Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Very smart, very cool.

Daniel Suarez� 2006 novel Daemon was a pistol hot cup of rhyme, a mix of Ready Player One, Age of Ultron, The Matrix and Left Behind (without the overt theology). But whereas Ernest Cline’s 2012 book was charismatic and kooky with the 80s trivia, Suarez� work is dark and at times disturbing; it hums and growls with a dark net underground magnetism.

Matthew Sobol was a billionaire genius who had invented wildly popular and stunningly realistic online games. Poisoned by brain cancer and wasted by chemotherapy, his final days were marred by reclusiveness and mental instability. No one knew how mentally unstable until after his death when a series of bizarre events revealed his detailed and well planned machinations to change the world. A dark net, automated daemon he left behind is making dramatic and dangerous alterations to government, business and society as a whole.

Suarez has populated his narrative with an intriguing cast of well developed characters. Eschewing any one dominant protagonist, the writer moves deftly between perspectives, even following his players into death. This cacophony of omniscience serves his narrative structure well as we follow the malevolent creation of a man gone from this world physically but living on actively through his online creations. Suarez also provides sufficient and cause-and-effect backstories to reveal Sobol's pre-death planning. Unlike Left Behind’s Nicolai Carpathia, this humanist villain bears a nihilistic, philosophical rationalization for his world changing intrigues.

While this does at some times get bogged down with overly technical explanations Suarez does a better than average job of both stepping the science down for us knuckle draggers and keeping the pace moving along.

Fast moving, slick Sci-fi with horrific elements, this is a very good read. I’ll read more from Mr. Suarez.