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Freedom (TM) (Daemon #2)

4.27 of 5 stars 4.27 · rating details · 6,828 ratings · 672 reviews

The propulsive, shockingly plausible sequel to New York Times bestseller Daemon, the "Greatest. Techno-thriller. Period."*
*William O'Brien, former director of cybersecurity and communications systems policy at the White House

2009 saw one of the most inventive techno-thriller debuts in decades as Daniel Suarez introduced his terrifying and tantalizing vision of a new wo...more

Hardcover, 406 pages

Published January 7th 2010 by Dutton Adult (first published January 1st 2010)

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Mar 04, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Daemon was so dark and depressing that I seriously considered skipping the sequel, but I'm glad I didn't. (view spoiler)

The biggest problem i...more

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Dec 23, 2009 Bryan marked it as to-read-5-planning-on-it

Shelves: science-fiction, fiction

Gizmodo: "Daniel Suarez has earned not one, but two spots in our reading room. These techno-thrillers not only use every bit of jargon from the hacker’s cookbook, and a fair amount of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson to boot, they also feature deadly autonomous motorcycles with spinning katanas instead of handlebars. A worst-case-scenario tale of computer takeover, Daemon was one of the most talked about high-tech thrillers in recent times, but it ended with a cliffhanger. Thankfully, its sequ...more

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May 12, 2013 Glenn Davis rated it 3 of 5 stars

The book to which this is the sequel, Daemon, was written in a flat, pulpy style, but made up for its shortcomings being a shocking, nail-biting page-turner, with a wonderful and weirdly believable conceit. The second book, unfortunately, like many sequels to successful first sci-fi novels (Dune Messiah, anyone?) is in love with its ponderous philosophical hot air and wears its political polemic very much too much on its sleeve. Daniel Suarez's villains are cartoon Snidely Whiplash mustache-twir...more

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May 03, 2013 Rena McGee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Freedom™ is the sequel to Daemon, where a daemon program invented by game designer Matthew Sobol manages to take over various businesses and the internet, creating a “darknet” that seems to be trying to Rule the World. (Or more accurately, trying to change the way the world works.) This is a novel that is big on ideas as well as action, and there’s a definite soapbox feel to the story line, which involves a sort of guided tour through Neat Ideas the Writer Thinks Would Work. (In some ways, it’s...more

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Mar 20, 2013 Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: cyberpunk, mysteries

I listened to the audio version. When I finished Daemon, I was somewhat dissatisfied with the conclusion, as reflected in my review. I subsequently learned that Mr. Suarez could not find a publisher for Daemon, so published it himself, and it became an internet sensation. That is a perfect example of what that book it is positive. I feel that Freedom was even better than Daemon, less repetitive and even more relevant to the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftermath, including the response of th...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Andrew Huff rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a great read--good action, some interesting ideas to contemplate, and pretty good dialogue. I felt like Freedom was equal to if not slightly better than the first book, Daemon.

I'm tough on stars, so what kept this from being a 5 star book would be the following:

* a certain major plot element seemed a little too deus ex machina to me without a great explanation as to why they did not occur sooner (if you've read it, you probably know what I'm referring to)

* I kind of wish Suarez had brok...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fiction, sci-fi

Lots of fun here for cyberthriller fans. Suarez does a decent job of holding his own in a genre known for names like Gibson and Stephenson, and this sequel to DAEMON proves that Suarez's first outing was no fluke. Yes, there's some over-the-top cinematic silliness that seems to have been written with a screenplay in mind, but the themes and underlying concepts here are just all kinds of fun for anyone with a decent geek streak, and there is no shortage of thought-provoking topics driving the act...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Dale rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sci-fi at its best - full of meaty themes - a great book for serious discussion as well as being a thrill ride.

At its best sci-fi becomes a forum for more than whiz bang technology - it becomes a forum for discussion about philosophy. The best episodes of The Twilight Zone did this. Star Wars becomes a stage to discuss the nature of good and evil and if an evil person can be redeemed. Star Trek becomes a lesson in the strength that can be possible in diversity and the power of friendship over...more

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Dec 15, 2012 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars

While I was pleasantly surprised with Suarez's previous novel Daemon, I was disappointed by Freedom. It suffered from "sequel syndrome."

