Science Fiction, General Fiction

Books-science fiction, general fiction

 

The classic Science fiction group

Neromancer – William Gibson

Count Zero – William Gibson

Snow Crash – Neal Stephneson

The Hacker and the Ants – Rudy Rucker

Islands in the net -Bruce Sterling

Many of you many have heard of them, if not then check them out for a good look into the cyberpunk and technology with a more darker gritter tone of thinking. People being able to plug into the network to access vast knowledge bases, super hackers and global companies with military of their own that rival governments. These companies play everyday with the lives of others for their own financial gains and the underground that seek to hold them accountable for their actions.

 

Digital Fortress

Dan Brown

A techno-thriller novel about the government having full surveillance on every citizen. They do this by having a code-breaking supercomputer that they call the TRANSLTR. There turns out to be a encryption code that they cannot crack. This code was created by an ex-NSA employee that was displeased with the extreme intrusion of the government into everyone’s lives without reason or oversight. After the creator of the code dies, there becomes a race to find the key to unlock the encryption before it falls into the hands of others, some for good others for evil. Some connections to the past and the current environment of government and non-government surveillance are weaved into the story as well.

I found the story interesting in that the technology used and actions taken by the characters within the realm of current technologies and the direction of technology. I also found it relevant in today’s surveillance of people with or without their knowledge by people in power for reasons, right or wrong, they believe allow them to do so.

 

Walk Away (A novel)

by Cory Doctorow

The book is a type of future description more based in a communist society. A future society in which you have devices that can 3-D print all you may ever need, from clothes to devices, all can be made at the time needed. A future that who you are can be scanned and uploaded to the net, so in some ways you can live forever. It can bring issues if multiple copies of you are running, are you, you? A society that the need to work is no longer the driving force to live. There is a very wide gap between the few that have lots of money and the rest that have few. You have group of people called “walk aways”. These people will move from place to place perhaps doing some work at the location then move to the next place, taking some stuff with them and leaving others at the location. Hence walk away from where you are to where you go next. I enjoyed the characters created and how they did fit the world that was created. The names given the themselves gave me quite a chuckle in wondering how you remember them. The struggles they were in helped you to like the characters, building of one the destruction to building of another again gave a sense of life and life’s struggles.

Likes
– The technology described has merit and the ideas of uploading yourself over and over again, having different versions that are running in the network for later download to a new body sounds interesting. The use of technology being 3-D printing to create all you may need as you travel from one location to another, not have real property harkens back to the idea Indians had that the land was not owned by anyone. I liked the writing of the interactions between the book characters, some were likable others not so much, it gave a sense of endearment to them, people you would want to meet and the struggles in their lives.

Dislikes
– The last few chapters seemed to have been just added to end the book. It goes from the now to later in the future with no real explanation to connect between to two time wise. It seems like the writer wanted to just finish the book. It felt like an abrupt shock without an ease to the future of the people in the book.

Over all feeling
– Other than the last few chapters I would recommend it as a read. If you have read Cory’s work before its near par. A bit lower than some of his other works but still quite enjoyable.