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First, I enjoyed this novel and at some point I'll read Suarez's followup called Freedom, though my husband, who is more into technology than I am, says it's not as believable.

The author is a computer expert, so the scenes that really shine are the ones where people are battling the Daemon, a sort of virtual Genghis Khan, and his converts.

I also liked the fact that, while the themes are a new world order and good versus evil, you find yourself questioning which side is which throughout the story, because Suarez does an effective job of blurring the lines, adding bad to the good and vice versa.

I think my issues with the book stem from the fact that this is his first novel. He seems to not have a clear grasp for certain conventions that I expect he will figure out in subsequent books. For example, he seems to think that scene breaks are used for virtually every transition, so they are everywhere and fairly meaningless. He also isn't confident with the "showing" bit of scenes, and occasionally goes into telling in places. And at times, I wasn't sure that he understood the purpose of a scene, and would add snippets of conversation with minor characters that went no where - I'm guessing to give the reader information - not the right way to accomplish this.

I partly blame his publishing house, because I just don't get why the editors wouldn't have fixed this stuff.

As a newbie novelist myself, I understand it's a learning curve that we all go through, and my own first novel is far from perfect. I also think these structural things stand out for me more than the average reader.

But, overall, an enjoyable and entertaining read.