Why I didn't like it:
- All the character development seemed to have happened in the first book. The characters mostly bored me in Freedom, except the newly introduced Hank Fossen and Loki.
- I hated all the cynical, apocalyptic, anti-corporation/-establishment/-capitalism government-conspiracy preachiness, especially in the first portion of the book. I love to be...more While I was pleasantly surprised with Suarez's previous novel Daemon, I was disappointed by Freedom. It suffered from "sequel syndrome."

Why I didn't like it:
- All the character development seemed to have happened in the first book. The characters mostly bored me in Freedom, except the newly introduced Hank Fossen and Loki.
- I hated all the cynical, apocalyptic, anti-corporation/-establishment/-capitalism government-conspiracy preachiness, especially in the first portion of the book. I love to be stimulated with ideas that come from questions and ambiguity. I don't want to be blatantly spoonfed someone's declaratively stated philosophy, and it's worse when it's thinly disguised as fiction. This section felt like Suarez was thinking, "Ok, got the action part that'll hook the audience so, now, let me tell you all about my beliefs." That's great - author's perogative and all, but that doesn't mean good storytelling should be abandoned, especially when it's fiction.
- The hokey romance. In book 1, it was understated and in good measure. In book 2, it felt forced and contrived.
- Maybe this is because there wasn't at least another important female character in this Freedom, but the tokenistic treatment of Natalie Phillips was terrible. Not only is she the only main female character, she's also the only racial minority. (You could argue since the other characters' races weren't identified, they could be anything. However, when a character is non-white, that fact is stated, leading one to assume unidentified racial traits mean a character is white.) She seemed pretty useless and just a vestigial character, except as a motivation for Jon Ross in this sequel. Combine that with misogynistic situations for just about every other female character in the both the books, I'm wondering what Suarez's deal is.

There were redeeming qualities. What saved the book:
- Being a nerd, I loved the descriptions of the new scientific technology, some not so futuristic as one may think. Also, unlike most scifi or tech books that touch on just one or two areas of science (typically military/espionage gadgets, computing networks, bioengineering - usually gone awry), Suarez includes advancements in green/sustainable energy technology, manufacturing, communication systems, assistive devices, textiles, transportation, etc.
- Suarez returns to good story crafting by creating ambivalence for the antangonist - or is it the protagonist? Quite a few candidates for hero or villain receive this treatment, including the Daemon itself. The story becomes much more interesting and compelling when having to question already made assumptions.(less)

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Oct 30, 2012 Alan rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Utopians

Recommended to Alan by: Previous work

The hardest part of crafting a utopia, it seems to me, isn't imagining the society itself... flying cars and jetpacks are easy to come up with. The hardest part's getting from here to there, describing the path from our fragmented and imperfect world to those shiny jumpsuits and domed cities, the smooth, clean surfaces and expansive green spaces or whatever specific vision makes up your particular dream of Nowhere. That's why most utopian writers don't even bother... they start out with their mo...more

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Jul 06, 2012 Eric Thirolle rated it 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed Daemon so much that I immediately moved on to this sequel. The writing in some parts feels more slap-dash than in the original, but I really enjoyed the injection of political motivation into the Daemon's story. In the first novel, there is no attempt to explain Sobol's motivation in creating the Daemon. In the second novel, it becomes clear that Sobol saw the need to tear down a current world order that was trending towards transnational tyranny and slavery. Governments have essential...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Marc Weidenbaum added it

[Yeah, spoilers. Boilerplate, polite version: I promise I don't "spoil" anything about this book that would have bothered me had I known about it in advance of reading this book. That said, I cannot think of anything I have read in my life that would have been spoiled had I known the plot-advancing facts. And this is not, I promise, a brief Cliffs Notes–style detailed summary of the story. Perhaps the only real way to "spoil" a book is to detail any serious flaws in logic, to the extent that you...more

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Aug 24, 2011 Terry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction, technology, thriller

Freedom(TM) is the sequel to Daemon that patches a number of holes the writer left in the first book. The prose is tighter, the descriptions more direct, the characters are fleshed out and the plot is nicely wound down. If you enjoyed Daemon, there is no reason not to read the sequel.

