Unholy Domain (PeaceMaker, #2) in Building a SciFi/Fantasy Library

Jan 18, 2009 J.C. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2009-reads, science-fiction

It's Fiction; But For How Long?

Throughout the history of the science fiction genre authors have have crafted a story that seems completely unbelievable and remain fiction for only so many years.

Dan Ronco has crafted an energetic and fast paced thriller about the, in my opinion, inevitable collision course of technology and what it means to be a "human." UNHOLY DOMAIN ramps up the plot ten years after the cataclysmic events in PEACEMAKER, the first book in Ronco's series. Enter a world in the mid ...more

Like · see review

Jul 19, 2008 Eoghann Irving rated it really liked it

Shelves: science-fiction

A fast paced techno thriller that doesn't pull any punches. The graphic nature of some sequences may not be to everyone's tastes but there's a lot of material to chew on in this book. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Oct 24, 2007 Dan rated it it was amazing · (Review from the author)

Shelves: artificialintelligence

Checkout the stunning video trailer on my website www.danronco.com.

It’s 2022, a decade after a devastating computer virus was unleashed upon America and the world. Civilization has crumbled in an economic collapse that rivals the Great Depression of the previous century. During this harsh decade, the schism between those who think technology will save the world and those who believe it to be the tool of Lucifer has reached a boiling point. The Church of Natural Humans, led by the charismatic ADA Checkout the stunning video trailer on my website www.danronco.com.

It’s 2022, a decade after a devastating computer virus was unleashed upon America and the world. Civilization has crumbled in an economic collapse that rivals the Great Depression of the previous century. During this harsh decade, the schism between those who think technology will save the world and those who believe it to be the tool of Lucifer has reached a boiling point. The Church of Natural Humans, led by the charismatic ADAM JORDAN, is determined to roll civilization back to a pre-computer era. His beautiful African-American lover, MOESHA JEFFERSON, leads the Army of God, a cult of fanatics within the Church, in a series of murders of anyone they consider a technologist.

DAVID BROWN, the gifted but troubled son of one of the most hated of criminals, receives a delayed email from his long dead father, the software genius RAY BROWN. The world believes that David’s father unleashed the computer virus that caused the death of more than 100,000 people and led to the global depression, but the email suggests that his father was on the trail of the real criminals. David has grown up in a hostile atmosphere due to his father’s crimes, so he resolves to discover who his father was, and if he really was to blame for the virus. His only memories are of a man made erratic by too much alcohol and driven by his passion for technology.

DIANNE MORGAN is a ruthless woman. She leads the Domain, a secret society of technologists developing Sentinel, an artificial intelligence with the ability to seize control of the Internet and all other computers. Needing money and muscle to achieve her obsession for power, Dianne enters into a partnership with organized crime, led by MARIA VITULLO. Vitullo, it is rumored, seized power within the Families by murdering her uncle, the former Don. Vitullo controls the technology black market for the Domain, as well as providing soldiers in the war against the Army of God.

As David tracks through his father’s startling history, he stumbles into this hidden war. Fearing that he will expose the Domain, Dianne orders Vitullo to kill him. However, Moesha has her own plan: to keep David alive so she can follow his trail to the Domain and then eliminate all the technologists. Hunted by killers from both organizations, David unravels his father’s secrets, comes to terms with his own life, and then falls in love with a woman from his father’s past.

Unholy Domain ...more

Like · see review

Jun 20, 2008 Sarah Sammis rated it liked it

Shelves: released, horror, read-in-2008, review-copy

I remember in mid 1998, businesses were being warned about the upcoming chaos that would be caused when the computer clocks ticked over to 2000 and all those older programs that only had two digits stored would assume it was 1900. We were told to expect a mortgage meltdown (that came later but not from computer error), massive power outages and other chaos. None of that materialized except maybe in small isolated cases. Y2K as it came to be known was a source of stories, including a funny episo I remember in mid 1998, businesses were being warned about the upcoming chaos that would be caused when the computer clocks ticked over to 2000 and all those older programs that only had two digits stored would assume it was 1900. We were told to expect a mortgage meltdown (that came later but not from computer error), massive power outages and other chaos. None of that materialized except maybe in small isolated cases. Y2K as it came to be known was a source of stories, including a funny episode of Sports Night for those last couple of years.

Unholy Domain by Don Ronco feels like a bit like a Y2K story even though the year 2000 is never mentioned. It has many of the same themes: our dependence on computer technology, the potential dangers if our modern technology suddenly failed, how dependent our economy is on technology to name the three main ones. There is truth to all three of those observations but what's missing is just how much legacy technology we still have in our day to day lives. The world of Unholy Domain, though terribly broken, is too far advanced to be only twelve years in the future.

In fact, the book's timeline its biggest flaw. For a world with AIs, human looking robots, lasers, pocket computers and holograms to be fully developed and destroyed between now and 2020 requires a huge suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader. Had the book taken place in 2120 instead of 2020 (much as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward takes place in 2105 and has all of the same technology and urban problems), I would have spent a lot less time shaking my head and saying "No way!" every time a date was mentioned.

Take away the unbelievable time line (where the hero, David Brown is only 3 years older than my son) and Unholy Domain is an entertaining techno-thriller set in a world struggling in the middle of a new great depression brought on by a destructive and deadly computer virus known as PeaceMaker. The son of man blamed with unleashing the virus goes on a quest to clear his father's name after receiving a mysterious message from him. In his search he finds himself in the middle of a three sided tug of war. Ignore the improbable set up and enjoy the ride.

Unholy Domain is the second in the series. The first is PeaceMaker. ...more

Like · see review