If you read one book in 2009, read Daemon.
It’s unusual for me to recommend a book so early in the year. Daemon is only my fourth book of 2009. It’s a first novel. And it’s mental floss. But it’s as close to flawless for a book of its genre.
I first heard about Daemon in December from Rick Klau. I got to know Rick at FeedBurner; he’s now at Google running Blogger. Rick told me that I had to read this book. He pointed me to a blog post he had written in 2007 about it.
“I can remember the feeling I had, sitting in the audience as the credits rolled after seeing The Matrix on opening day. I knew I’d seen something that was different, important, and something that I’d want to see again. And again. When I finished Daemon this afternoon, I had that same feeling. Daemon is to novels what The Matrix was to movies. It will be how other novels that rely on technology are judged.”
I immediately one-clicked it on Amazon. It wasn’t available for the Kindle so the hardcover showed up a week or so ago. I devoured it this weekend. Rick’s assessment was correct – this is by far the best techno-thriller I’ve ever read.
The author – Daniel Suarez (also known as Leinad Zeraus) describes himself as “an independent systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies … An avid gamer and technologist, he lives in California.” He doesn’t mention that he is a magnificent writer and brilliant storyteller.
I won’t ruin any of it for you. It’s got everything you’d expect in a fast paced book that will appeal to anyone that likes Crichton, Brown, Clancy, or my newfound friend David Stone. The tech holds together well and is completely accessible to non-nerds and nerds alike. It’s a page turner with very little wasted plot or character development. And it sets up the sequel (Freedom) superbly.
Yum.
I'll heartily second the recommendation. Picked it up last weekend, didn't go to bed until it was done. It sucks that there's a sequel (not done! wtf!); it's awesome that there's a sequel (more to come!).
Comment by Bruce — January 19, 2009 @ 5:42 am
I'll third the recommendation. I went on a science fiction kick about 1.5 years or so ago, and one of the books I picked up was Daemon. Hadn't really heard much about it, but I think I found it on an amazon list of best sci-fi, or something along those lines. Daniel Suarez does an incredible job of weaving an amazing story with technological components that are not really that far-fetched. We have much of the infrastructure we need now. And the writing is superb. Go read it!
Comment by Joel Longtine — January 19, 2009 @ 3:39 pm
Just 1-clicked it per your recommendation. Amazon is showing a Kindle version now available. Thanks for the pass-along.
Comment by Jim Pollock — January 20, 2009 @ 6:22 pm
Couldn't agree more Brad. I picked up the original release (listing Leinad Zeraus as the author) last year. One of my favorite books EVER!
I learned about the book from a talk the author gave at The Long Now Foundation. I highly recommend taking a look at his talk as well:
http://fora.tv/2008/08/08/Daniel_Suarez_Daemon_Bo...
I liked it so much that I wish a publisher hadn't purchased the rights to Damon and its sequel; since the second book in the series is already written and should be out now. As far as I know, there is no word on a new release date yet.
Comment by Todd Sampson — January 20, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
That was too strong of a recommendation to ignore. I picked up the book last night at Tattered Cover and have just started on it.
Comment by ElaineEllis — January 21, 2009 @ 3:57 am
I read this and said "no kindle, no way". then bought it with 1 click once i saw that it was now available on the kindle! yay!
Comment by David G. Cohen — January 22, 2009 @ 6:16 pm
Like David I checked to see if this was now Kindle-ready; it was; I bought it. Looking forward to it!
Comment by tomhigley — January 24, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
I picked Daemon up at the library over the weekend. I'm really enjoying it – I used to read a lot more sci-fi. I just haven't found much that's captured my attention in recent years. It's nice to be "re-united" with an old love. Thanks for the recommendation!
I don't think that the technology described is as impossible as we might think (though, from half-way through, Sobol's ability to predict the way events would unfold approaches incredible).
Comment by Steve Bergstein — January 27, 2009 @ 10:30 pm
It dawned on me this mornng that Matthew Sobol seems a lot like Harry Seldon.
Comment by Steve Bergstein — January 29, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
Check out the movie Primer if you haven't seen it already. If you like techno-thrillers and the Matrix, I think you'll like it. It's an engineering-driven sci-fi movie: http://bit.ly/7IOD.
Comment by Nivi — February 10, 2009 @ 12:24 am
Netflixed!
Comment by Brad Feld — February 10, 2009 @ 12:28 am
Awesome (semi-related) movie suggestion Nivi.
