The story of Daemon is that a games development genius dies, but that doesn’t stop him from wreaking havoc on the world. Before he dies, he uses the AI from his games to create a distributed network to enact his will.
This book has what Zero Day didn’t: a hook, something to keep you turning the pages. In fact, I found it quite addictive. I was reading it before work, at lunch, and going to bed early to read more. I finished it this morning and immediately ordered/downloaded the sequel, Freedom.
Whereas Zero Day featured an extremely believable scenario, Daemon goes a little bit more into the sci-fi end of things to add an element of danger. However, it is still rooted in the believable. I can’t watch a movie or read a book that features “go hack now” scenarios. But this book was based on things like trojans, in-game AI, RSS feeds, GPS, and so on. It just stretched what we know about a little to enable the plot, but kept this acceptable an acceptable limit for me.
Over and over, in this book, you’ll see how hacks take advantage of poor patch control. Spotting a trend?
I reckon that if you work in IT, or find computers interesting, then there’s a really good chance that you’ll like Daemon. This book can be ordered on Amazon.com.