Signal to Noise

I was really trying to read something more edifying by Rushdie, but got irritated and bored and treated myself to cyberpunk plus apocalypse. It would've been like a roller coaster ride, but there were no slow spots. Cutthroat math geeks and unscrupulous aliens in a dystopic American future - breathless in its fall and ruthless as the protagonist's adversaries. He was supposed to be ruthless too, but kept calling himself a normal guy. Hmmm. But who needs a believable character when the ride is so fun? (July 12, 2004)

This is the first book I have ever read by this author. Reading the back page revealed that this guy has degrees in science - and this shows, because some parts of this book are very technical, so this book is not really for a casual layman or someone who has never read sci fi before.

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. It has a good story about a future Earth and presents some good thoughts for us to chew on. Enjoying this book makes me curious about this author's other work - and that in itself speaks about the quality of the book.

This book wasn't too bad. It's a novel about a dystopian future world where Jack Potter is a cryptographer at a university ... and then things go downhill. It starts with his place being broken into and rapidly degenerates into his encountering aliens who are intent upon trading technologies with he and his best friends. The science is pretty hard in this novel. The author has a couple of science degrees and it shows. I frankly didn't understand a fifth of what I read. But what I did understand was scary. Jack gets some technology that will enable him to cure cancer, to delay aging, that will be a miracle drug, and he and his friends set up a corporation to start producing this. All the while, he's being pursued by the NSO, the show more government agents who want him dead. Simultaneously, China plays a role, as they apparently want into his head too, as his "uncle," who is a spy for them, does brain surgery on Jack and puts in an implant that partially blinds him. All the time, the people can interact via "bubbles," or VR-type environments set up in various locations. Meanwhile, one of Jack's friends screws him over with the company and takes control, all the while while this alien is becoming more and more demanding. It seems that Jack has even gotten in contact with other aliens, has given up their location to the original alien, only to find that these newer aliens have been eradicated. So, killer aliens. Ultimately, the aliens come for Earth, while Jack's former friend aligns herself with the evil NSO. One of Jack's last pieces of technology he gets from the aliens allows for travel virtually anywhere in the universe, so he sets up camp on the moon, gets a few allies from earth, and watches as the planet is essentially blown up. That is worth an extra star in my book. Heh. Of course, there's a sequel and I guess I'll have to read it now. It's not exactly cyberpunk, although there are elements in it, and it's not exactly hard SF, although there are elements of that too. It's a pretty good book and comes reasonably recommended. show less

A four for the Interesting backdrop, a three for the just ok characters, and a two at best for the plot. Enjoyed parts of it, but won't bother with the sequel they try to force you into.

This is a fun book to read if you can visualize the language- I couldn't always. It might be considered "hard science" if all those fanciful metaphors made any sense. Really, this is more fantasy than cyberpunk, though perhaps it will appeal to cyberpunk fans. This is a one-character book, am I am not sure the protagonist is conflicted or just ill-defined. Not a bad book, but after finishing it I wished I spent my time with something better.

Not very likeable maverick cryptologist decodes alien message and starts to use it for his own advancement, trading with an alien about as trustworthy as himself. Things go pear-shaped. All die. O the embarrassment.

This was a heck of a ride. From a break-in to aliens, it was a thrill of a read. All information is valuable and has a requirement of equal or greater value to obtain. What can you offer?