Writing:
*The action, even combat, was easier for the reader to track. Details were left to essentials and depictions of gore and violence were in a range I enjoy.

*The tech talk was less computer-centric and focused...more

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May 18, 2011 Leon M rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

"Freedom (TM)" is a beautiful and awe-inspiring sequel to Daniel Suarez highly successful "Daemon". Having laid all the groundwork in "Daemon", Suarez uses most of this book to use this foundation in order to explore a new concept of social organization based on empowering information technology.

The new society emerging in "Freedom (TM)" is based on the darknet, an alternative to the internet using fast wireless meshes in order to increase the durability and availability of the network. People...more "Freedom (TM)" is a beautiful and awe-inspiring sequel to Daniel Suarez highly successful "Daemon". Having laid all the groundwork in "Daemon", Suarez uses most of this book to use this foundation in order to explore a new concept of social organization based on empowering information technology.

The new society emerging in "Freedom (TM)" is based on the darknet, an alternative to the internet using fast wireless meshes in order to increase the durability and availability of the network. People who join the darknet are assigned a role in society according to their interests and skills. While they fulfill these roles, they can advance their "levels" of skill (as measured by the level-number on their augmented reality callout). Users give reputation rankings to each other for most interactions, giving everybody an incentive to be cooperative and helpful. Decisions in society are made by those who have high levels (only if they are on a concrete missions assigned by society), all of society together in votes reminiscent of direct democracy, or - concerning more important and top priority tasks - even by the computer system itself. This system of IT-based democracy was one of the most advanced ideas of societal organization that I read about in a novel. It reminded me of similar ideas coming from the Zeitgeist Movement and other organizations proposing IT government as in "it is the computer that makes the decisions".

Another thing that struck me about the book was the clarity with which the corporate elite was depicted. I must be careful here, because it might just be me reading the same books as the author (judging from his "Recommended Reading" list at the end of the book), but I found the description of corporate influence on governments worldwide highly convincing. The chapters that take the form of discussions between NSA, FBI, BSM and private consulting agencies are especially illuminating and interesting.

Coming to a close, I have to say that this is quite probably as good a contemporary novel as you can get. Don't make the mistake to categorize this as "just another of this futuristic scifi novels", as Suarez really hides a discussion of contemporary society behind the sci-fi backdrop. If you are interested in the future, in information technology and/or societal organization, read this novel - you might even try to skip the prequel to "Freedom (TM)" as this is by far the better of the two!(less)

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Nov 25, 2010 Chibineko rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazon-vine

I'll give you a bit of a warning right now. I'm going to discuss a bit of the plot of `Daemon'. If you haven't read that book, then you may want to hesitate before reading this review. If you simply want to know whether I enjoyed this book & if you should purchase this, then the answer is yes. I loved this book & you absolutely have to buy it. However I will warn you- the very basic outline of `Freedom (tm)' will give spoilers on the ending of `Daemon'. You've been warned, so on with the...more I'll give you a bit of a warning right now. I'm going to discuss a bit of the plot of `Daemon'. If you haven't read that book, then you may want to hesitate before reading this review. If you simply want to know whether I enjoyed this book & if you should purchase this, then the answer is yes. I loved this book & you absolutely have to buy it. However I will warn you- the very basic outline of `Freedom (tm)' will give spoilers on the ending of `Daemon'. You've been warned, so on with the review.

In `Daemon', we were introduced to genius computer mogul Matthew Sobol or rather, to his computer generated avatar. We learned that he had unleashed a computer creation that threatened to overthrow society. A few select individuals knew about this, some of them working for the daemon, some against it. Some of those individuals were wrongly accused of creating the daemon, with one of them- Pete Sebeck, being executed for it. Now we get to learn exactly what Sobol's long term plans were as Sebeck (resuscitated at the end of `Daemon') is commanded to do a seemingly impossible task: to justify the freedom of humanity or risk being under the control of the daemon forever.

