Timothy's Reviews > Daemon

I'd been hearing about DAEMON and its sequel FREEDOM(tm) for a couple years now, largely thanks to Leo Laporte talking it up on his TWiT Podcast Network. What ultimately sold me, though, was Leo's (linked above) interview with author Daniel Suarez on TWiT's interview show TRIANGULATION - so I bought the eBook version for my 1st-Gen Nook.

It's got a number of first-book flaws - characters that act a certain way to propel the story forward rather than because they've been previously set up to act that way, holes in the narrative that suggest scenes that were cut or planned and unwritten, and some characters' tendency to trust (or mistrust) somebody or some institution apparently on faith. On the other hand, it's got a really great hook with the dying, apparently mad genius game designer creating a sophisticated series of programs to run after his death (the "Daemon" of the title), which was seemingly created to confound the U.S. Government, kill people and destroy lives seemingly at random, turn malcontents into its own private army - and most importantly, to bring down the global economy and especially the United States Government. The main characters have a few interesting surprises in the mix (one of the heroes, for instance, is a former Communist Spy who's been in deep cover since The Cold War - and a seemingly minor character turns out to be one of the Big Bads) - and what initially appears to be basic (non-benign) neglect on the Government's part turns out to be something far more sinister.

A lot is made in the book's publicity about author Suarez having been a former Systems Consultant to Fortune 1000 Companies, and how right he gets his near-future technology. On the flip side, I know some people have objected to this book based on the premise of a genius planning a system with so many variables being "impossible", or some of the devices he's posited being "comic-booky" ("Killer Autonomous Motorcycles", anyone?). My feeling is that contemporary technothrillers are near-future SF anyway, and Suarez manages to buttress his more outlandish elements with enough research to make them all seem not improbable within the parameters of his story.

I blasted through DAEMON over the course of a couple days, and purchased its follow-up, FREEDOM(tm), before I was done. I can't think of a higher recommendation coming from me than to say if you enjoy technothrillers, and aren't put off by some strong language, graphic violence and R-rated sex scenes (one in particular that some fellow reviewers ranked out on involves BDSM foreplay, which they equate with "rape" - that strikes me as right down there with those who equate gays with pedophiles!), you'll enjoy this book.