I was actually lucky enough to be at the Primer premier — say that three times fast — at the Lake Placid Film Festival in upstate New York before they won at Sundance. The whole Cloudspace crew used to head to Lake Placid for the event each year while we were working on the event's website. We even lost an amazing graphic designer there one year who started dating a semi-pro snow boarder he met at Lake Placid. Anyway…
Good times. Great movie.
Comment by Todd Sampson — February 10, 2009 @ 12:50 am
I also just found this list of "mindfuck" movies that I'm looking into:
http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/reviews/mi...
Primer is listed but be warned that the author writes that, "the first 20 minutes of Primer are among the most prosaic ever committed to celluloid." He might be right about that.
Comment by Nivi — February 13, 2009 @ 12:48 am
Daniel Suarez did an incredible job of weaving an amazing story with technological components> the Scientists get ideas from books some times..(just thinking,not sure). New business plan also come from books sometimes.So i will say great book..Thank you for ur suggestion also.
Comment by Khanna — May 7, 2009 @ 11:12 am
Sci-fi movies are good see but some times director makes it so bad that one can't see but this time I will say it is a very good movie….I must watch this…
Comment by RohitK — May 7, 2009 @ 11:23 am
sci-fi movies are good see but some times director makes it so bad that one can't see but this time I will say it is a very good movie….I must watch this…
Comment by RohitK — May 7, 2009 @ 11:24 am
Thanks for very interesting article..
Comment by felsefe — May 31, 2009 @ 9:11 pm
I went on a science fiction kick about 1.5 years or so ago, and one of the books I picked up was Daemon. Hadn't really heard much about it, but I think I found it on an amazon list of best sci-fi, or something along those lines. Daniel Suarez does an incredible job of weaving an amazing story with technological components that are not really that far-fetched.
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Comment by felsefe — June 14, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
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Comment by edebiyat — June 18, 2009 @ 10:56 am
That's a very good movie according to me, and you have to watch it !
Comment by agence — July 6, 2009 @ 10:01 am
I liked this book a lot. The pacing and action were that of a popular novel — the action scenes were some of the best I've ever read — but the characters, descriptions and dialogue were much better than those in "airplane reads." The antagonists, both alive and dead, were particularly, fist-clenchingly nasty.
Comment by Fashion news — August 7, 2009 @ 6:35 pm
I'll have some available time around next week, reading some books would be a great choice. As of now, Daemon was ranked #18 in Technothrillers @ Amazon. Not bad, huh? This book seems to be a strong candidate. I love thriller stories. Thanks for the recommendation.
Comment by online bookmark — August 21, 2009 @ 3:04 am
Have not had the chance to read this book or reviews.
Hmm..might go to my local book store
Comment by Sports Flooring — August 31, 2009 @ 8:12 am
I read Daemon the other week,
Could not put the silly thing down. Yawning in bed thinking I will be dead tomorrow and work but nooooooooo I had to
Worth every bit of sleep I missed out on
Comment by kitchen renovation — August 31, 2009 @ 8:15 am
I love Daniel Suarez and I love Daemon.
This is a must
Comment by sexy lingerie online — August 31, 2009 @ 8:16 am
I also do recommend it!
Comment by Games — September 6, 2009 @ 5:02 pm
[...] Bush and – among other things – has become a superb science fiction writer. Breakpoint – like Daemon – is an absolute must read in the cyber-thriller category (BTW – thanks Kwin for the [...]
