Mystery & Suspense
Originally self-published in 2006 under the anagram/pseudonym Leinad Zeraus, Daemon quickly became a favorite of the tech sector and its bloggers.
Daemon brings readers on a harrowing journey through the dark crawl spaces of the modern world. It's a high-tech thriller that explores the convergence of MMOG's, BotNets, viral ecosystems, and corporate dominance—forces which are quietly reshaping society with very real consequences for us all.
Daniel Suarez's Daemon relies on cutting edge technology to drive the story of a legendary computer game designer who releases an artificial intelligence into the internet upon his death. Matthew Sobol, the architect behind half a dozen popular online games left behind more than a legacy: he left behind programs that move money, programs that recruit people, programs that kill.
Confronted with a killer from beyond the grave, Detective Peter Sebeck comes face-to-face with the full implications of our increasingly complex and interconnected world—one where the dead can read headlines, steal identities, and carry out far-reaching plans without fear of retribution.
Sebeck must find a way to stop Sobol's web of programs—his Daemon—before it achieves its ultimate purpose. And to do so, he must uncover what that purpose is. But Sobol has his own plans for Sebeck.
Daemon looks at what could possibly happen tomorrow by utilizing the power of voice recognition technology, artificial intelligence, game theory, sonic weapons, automated vehicles and zombie computers in conjunction with each other.
Read an essay by Daniel Suarez:
Behind the Book
I wrote Daemon between 2002 and 2004 in response to my growing concerns over the fragility of the modern world. As an IT professional, I felt those concerns were well founded. The previous decade of rapid technological development and federal deregulation had taken efficiency to a whole new level. Corporations had merged into globe-spanning giants across numerous industries, achieving economies of scale, but also centralizing the psychical and digital infrastructure of our civilization. At the same time, cheap processing power and promiscuous connectivity had created vast interdependencies that no single human could understand. Post-merger downsizings had further complicated things by peppering the corporate genome with half-finished projects that still lingered in data centers. Swarms of simple software bots had been set loose into the vast monoculture where our data lives. The same data that rules our lives.
How to popularize these complex issues? Entertainment seemed the best route, and the result was Daemon. In it I've gone to great lengths to faithfully depict technologies that are actually reshaping human society–not in some distant future, but here and now. And to reach a broad audience, I wrote it as a mainstream commercial thriller, so you don't need technical knowledge to understand it. You'll discover what you need to know the same way my characters do.
When I self-published Daemon in 2006, it probably seemed pessimistic, given the prevailing boom economy. But key technology experts responded to its ideas, and began to pass Daemon on to others. One reader, a computer scientist, told me "the story at first seemed ridiculous, but when I sat down to examine it, I realized I couldn't point to any single thing that was impossible." Thankfully, folks outside technical circles began reading it, too–students, gamers, artists, and homemakers–eventually bringing it to the attention of the media.
I have grassroots support to thank for this new hard cover edition. It's a great example of how quickly networks can grow, and what wonders they're capable of.
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