Meanwhile the hyper intelligent hacker Gragg (now known as Loki Stormbringer) is on a hunt for the Major. Even as he continues his hunt, he alienates himself from the rest of the darknet community & runs the risk of doing the daemon project more harm than good. The roguish Jon Ross is still on the run & his would be paramour Natalie Phillips is torn between joining him or staying with her government... even as it begins to fall around her.

I absolutely loved this book on two different levels. On one level you have the sheer enjoyment of a techno/sci-fi thriller. You can't beat the energy in this book- it's incredibly fun to read. On the other level, you have a story with a hidden allegory. It makes you question whether change would show up as good or bad. At one point of the book, a character equates the daemon's change with the settlers inhabiting the United States, saying that at the time, the change was not good for everyone but turned into something big.

The narrative continues to jump from person to person, which at times made me a little frustrated because I wanted to stay with one specific person to see where they were going. I'll admit it- I had favorites amongst the characters, (mostly Sebeck & the sociopathic Loki) which is pretty much the only reason I'd gripe about the shift in perspectives. People who complained about the unrealistic technology in the first book should be warned that it doesn't change in this volume. (Hence the reason I use the term "sci-fi" when describing what type of book this is.) You see more of it in this book, with new add-ons that I won't describe here, mostly for spoiler reasons.

I read through this book pretty quickly during the Thanksgiving break, mostly because after the cliffhanger in the previous book, I just REALLY wanted to know what happened next. I will admit that while I enjoyed this book immensely, the ending was a little weak. There is the potential for another book if Suarez wants to write one, although if not, there's enough of an ending to satisfy me. If he does write one, I can say that I will read it. I really liked the imagery as well as the implications of several key characters at the end of the book. (I can't go into detail, but it's safe to say that they ended up as larger than life characters.)

Fans of the previous book will enjoy this book. If you didn't like it, then you may want to skip it- it's more of the same. And if you haven't read the previous book then I recommend skipping this book until you've finished `Daemon'- otherwise you will be terribly lost plot-wise.(less)

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Jul 18, 2010 AudioBookFans rated it 4 of 5 stars

After plowing through Daemon (check out our previous review of Daemon), the heart stopping first novel in this series, I immediately added Freedom to my iPod and loaded it up for my commute to work. Usually I telecommute and work out of a home office but this day I was traveling to the main office 4.5 hrs away. I left at 3:30 am and was quickly completely engrossed in this not so distant future that Daniel Suarez has created. It was one of the few times I can say I was a little disappointed when...more

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May 10, 2010 Sean Randall rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Shen turned to General Zhang, but spoke to everyone. 'Let me tell you what your system is, Mr. Haverford. It's a six-billion-dollar... how do you Americans say it? Oh yes: clusterfuck.'"

The superbly spun ending to the can of worms unleashed in deamon, this title charts the uprising of the "darknet" and the governmental and military efforts to thwart the revolution. there's an almost heinlein-Like reverence for the Constitution and what it stood for, but an absolute vehemence that the powers of...more

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Apr 27, 2010 Danielle Adams rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Mar 10, 2010 Mark rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. In his sequel to the cult-favorite Daemon, Daniel Suarez continues the story of Matthew Sobol's electronic "entity" unleashed on the world. Like a virus, the Daemon is now beginning to remake human society. But, unlike the first book, the second one is less a technology thriller than a political screed.

Now, I don't necessarily disagree with anything Suarez says in this book. All my food probably *is* made from corn, and cheap food probably *is* a foundation for keeping low-wage employees happy w...more

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Feb 09, 2010 Mattazuma rated it 5 of 5 stars

I read this book in 2 days. I blew off all of the Super Bowl pregame stuff to finish the book. It is the sequel to/continuation of Daemon. It documents a possible kinda distopian future.

