Freedom by Daniel Suarez




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 Twilight Zones 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 all else.

What does the Daemon/Freedom series bring to the table? Well, Daemon is the whiz bang introduction to the series that finally matures in Freedom. The computer Daemon program introduced in the first book is re-creating society throughout Freedom. Themes explored include "Is Freedom economic as well as political?" and "Can there be real freedom when so much of the economy is controlled by multi-national corporations?" Throw in a lot of action and lots of "skin of your teeth" moments and you have something special.


Daniel Suarez
In Freedom we learn that the Daemon is not evil - it is, however, radically re-making society by re-creating the political and economic systems of the world by introducing a second (online) economy. But, the new idealistic society is subject to the same weaknesses as the old economy - some people control more than others and use it for their own ambitions to the detriment of all. The ultimate question of the book (and left un-answered, making me hope that there's a third book coming soon!) is, perhaps, best expressed by The Who in their song Won't Get Fooled Again: " "Meet the new boss, Same as the old boss."

In other words, is this new birth of freedom in jeopardy from within and be just as bad as what it rebelled against in the first place or will it reform itself?

 Click here to see my review for the first book in this series, Daemon.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

 You can find this book at Amazon.com here: Freedom (TM)

Reviewed on December 20, 2009.

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