation that is run by several generations of a single family and has a small board governing it. Who’s to stop that company from preying on the poor, the weak, the gullible? If it’s a private company, there’s no way to buy youself in. The best way in the door is through the computer. Take over the company’s computers, hold all of its information–and therefore, money–hostage…and you can do what you want with them.

And now, what if the creator was dead so that there’s no legal repurcussions possible and noone to tell you how to turn it off.

On top of that, throw in some other really cool, geeky stuff:

  • A virtual reality that controls the meatspace
  • Self-driving and autonomous cars
  • Secrets to accessing the daemon’s virtual world hidden in maps in First Person Shooter games.

All that raving being said, there are a couple of bad points…but are they really bad? One, there’s a twist at the end that was a bit annoying. Two, that twist–and a couple of other important points–sets up the forthcoming sequel. I’m thrilled that there’s a sequel planned, but it feels like this book is too dependant upon it. I wanted a more definitive conclusion to this book.

Some have compared this book to some of Michael Crichton’s work…I guess that’s fair. But the two things I like better about this book than I do most of Crichton’s work are that 1) the technology is more accurate/believable (which I’m sure some will dispute) and 2) I don’t get the technophobe/”the world is going to end if I use a toaster” feeling that I always get from Crichton (particulary Prey). Of course, I’ll keep reading Crichton since they fall into my favorite genre…but given two books on my nightstand, I’d pick up the Suarez one first!

Daniel Suarez is definitely on my NewBookAlerts list!

May 12, 2009

Terminal Freeze, by Lincoln Child

Filed under: Horror, Light Reading, Science Fiction, Thriller — Tags: — david @ 5:26 pm

I’ve enjoyed all of Lincoln Childs and Douglas Preston’s books and I’ve come to expect certain things from them. There’s almost always a remote location…or if there’s not, there’s a way to make a common location seem remote (like shutting up an entire museum so that even the cops can’t get in!). There’s always a super intelligent antagonist, usually some sort of animal or artificial intelligence. There’s a couple of smart people who figure everthing out and survive…and a bunch of dumb people who don’t listen to the smart people and die in the most horrific — and vividly described — fashion.

(Note that even though this book is by Lincoln Child alone, there are a great many similarities to the books co-authored with Douglas Preston that it feels like they were both there writing.)

Terminal Freeze is no exception. It takes place at a remote army installation in the extreme northern part of Alaska where, of course, there is no way to get help from the outside. (And there’s also a blizzard at just the wrong time of course.) And there’s a bad creature who seems to enjoy killing all of the characters.

This book actually started out kind of slowly, which was a little surprising. It did a good job of giving me the feeling that I was stranded in a remote wilderness…unfortunately, the wilderness in this case was the first third of the book. Basically, there’s a bunch of scientists doing random, not terribly interesting experiments. They find a frozen creature (which they think is a smilodon) and a documentary crew comes to film the unveiling/melting of the creature. It seemed to take forever to get to the first bit of action (when the animal inevitably escapes his frozen prison and starts terrorizing the scientists and film crew, but once it started I quite enjoyed the action.

One particularly good note about this book was that I found myself anxiously awaiting the death of a character. As you read books like this you learn to figure out early which characters are going to die based on their personality and actions. In this book, there’s one character about whom I actually caught myself thinking, “I can’t wait until he dies!” That’s when a realized that the character development in this book is as good — or even better — then I’ve come to expect from Child.

The science in this book was interesting and involved different types of ice (I found more info here: http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/petrolgy/Ice%20Structure.HTM) and sympathetic resonance (more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sympathetic_resonance). Of course the beast itself is different than any currently existing animal so its description takes advantage of a bit of scientific creative license as well, but I must say that it’s pretty cool.

As usual, the back story ties up nicely at the end and while the story itself seems finished, the characters seem like they’re already on their way to the next adventure/novel.

Overall, Terminal Freeze is not my favorite Lincoln book, but it contais everything you’d expect and everything it needs to be an enjoyable read.

April 22, 2009

The Manual of Detection, by Jebediah Berry

Filed under: Detective Novel, Science Fiction, Thriller — Tags: , , — david @ 10:03 pm

I picked this book off Audible.com on a lark. (For those of you not familiar with Audible, that’s where I download my audio books from for a monthly fee. This allows me to read one book at home and listen to one in the car. I usually point out which method I used for a book as it may affect my appreciation for it.) I had not heard of the author since this is his debut novel. I can’t even tell you what made me click on the link…but I’m glad I did!

If you haven’t seen it, the short synopsis of the book is that a clerk who usually manages the paperwork after cases are solved by detectives is suddenly pulled into the role of a detective to solve the mystery of his missing detective. The main character appears completely unsuited for this, of course, but fumbles his way around and, in a convincing manner, slowly gets the hang of it as the story progresses.

It is this hook that first got me interested. The main character, Charles Unwin, has knowledge of all of the cases and enemies that he needs to solve the mystery, but his knowledge is only second-hand and is somewhat suspect. It becomes clear over time that there are elements of the reports that Unwin removed because he thought they were incorrect, untruthful, or reflected badly upon “the agency.” Over time, he realizes that the world is much stranger than he first thought and those elements he excised from the reports were actually critical.

Here’s the strange thing…since I didn’t have any knowledge of the author and the only thing I knew about the book was the short blurb on the website, I had no idea what to expect. As soon as I started listening to the book, I realized that I made a mistake and I’d probably stop listening and just get a new book (which I’ve only every done once).  That was in the first 10 minutes. One of the problems is that it is set in an older settings, maybe 1950’s or 60’s, but it’s never clearly defined (that I recall). I don’t really care for the “classic” dective novels but I do enjoy modern thrillers. I think once I heard the settings and the “boring” main character (more on this in a minute), I decided I’d had enough.