I liked Freedom more than Daemon. I think it's mostly because part of the first book is to set up the world and the characters in it. This book just rolls from the beginning. You really have to read Daemon first to know what's going on.

For a sci-fi-ish techno-thriller, there is a lot of King Corn and The Omnivore ...more

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Jan 20, 2010 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars

Tough rating, probably deserves 2.5 stars.

This is the sequel to Daemon, which I recall enjoying a good bit. Daemon was pretty popular among computer programmers for its (according to the description here at goodreads) "shockingly plausible" premise. It's a techno-thriller without the techno-babble.

Freedom is, I think, meant to be in the same mold, although I'm not sure what an encrypted IP beacon is. That is to say, the techno gets a little more babbly.

I did love the premise. In Daemon, an out o...more

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Jan 17, 2010 Mike rated it 2 of 5 stars

This direct sequel to Daemon moves directly from that novel's closing premise: a baroquely-potent bot, designed by a nefarious and brilliant gaming programmer, has spread out into the web and begun building elaborate disruptions--and alternatives--to society. As the book closed, a secret government task force was ripped to smithereens by the bot's superior pre-programmed nefariosity and its legion of human acolytes and its swarms of scary independent sword-whirling motorcycles.

That last sentenc...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Brian Glass rated it 4 of 5 stars

It's like Neal Stephenson, Tom Clancy, Carlton Cuse, and Damon Lindelhof were sitting around a campfire with a case of beer and brainstorming away into the night. Suarez's follow-up to Daemon was a fitting conclusion to this deconstruction of modern society. Anyone who's fascinated with technology, social networks, societal apocalypse, and the destruction of rampant consumerism in pursuit of profit will enjoy this read. This could make a great TV series, but not a movie. The story is too sprawli...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Leo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

Well, I guess Neal Stephenson was wrong. You don't need to dumb down (or omit) the science fiction elements of a story in order to have a smart, engaging techno-thriller, as he did with Reamde. You just have to craft a better story and Suarez's two-part novel is exactly that -- a stunning array of action and thought provoking fiction played out through characters we really care about (and some of them we really care about hating).

The only reason I didn't give Freedom(TM) a full five stars is bec...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Nagarajan.ra rated it 5 of 5 stars

In the second book and the last book of the Daemon series... the author has simple has outdone his previous work Daemon in terms of creativity and imagination...

It has few years since the Daemon took hold of the world order..
Some governments are fighting it..
Some private military contracts want it to continue so that they can money out of it...
Some fraction of people great hubs of living helion guided by the Daemon network to create a sustainable future...

Loki is in the trail of "The Major" wh...more

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May 11, 2010 Ian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense, action, sci-fi

Freedom (TM) is an excellent sequel and a fantastic book in its own right, but I don't want that to detract you from reading Daemon first (so make sure you do that). Needless to say when I finished Daemon I'd was very eager to read its sequel. As soon as I saw that Freedom (TM) was released I snatched at the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version, which is just as excellent as the first book, and I found that I was in for more than I expected.

Any good book can be entertaining, a truly ex...more Freedom (TM) is an excellent sequel and a fantastic book in its own right, but I don't want that to detract you from reading Daemon first (so make sure you do that). Needless to say when I finished Daemon I'd was very eager to read its sequel. As soon as I saw that Freedom (TM) was released I snatched at the opportunity to listen to the audiobook version, which is just as excellent as the first book, and I found that I was in for more than I expected.

Any good book can be entertaining, a truly excellent book will draw you in and take over your thoughts for the rest of the week. I think that I can safely say that Freedom (TM) has done that for me and I'll be lucky if I only continue thinking about it for the rest of this week.

Freedom (TM) delivered on all the things that I loved about Daemon - there's cool technology, videogame-based action and characters, the story is brilliant, engaging and extremely suspenseful, and the plot as a whole isn't predictable; but it certainly is plausible. What I couldn't have expected was that the main concept that is presented in this story is so intriguing that I actually want to try it out.

