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41st out of 111 books
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The Shockwave Rider
by
John Brunner
One man has made it his mission to liberate the mental prisoners. to restore their freedom in a world run mad.
Nickie Halflinger, the only person to escape from Tarnover- where they raise hyper-intelligent children to maintain the political dominance of the USA in the 21st century – is on the run, dodging from loophole to crevice to crack in the computerised dat...more
Nickie Halflinger, the only person to escape from Tarnover- where they raise hyper-intelligent children to maintain the political dominance of the USA in the 21st century – is on the run, dodging from loophole to crevice to crack in the computerised dat...more
Paperback, 288 pages
Published
March 1st 1995
by Del Rey
(first published 1975)
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"One of the first science fiction books I read in high school (late 1970s). Brunner took the increasing rate of change being experienced discussed in Future Shock and extrapolated that into the future. He envisioned a world wide data network which was used by everyone. Since everything was in the web, privacy was also extremely limited. Being able to manipulate (hack) data in ""the web"" gave people incredible power. The rate of change was so quick that most people have ...more
This book starts out a little rocky and disjointed (possibly an intentional style by the author to match with the subject material), then pulls together and ultimately soars by the last third. Written in 1975, much of the technology forecast in this book is amazingly prescient, especially that relating to the Internet ("datanet"). I'm not usually a fan of the elliptical writing and shallow characterization typical of older sci-fi, and I'm not a huge fan of puns (wordplay is used libe...more
It’s been said that John Brunner invented the term “worm” for a program that replicates itself on a network in this proto-cyberpunk novel from 1975.
Future Shock!
In the obsessively technological, paranoidally secretive and brutally competitive society depicted by John Brunner, even personal identities are under threat. But one man has made it his mission to liberate the mental prisoners. to restore their freedom in a world run mad.
Nickie Halflinger, the only pe...more
Future Shock!
In the obsessively technological, paranoidally secretive and brutally competitive society depicted by John Brunner, even personal identities are under threat. But one man has made it his mission to liberate the mental prisoners. to restore their freedom in a world run mad.
Nickie Halflinger, the only pe...more
Prescient proto-cyberpunk classic. Highly influenced by Alvin Toffler's Futureshock, down to having a Toffler-like philosopher quoted in the book and a Toffler blurb on the back. Used the idea of the computer worm and virus (called a phage in the book) for maybe the first time in sci-fi. Eventually devolves into a 70s aging hippie luddite critique of of technological advancement, completely failing to foresee the individual, antitotalitarian empowerment the information revolution brought abou...more
Quite a book, reads like it was published yesterday. First usages of "the net" (as in, datanet) and "worm" -Brunner consulted heavily with futurist Alvin Toffler to concoct this amazing tale of fluid identity in an oversaturated infosphere and the loss of basic privacy in the interest of the private sectors (here called hypercorporations) crafting a "better world." Written in the early seventies, but for some semantic differences John Brunner is able to evoke quite ...more
TSR is not a plot book, and it is also not a character book, but it IS an idea book. Brunner was ahead of the curve (or the shockwave) on so many things, and managed to write about the modern Internet in 1975, anticipating terms like 'bandwidth' and 'computer worm'. This is great social SF.
The Shockwave Rider is a book before its time, published in 1975, the book provides a vision for the future of computer networks today. The term 'Web' was used in this book years before the Web as we know it emerged. A riveting story of freeman vs Big Brother society which contains the classic values of privacy still being debated vigorously today. Computer worms and self replicating code - all the cyber components.
The increasing rate of change has sent most Americans into mental distr...more
The increasing rate of change has sent most Americans into mental distr...more
A proto-cyberpunk text by Brunner that I didn’t warm to that much but fairs alright in hindsight(and as a piece with quartet, sometimes refered to as his "American Quartet".), the images aren't as vivid and the plot is more opaque. Some interesting moments with an ending somewhat echoing Bester’s Tiger! Tiger! (Fine, Stars my Destination, blah!) Interesting book (especially the thoughts on identity which seem very prophetic for the identity theft age) some elements seem to have been be...more
This book was very interesting. It was an early cyberpunk novel. Written in the early seventies, about a decade before Neuromancer, it predates the labeling of the genre. This book has some very interesting ideas, it predicts computer hackers, computer viruses and worms working through the global computer and telephone network.
The main character is a fugitive computer hacker who uses the telephone networks to hack the global network to create new identities for himself and outrun ...more
The main character is a fugitive computer hacker who uses the telephone networks to hack the global network to create new identities for himself and outrun ...more
Erik Graff
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
sf fans
Recommended to Erik by:
James Koehnline
Shelves:
sf
During the early eighties, after the brothers Miley moved out of our 1134 W. Chase apartment in East Rogers Park, Chicago, Jim moved in, staying a few years. Jim, an artist, later an author, was an aficionado of the bizarre, of conspiracy theories, of the democratic potentials of new technologies and of all that Michael Miley had called "high weirdness." Primarily self-educated, he was an ever-enthusiastic source for new ideas and controversial opinions, introducing me to quite a lot...more
In some ways presaged Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar. A tightly-plotted novel with very inventive use of technology. The pace of technological change is as important a character as any other in the book. A frightening set of circumstances led to by runaway technology still leaves the reader with some hope for the future.