However, I was already in the car on my way to work and I don’t listen to the radio, so I left it on. At some point in the next 10 minutes before I got to work, things suddenly got interesting and I was disappointed to have to turn it off. I really can’t tell you exactly when it happened, but I think it was when the first dream sequence started.

After the slow beginning, I think Berry does a great job drawing the reader into the characters. Unwin is an intentionally and wholly unremarkable character. As a writer, it is hard to get your audience to associate with such a character.  But over time, I did learn to like Unwin and there were numerous other characters I liked, some of whom were seldom or never actually present in real life. (A quote from one of my favorite characters: “I’ve already remembered too much!”)

All in all, I was very pleased to have picked this book at random. I’ve read some other good reviews of it online and found that other people have had a similarly difficult time describing it. It’s part thriller, part old-time detective story, part fantasy/parapsychology, and a lot of other things you can’t quite put your finger on. Nonetheless, I think it worked very well and I’ve added Jebediah Berry to my NewBookAlerts list!

POTENTIAL SPOILERS

I mentioned the first dream sequence as the point at which I may have gotten hooked by the story. The sequence is completely absured (as a dream should be), but it is described well enough to make you think it could actually happen. As you get further into the book, you learn that this is intentional as the line between wakefulness and dreams is increasingly and intentionally blurred. There were numerous times throughout the book that I had to back up and re-listen to a section to figure out if the scene was live or dreamed. At first I felt silly because I should be paying better attention, but then I realized that this is a critical aspect of the book. There are times when the characters think they’re awake when they’re dreaming (we’ve all had that dream, right?) and those that are awake but can’t tell for sure. The fact that the book was able to confuse me as well is one of the points I now appreciate the most about it.

In the end, I was mostly satisfied with the book. I was very pleased that the little threads shown throughout the beginning of the book all tie into the final story somehow. I also like the fact that I have revisited parts of the story several times in my head and had additional revelations. The only disappointing part for me was trying to keep up with the motive for the bad guys. I say “bad guys” because there’s not just one antagonist–which is usually a good thing. Unwin’s understanding (and yours) of the loyalties and relationships continually evolves throughout the book, which keeps things interesting. However, when the good guy/bad guy merry-go-round stops and you find the last antagonist…I was still unclear on the motive. Perhaps this is because I was listening to the book rather than reading, but I re-listened to a critical section twice to try to find something I missed, but it was to no avail.

March 18, 2009

Promises in Death by J.D. Robb (Eve Dallas Book 28)

Filed under: Detective Novel, Romance, Science Fiction — Tags: , , , , , , — susan @ 7:08 pm

The latest Eve Dallas “in Death” crime novel lives up to the rest of the series, a great detective story with a little romance, friendship, mystery, and humor wrapped in. Promises in Death by JD Robb (aka Nora Roberts)follows the futuristic storyline of NYPD’s Dallas as she tracks down the worst vicious killers in the Big Apple.

I love that these stories are set in New York in the year 2058, which is about the same as it is now, except there are a new perks like food generators and cars that can fly over traffic jams. The futuristic setting gives the story more flavor and allows Robb to expand her imagination, using “new technology” to add to the plot and action.

In any setting, I would be drawn to this gritty, tough, sarcastic cop who has a style all her own. Her gorgeous millionaire husband helps her crack cases by cracking into computer systems and alarm systems alike. As usual he helps on this case as a “consultant”. The murder victim in this book is a fellow cop, which brings a different tension to the story as the department rallies around and everyone works to find justice for one of their own.

Dallas has great relationships with the folks surrounding her, very well thought-out by the author to be humorous and heart-felt. The romance with her husband is great, the interaction adding to the story and keeping those steamy love scenes plausible and unpredictable! There is a GREAT shopping scene by the pair in this book that I won’t give away but it is awesome!

The books by now are kinda formulaic, but it’s all good to me since it’s such a fantastic equation! Great characters each with interesting storylines to follow; evil criminals up to no good; several mysterious characters that Eve needs to crack to tell who is the murderer; well-written love scenes; Eve’s struggle to mesh her poor and abusive past with her current fruitful and full life; and watching as she tries to catch and convict her killer; it all adds up to another great novel.

March 8, 2009

Mortal Coils by Eric Nylund

Filed under: Book News, Science Fiction — Tags: — david @ 6:41 pm

Eric Nylund’s new book Mortal Coils is available. Eric is best known for his Halo novels that extend the story created in the original (and sequel) XBOX game. I’ve been a fan of his work since before he wrote Halo novels and I’m thrilled to see that he’s come out with another new story of his own creation. Signal to Noise and A Signal Shattered are a couple of my favorite SciFi books. I also had the pleasure to meet Eric on a couple of occasions and get some inside bits about the stories which have been significant in my own writing.

Needless to say, I picked up the new book as soon as it came out and it immediately moved to the top of my reading stack (supplanting even the second Geek Mafia book, which I’ve been looking forward to). It’s a longer book (thanks Eric!) and the first of a series from what I understand, so that’s exciting. I’ve just started it, so I’ll be blogging more about it soon. If you pick it up, be sure to read his dedication; he always includes good dedications. One was simply a mathematical formula.

I also saw a blog from Eric that said his latest short story has been posted on his website, but I can’t seem to find it. When I can, I’ll come back and post a link. It’s supposed to be a noir fiction ala HP Lovecraft.

UPDATE: Eric posted the link in a comment below. Thanks Eric!