Building on the structure that was introduced in Daemon, Daniel Suarez developed the dark net into a new self-sufficient societal model that incorporates advanced technology and social media. The best way to compare it would be to say it is a cross between Facebook, Digg, YouTube, a farmers market, and Star Wars (crazy I know but trust me it works). Against this Suarez places the capitalist, corporate environment that controls food, security, and influences government as the very real-life villain. While the depictions of this villain are certainly extreme, again what makes this book so fascinating and worthwhile is the plausibility of it all. Reading this book you have to wonder just how controlled by corporate interests we all are... And whether or not freedom really is trademarked.

I hope everyone gets a chance to read and enjoy this book; I plan on rereading it a few more times.(less)

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Feb 14, 2013 Carl rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction-computer-intellige

At different times this book reminds me of Reamde, Adolescence of P-1, and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, although this book isn't as well written as these.

Freedom (TM) is the second in the Daemon series by Daniel Suarez. If you haven't read Daemon yet, go read it first.

This is the continuation of the story of a computer daemon created by Matthew Sobel that will cause certain actions, including taking over the world, to occur after his death. The daemon watches the news on the InterNET and based...more

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Jul 29, 2012 David Sven rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

Wow. Reading this book as well as the previous book Daemon (my review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) has made me realize how much technology has been integrated into our modern lives as a virtual world overlaying our real world. We have internet banking, email, twitter, facebook, sms, mms, all manner of social networking, remote computing and giving us instant access to information all from a mobile phone or Ipad or laptop. We can multi-task our real lives and our virtual lives to mak...more Wow. Reading this book as well as the previous book Daemon (my review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...) has made me realize how much technology has been integrated into our modern lives as a virtual world overlaying our real world. We have internet banking, email, twitter, facebook, sms, mms, all manner of social networking, remote computing and giving us instant access to information all from a mobile phone or Ipad or laptop. We can multi-task our real lives and our virtual lives to make one almost indistinguishable from the other.

Now imagine all that technology built into your clothes and viewed through sun glasses or visors or contact lenses displaying information in a HUD interface just like an MMO but for real life. Welcome to D-Space, the Daemon's user interface for the "darknet." In here users interact with virtual apps, objects and programs which control real objects using a combination of voice commands and gestures to chant spells (passwords etc) or call down hell fire from high-tech weaponized drones in the stratosphere.

The darknet, introduced to us in the last book is an interactive INTRANET available only to darknet members and modelled on Matthew Sobol's online MMO, complete with its own economy of darknet credits and levelling system, both of which are used as rewards for contributing to the spread of the Daemon's infrastructure and ideology. The higher the users credits or levels, the greater the access to the system enabling more technology and equipment to be created, ordered and used.

The last book left us out of breath from the pace and action as the Daemon usurps entire corporations to take over the resources of greedy multi national companies and draft them into the expansion of the darknet. In this book its The Daemon vs The corporations. The faceless men who are the unelected puppet masters behind the illusion of democratic government.

In the Red corner we have The Major, the front man for the corporations who heads up the private security firms that have been contracted by the government for . . . ? Well for security one would think.
In the Dark corner we have the return of sargeant Sebeck, recruited against his will by the Daemon to conduct Matthew Sobol's quest to see if humanity deserves to be free. Piece of cake. We also have in the dark corner, Loki Stormbringer, a 50+ level sorcerer and umpteenth level sociopath, with his army of unmanned killing machines, acting as the official enforcer and protector of the darknet infrastructure.
Also in the dark Corner we have Ron Merritt - yes he did die last book, yes he is really dead - but then so is Matthew Sobol.

Und also in ze Dark Corner ve haf SS Officer Heinrich Boerner. A personal favourite uf mein. Yez, yu schweinhund, he ist an NPC in Herr Sobols computer game. But apparently he haz vays and meanz of making you talk, or scream or vat efer else before you DIE!!!.