Pingback by Why I Read Science Fiction — September 18, 2009 @ 3:18 am
[...] 我为什么读科幻小说 作者：Brad Feld；译者：Willow；原文链接昨天上午，我参加了半年一度的麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院执行咨询委员会会议。在中间休息的时候，我加入了两场分开的谈话，都谈到了我上周读过的 Richard A Clarke 的新书 Breakpoint。Clarke 曾是克林顿和布什的首席反恐顾问，更重要的是，他是极好的科幻作家。Breakpoint，就像 Daemon，是网络惊悚类的必读书。谈话首先围绕着这本书开始，然后很快又转向了我的工作：我如何思考和操作投资。作为其中的一部分，我解释说我从两件事中收获颇多：思考未来、阅读过去的科幻小说中对当今世界的描绘。比如，我决定这个夏天属于迪克(Philip ***)。我买了菲利普·迪克所有的书（60本左右），放在我在 Keystone 的房子里。只要我在 Keystone 我就会以我的方式系统地阅读他们（我已经读了15本）。我完全着迷于迪克──在二十世纪六十年代──对于电脑和旅行在 21 世纪初会是怎样的看法。他的某些项目中对电脑的描述完全不对（以磁带或者其他“带”作为存储设备，而且具有性格的声音），同时又有些很接近（电脑发展成可以学习的机器，可以自我修正）。另一方面，他对于旅行的描绘则完全不对──在迪克的世界里从欧洲到美国仅需要 5 分钟。库尔特·冯内古特去世时，我为了向他表示敬意──买了他所有的书并按照顺序读（还有一些没读）。在读迪克的时候，我想到我也觉得冯内古特写的电脑有些符合现状而有些不是，旅行则完全不是。在电影院看完星际迷航之后，Amy 和我从 Netflix 租了星际迷航的第一季从头看起（我看了大部分，但由于对它没有那么狂热，错过了一些）。同样的情况——Spock 的“类蓝牙入耳式交流系统”看起来很酷，但他妈的为什么在企业号里乘电梯那么慢？还有电脑性感的声音呢？那些闪着的灯呢？当我想到我通过从过去的东西读现在（迪克、冯内古特、海因莱因、阿西莫夫）和从现在的东西读往后 5-30 年（克拉克、苏亚雷斯、斯特罗斯、班克斯、斯蒂芬森、吉布森、斯特灵）所得到的信息，我意识到我在大脑中建立了一套潜意识框架，来指导我很大一部分投资。有时候，它的指导是对的。有时候，他有趣但是是错的。噢——这真的很有趣！对了，“未来”许诺我的便携喷气飞行器到哪去了（这依然是我在《白宫群英》中最爱的一幕）：里奥：我们这一代人都没有得到“未来”许诺的东西……三十五年了，汽车、飞机都还是完全一个样。我们甚至没有协和式飞机了。科技停滞了。乔希：个人电脑呢……里奥：一个更有效的八卦和色情传播系统？我的便携喷气飞行器呢？我的月球殖民地呢？ [...]
Pingback by 我为什么读科幻小说 - 数码 — September 20, 2009 @ 10:44 pm
[...] 昨天上午，我参加了半年一度的麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院执行咨询委员会会议。在中间休息的时候，我加入了两场分开的谈话，都谈到了我上周读过的 Richard A Clarke 的新书 Breakpoint。Clarke 曾是克林顿和布什的首席反恐顾问，更重要的是，他是极好的科幻作家。Breakpoint，就像 Daemon，是网络惊悚类的必读书。 [...]
Pingback by 我为什么读科幻小说 « Hi Wonka — September 22, 2009 @ 5:33 am
I do love a good page turner, thanks for the suggestion.
Comment by Virtual Kids Games — September 22, 2009 @ 5:35 pm
same. I couldn't stop reading it!!!
Comment by MMORPG — September 23, 2009 @ 9:54 am
Making the best out of a bad situation
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Comment by movie download links — September 26, 2009 @ 4:28 pm
This seems to be a nice read. I just hope our local bookstore here has a copy of this. Otherwise, I might need to buy it online.
Comment by Rehab — October 1, 2009 @ 11:24 pm
Thank you a pleasant read, interesting and informative.
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Comment by Amy Hewitt — October 6, 2009 @ 4:13 am
Nice Share,I definetly must take a look.
Comment by lolita dress — October 7, 2009 @ 3:32 pm
Interesting post. I just haven't found much that's captured my attention in recent years. It's nice to be "re-united" with an old love. Thanks for the recommendation!
Comment by Custom Essays — October 8, 2009 @ 10:43 am
really good book, I finished reading it 3 days ago
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Friends who are smarter and savvier and more outgoing than I am. ,
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Comment by naruto shippuden — October 26, 2009 @ 2:34 am
I have read Daemon twice already and have been very happy with it. It is a great sequal, and I look forward to the next installment.
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Comment by @levitraonline — November 2, 2009 @ 12:52 am
It’s unusual for me to recommend a book so early in the year. Daemon is only my fourth book of 2009. It’s a first novel. And it’s mental floss. But it’s as close to flawless for a book of its genre.
Comment by Julie Jugendherberge — November 3, 2009 @ 6:43 am
Book is expensive . But this yearly version is much good far better.
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Comment by Julie — November 17, 2009 @ 6:40 pm
I went on a science fiction kick about 1.5 years or so ago, and one of the books I picked up was Daemon. Hadn't really heard much about it, but I think I found it on an amazon list of best sci-fi, or something along those lines.
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Comment by Isumiko — November 21, 2009 @ 3:08 pm
I was looking for a book to buy with a barnes and noble giftcard i've had laying around so i think i'll give this one a shot.
It's probably a better investment than the hot chocolate and coffee i probably would of wasted the gift card on.
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Comment by Aliza — December 3, 2009 @ 9:45 pm
Just now hearing about this book, and I used to work at a book store! Thanks for the recommendation.
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