Helpful Score: 2
Freedom is a neat book. Its the sequel to Daemon by Daniel Suarez. Its enjoyable. Reviewing this without spoilers for Daemon is hard, and I've noticed the pros didn't even try. So, you've been warned.
It opens with Pete Sebeck, the police officer framed by Daemon in the first book being set on a quest to determine if Daemon is worth being continued. From there we jump to a funeral - Roy Merritt's - who has become an icon to the Daemon community due to his commitment and excellence. And Merritt's killer is the wanted man by them. So much so, that even one of the premiere agents of Daemon's infrastructure protection factions, Loki is there as well. The Major is back, and he is vile. So is John/Ivan, but what is he doing? And who is he working for really? The setting undergoes changes as well - a global financial crisis on the scale of the Great Depression, corporate military on the loose in the US (which makes me wonder if the UN black helicopter crowd just isn't looking at the right target) and the emergence of Daemon as an open secret and a power.
Freedom is a fast moving, enjoyable novel. There are gadgets a-plenty, as well as tons of interesting concepts. I was particularly taken with the holon communities - self sustaining high-tech communities that interact with each other but are not dependent on each other. They ranged from a unique energy producing community to a small farm town. And Suarez takes some things to their logical conclusion from the reading lists in the back of the books.
Finally, the oddest thing about Freedom and Daemon is that some reviewers see them both as a loss of freedom to machines. For Daemon I could see that. For Freedom I have to wonder if we read the same book.
Likes: Gadgets, tighter focus on characters, neat concepts, the holons
Dislikes: Not enough character development (Loki, Price and Sebeck in particular), could have used more gadgets (gotta be more RPVs than Autom8s, Razorbacks and the Angelteeth), all but mustache twirling villains
It opens with Pete Sebeck, the police officer framed by Daemon in the first book being set on a quest to determine if Daemon is worth being continued. From there we jump to a funeral - Roy Merritt's - who has become an icon to the Daemon community due to his commitment and excellence. And Merritt's killer is the wanted man by them. So much so, that even one of the premiere agents of Daemon's infrastructure protection factions, Loki is there as well. The Major is back, and he is vile. So is John/Ivan, but what is he doing? And who is he working for really? The setting undergoes changes as well - a global financial crisis on the scale of the Great Depression, corporate military on the loose in the US (which makes me wonder if the UN black helicopter crowd just isn't looking at the right target) and the emergence of Daemon as an open secret and a power.
Freedom is a fast moving, enjoyable novel. There are gadgets a-plenty, as well as tons of interesting concepts. I was particularly taken with the holon communities - self sustaining high-tech communities that interact with each other but are not dependent on each other. They ranged from a unique energy producing community to a small farm town. And Suarez takes some things to their logical conclusion from the reading lists in the back of the books.
Finally, the oddest thing about Freedom and Daemon is that some reviewers see them both as a loss of freedom to machines. For Daemon I could see that. For Freedom I have to wonder if we read the same book.
Likes: Gadgets, tighter focus on characters, neat concepts, the holons
Dislikes: Not enough character development (Loki, Price and Sebeck in particular), could have used more gadgets (gotta be more RPVs than Autom8s, Razorbacks and the Angelteeth), all but mustache twirling villains
Back to all reviews by this member
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
Back to all reviews of this book
Back to Book Reviews
Back to Book Details
