Today I finished reading a novel. It took me maybe a week to read, but unlike other books where I have dipped in and out, this one made me want to read through the night on and on. I had to force myself to sleep, and when my eyes opened in the morning I would leap out of bed almost drooling in anticipation of what was to come next…
That book is “Daemon” by Daniel Suarez and I can’t recommend it enough.
Put simply (and it’s a cruel simplification) Daemon is a techno-thriller. It follows the events that are set in motion following the death of a super intelligent game designer who has an extraordinary vision of the future for mankind, and has let loose his greatest creation.
The story is filled with plot twists, strongly believable characters, and flys along at a relentless pace, never letting go of the reader until the very last word. Best of all one of its core themes – that of the world of computers, the internet, technology, and their roles in society – is so utterly realistic and accurate, that for the technologically savvy reader there is never the slightest issue with dodgy concepts or technological hiccups that so frequently fill modern literature and films of the same genre. One thing of note with this is that the realism is so high that it could almost be a prediction of the near future!
If this book (and it’s sequel) could be made into films, which would be a major struggle, simply because of the concepts it deals with, it could have the potential to rank up there with greats.
Here’s a passage which tickled me…
“Let’s stop kidding ourselves. We all know we’re going to build these things – so why go through the theatrics of feeling bad about it?” McCruder grabbed a grease pencil and turned to a whiteboard. He started drawing a casualty list with little human stick figures. “If we don’t make them, someone else will and people will die – along with us. That’s X number of people plus three. If we do make them, then people will die, but not us. That’s X number of people plus zero.” He looked up, vindicated by mathematics. “So we take the course that harms the least number of people.”
Check out the author’s website for more info: http://www.thedaemon.com/