Who Would Like This Book:
If you love edge-of-your-seat techno-thrillers packed with plausible near-future technology, then Daemon is right up your alley. Daniel Suarez blends breakneck action with a scarily realistic scenario: what if a genius programmer's creation survived him and began to change the world? Fans of Michael Crichton, Neal Stephenson, or fast-paced, idea-driven sci-fi will find a lot to love here. Tech enthusiasts, gamers, and anyone who enjoys deep dives into hacking culture will also be hooked.
Who May Not Like This Book:
Some readers found the relentless focus on technology and jargon overwhelming, especially if you're not a 'techie.' The novel gets pretty dark, with graphic violence - including an early, unsettling scene of sexual exploitation - which may be a dealbreaker for sensitive readers. The character development is sometimes sacrificed for plot and world-building; if you want rich, layered personalities and relationships, you might wish this book offered more depth. Women characters especially tend to get the short end of the stick. Also, be prepared: the ending leaves a lot open for the sequel and may feel abrupt or unresolved.
About:
'Daemon' by Daniel Suarez is a fast-paced, technothriller that follows the aftermath of computer game designer Matthew Sobol's death as his daemon program takes over the world's computer systems. The novel explores the dark side of technology, artificial intelligence, and the potential consequences of a highly intelligent program manipulating humanity. The plot is filled with action, suspense, and a sense of urgency as various characters, including intelligence agencies and disaffected individuals, become entangled in the daemon's sinister plans. The writing style is described as gripping, compelling, and reminiscent of a high-octane action flick, with a focus on technology and cyber security expertise.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book contains graphic violence, including murder and sexual exploitation, which may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
Daniel Suarez's New York Times bestselling debut high-tech thriller is "so frightening even the government has taken note" (Entertainment Weekly).
Daemons: computer programs that silently run in the background, waiting for a specific event or time to execute. They power almost every service. They make our networked world possible. But they also make it vulnerable…
When the obituary of legendary computer game architect Matthew Sobol appears online, a previously dormant daemon activates, initiating a chain of events that begins to unravel our interconnected world. This daemon reads news headlines, recruits human followers, and orders assassinations. With Sobol's secrets buried with him, and as new layers of his daemon are unleashed, it's up to Detective Peter Sebeck to stop a self-replicating virtual killer before it achieves its ultimate purpose-one that goes far beyond anything Sebeck could have imagined…
Ratings (37)
Incredible (11) | |
Loved It (16) | |
Liked It (2) | |
It Was OK (6) | |
Did Not Like (1) | |
Hated It (1) |
Reader Stats (82):
Read It (38) | |
Currently Reading (1) | |
Want To Read (31) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (10) |
4 comment(s)
I disliked nearly everything about this book there is to dislike. There is a huge cast of characters who are all 2 dimentional, but without any actual main character. Everything that happens is setup to fail, so there is no suspense when you already know the protagonists cannot do anything correct. Throw in a healthy dose of idiot plot to start off the big fight scene at the end and that's the book in a nutshell. It also does not help that every part of the plot is overly predictable, and you just have a book full of words that mean nothing and that change nothing. This entire book could have been a single chapter to start off book 2 with how little anything matters or changes for any of the characters.
The idea was fun and unique, but the more I read the worse it got. When every character can only fail, and they fail at every turn, what is the point of anything even happening in the plot? I'm not a big fan of the genre in general, but past books I've read at least have something happening for the protagonist, and for good reason. Without any positives for the "good guys" what is even the point of reading a book.
While some of the technical detail was over the top at the start, the book really gets going when it stops trying to be technically accurate and delves into speculative extrapolation of todays technology.
Really love some of the ideas in this book and its a fairly gripping read. Will be grabbing the second one soon, I am hoping it has a decent conclusion.
At first, I wasn't terribly impressed. The characters weren't especially likable and the bad guy was repeatedly described as evil, which I find boring. However, the characters had depth and grew on me, the bad guy had depth, and there were a lot of changing alliances, which I love. It reminded me in the beginning of Pandora's Star, but got better not worse. It also reminded me a bit of the plot in Starcraft with all the changing alliances. It could be also called a less nihilist, sexist, violent, (racist?) and culty version of Fight Club. I really loved what a good job he did with the tech. I will probably go right to the second book.
Decent thriller, with some interesting technology and some good characters. However, the plot is a bit slow and the best characters are underutilized. I'm also pretty sure I wasn't supposed to root for the Daemon, but the more I read the more it actually seemed like the good guy instead of the antagonist.
What can you read after
Daemon?
About the Author:
Daniel Suarez is the author of the New York Times bestseller Daemon, Freedom(TM), Kill Decision, Influx, and Change Agent. A former systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies, his high-tech and sci-fi thrillers focus on technology-driven change. He lives in Los…
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