Continues straight on from the last book. The pace is still good. The action is still as visceral. But is the Daemon evil? You will have to read and decide for yourself bwahahahaha

(less)

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May 03, 2010 Adam McDonald rated it 5 of 5 stars

My review has to come in 2 parts, but before I get to it, I must make one thing clear. In order to understand and get the most out of this book, you MUST read its prequel, DAEMON, before you pick this one up. If you don't you will have no idea about the plot, characters, etc. So read DAEMON first!

Now, for the first part. I was originally only going to give this book 3 stars, not because it's not a good or enjoyable read, but because a lor of what takes place relies heavily on the reader's experi...more

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Jan 29, 2010 Gar rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Where to begin?

Well, let's go with characters. The characters are cardboard cut-outs, who speak almost entirely in either cliches, or chunks of exposition that frequently confers data that every character involved in the conversation already knows and furthermore, the reader knows as well.

The book's plot takes several skips forward in time. Part 2: Eight Months Later! etc. Those blank spaces of time is where any character growth--changes in allegiances or beliefs or feelings at one another, all...more Where to begin?

Well, let's go with characters. The characters are cardboard cut-outs, who speak almost entirely in either cliches, or chunks of exposition that frequently confers data that every character involved in the conversation already knows and furthermore, the reader knows as well.

The book's plot takes several skips forward in time. Part 2: Eight Months Later! etc. Those blank spaces of time is where any character growth--changes in allegiances or beliefs or feelings at one another, all that human development stuff--takes place.

The central titular theme is supposed to be the proving that the enlightened society ("the darknet") that "the daemon" (the magical botnet that Sobol programmed to handle every contingency possible ever all in a couple years before getting done in by brain cancer) is creating. Will the people have freedom(tm)? Or will the daemon rule them with an iron digital fist?

Only there's just a single darknet fellow who's against Freedom(tm). That'd be Loki Stormbringer, an ex-rave organizer/hacker who became one of the daemon's highest-level operatives. He commands a fleet of robot cars and motorcycles with scythe blades, kinetic-kill dart delivery weather balloons, has personal laser weaponry, etc. He's supposed to be a dangerous psychopath, but in this case it means he's a cardboard cutout with "dangerous psychopath" printed on it in big block letters in crayon. Every single other darknet character the reader will encounter at any time hates Loki and all he stands for. So the quest to justify freedom is pretty much predetermined, which is one of the many unintentionally funny things going on.

Things get progressively sillier. The token badguy darknet gets maimed, but his pet AI Nazi program he set free (I don't know, man, I just read these things), Herr Oberstleutenant I'llBeVillainInTheThirdBook or something like that somehow results in him getting bionic implants. The real bad guys try to use a code exploit in the daemon to use it for their own purposes, but of course it was programmed for exactly the way they used it, the security flaw was a trojan horse and it dramatically turns the tables on them. Loki's reign of terror is brought to an end by a good AI program based on an FBI guy the darknet turned into a folk hero, some other things happen, the aforementioned AI Nazi program gives "The Major" (the frontman for the International Bankers, more or less) his comeuppance in an epilogue, and the only thing missing is a big THE END??? on the final page.

It's not a good book. I may have been a little subtle about that. But it's that species of bad that manages the trick of wrapping right around and becoming a sort of twisted awesome, in a way that had me laughing out loud at multiple points from how inept moment after moment was.(less)

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About Daniel Suarez

Daniel Suarez is an independent systems consultant to Fortune 1000 companies. He has designed and developed enterprise software for the defense, finance, and entertainment industries. An avid gamer and technologist, he lives in Los Angeles, California.

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Quotes from Freedom (TM)

“Democracy requires active participation, and sooner or later someone ‘offers’ to take all the difficult decision-making away from you and your hectic life. But the darknet throws those decisions back onto you. It hard-codes democracy into the DNA of civilization. You upvote and downvote many times a day on things that directly affect your life and the lives of people around you—not just once every few years on things you haven’t got a chance in hell of affecting.” — 2 people liked it

“When people become more reliant on multinational corporations than on their own communities, they surrendered whatever say they had in their government. Corporations are growing stronger while democratic government becomes increasingly helpless.” — 1 person liked it

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Freedom (TM) (Daemon #2)

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