This book is astounding. In 1975 this was still science fiction. Brunner coins the term "worm" to define a kind of computer virus that moves across a computer network. Gripping story with the right amount of juice for its moderate page count.
This book is in the cyber-fiction canon.
This book is in the cyber-fiction canon.
I've tried reading this book a couple of times and could not get beyond the first chapter. There are books like that (good and bad). This summer I pulled it off the shelf one more time with the intention of finishing no matter what. Boy, was it worth it. Once you sync. up with the pace and tone of the book it all makes sense. Basic plot is this: Young boy is indoctrinated into a new generation of U.S.A school think tanks. These schools are geared to compete with other nations to produce America'...more
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This was the most influential book of my youth, I still read it with fondness. In some ways it was more than a book but a challenge to live like that. I have looked at telephones differently ever since.
The book written in 1975 uses technological terms (IE: bandwidth) with a foresight unlike any before it. It's a up dated version of other "Big Brother" type stories but very readable.
Un bon roman d'anticipation. Le fait qu'il ait été écrit dans les années 80 montre ce qui aurait pu se passer, ou une version légèrement différente de ce qui s'est effectivement passé.
Sometimes credited as the first cyberpunk novel. It is a story of the social impact of the Internet before the Internet existed as the Internet.
I first read this when I was quite young. It made an incredible impression on me. I went into software and the internet because of this book.
Re-read, again. The problems Brunner describes are even worse today. If only his solutions were plausible.
Jeff Youngstrom
added it
Cyberpunk before cyberpunk emerged!
Finished reading the Spanish translation of this novel and I am still surprised on how close the current reality mirrors some aspects of the novel. An interconnected world by computers, malicious computer "worms" (a term coined by the author), and the need of the people to be heard (the "Hearing Aid" from the novel, which the Spanish translation named "El Oyente Silencioso" (the Silent Listener)), and the constant electronic vigilance and intervention from the gover...more
Based on the Alvin Toffler's theory of "Future Shock," this book is a protogenitor of cyberpunk. There are a lot of 70s sci fi ideas in it that no longer quite work, but underneath it all is a disturbingly accurate portrait of where society has come - a world where change happens so quickly that people routinely use drugs to cope with it in a society where homogeneity is encouraged - the same stores wherever you go, the same types of people, everything to minimize the dizzying effects ...more
The weakest of Stand on Zanzibar/The Sheep Look Up/Shockwave Rider
There is nothing quite like old-school sci-fi novels and this one definitely fits that bill. Reading almost like some epic poem it explores the idea of an almost super-genius who has decided to run from his fate (well... the government at least) but is eventually forced through circumstances to move back onto the grid and fight for his life. If you enjoy old science fiction, you are bound to enjoy this one by the award winning author John Brunner.
Science Fiction is overrated as a tool for accurately predicting the future, but Shockwave Rider is one of the most prophetic SF novels ever written. Brunner tells the story of a hacker who builds a self-replicating worm virus to steal data from the computer networks of governments and corporations. If written today this would be unremarkable, but Brunner wrote Shockwave Rider in 1975 before any such things existed.
The thing I remember the most though is that apparently St. Nick is the patron of thieves. The strangest things stick with you.
Also there are talking dogs, telephone confessional, genetic experimentation, interrogation, hacking, running from the law, dystopia, emotional breakdown, multiple identities and a pleasant ending.
Seriously, I think I've recommended this book to pretty much everyone I know.
Also there are talking dogs, telephone confessional, genetic experimentation, interrogation, hacking, running from the law, dystopia, emotional breakdown, multiple identities and a pleasant ending.
Seriously, I think I've recommended this book to pretty much everyone I know.
I think the futuristic lingo is a little over done - makes it a bit more difficult to read than it has to be - he is painting a very scary look at a future that is now here in very many ways. This is pretty remarkable when the main thrust is a computerized society that was only beginning in 1975 & the Internet was a twinkling in ARPANet's juvenile eye. Well worth reading.
Ed
rated it
·
review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommended to Ed by:
Mike Arida
Shelves:
sf-fantasy,
quendi
Suspenseful, intriguing look at the future. The only weakness is the ending, which I felt was too rosy.
Had high expectations, but totally hated the style. One of the rare books that I am not able to finish
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The late John Brunner was perhaps as well known for much of his career in the US as in the UK. A leftwing activist, with particular connections to the peace movement, much of his best and most mature fiction is involved in a complex analysis of social trends and where they will take us--novels like Stand on Zanzibar which deals with overpopulation, among other things, and The Sheep Look Up, which ...more
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