Islands in the Net
From the back cover: Laura Webster's on the fast track to success. A bright young star in a multinational conglomerate, she's living well in a post-millennial age of peace, prosperity, and profit. In an age of advanced technology, information is the world's most precious commodity. Information is power. Data is locked in computers and carefully rationed through a global communications network. Full access is a privilege held by few. Now, Laura Webster is about to be plunged into a netherworld of black-market data pirates, new-age mercenaries, high-tech voodoo... and murder.
Stats for nerds
8recommend
26mentions
16people
2012–2025years
58% recommend42% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Yup. I noticed a line in Islands in the Net where one of the characters waits until evening to make a phone call when the rates are low. I had a chuckle, but it didn't detract from the rest of the story that was definitely good. Though I should talk to my offspring about making sure they only call me in the evenings so the long distance fees aren't exorbitant, just to see if they try to take away my car keys.
- > In terms of that "90's Retrofuturistic So-Cal Strip Mall Apocalypse" brand of cyberpunk, I think William Gibson's Virtual Light was far more satisfying to revisit.
See also "Islands in the Net" by Bruce Sterling (IMNHO).
Ed: BTW, for a newer book (2017) that plays with some interesting concepts - see "Gnomon" by Nick Harkaway. Just don't read a summary or too much about before you start - much of the pleasure I found in it was trying to "figure out" the book as I read it...
- Many good tips so far in this thread. If your friend reads a lot of papers, they might be able to "leap" into classics without being bogged down by the language and sometimes dense prose - but I'd still err on the side of accessible for getting someone into reading for pleasure.
I'd recommend for example (in no particular order - just some great books imnho):
Earthsea quartet by LeGuin
Dune by Herbert
South of the Border by Murakami
Islands in the Net by Sterling
Foundation trilogy by Asimov
Speed of Dark, by Moon
Accelerando, by Stross
Murderbot diaries, by Wells
A Fire Upon the Deep, by Vinge (and Rainbow's End by same)
2312, by Robinson
And many more, I'm sure :)
- A co-op like Mondragon but global in scope is at the center of 'Islands in the Net' by Bruce Sterling.
There's a much smaller co-op at the heart of 'Shockwave Rider' by John Brunner, but discussion of the mechanics is central to the story. This is an incredible book.
- Bruce Sterling should also be remembered as a major contributor to the formation of the genre, on par with Gibson and Stephenson. Islands in the Net grounded future speculative tech in emerging real-world geopolitics, and Schismatrix took the genre into far future space, introducing the concept of cybernetics vs. biological augmentation.
- "Bruce Sterling - Islands in the Net": not as gritty-noir as Neuromancer, not as pop-cynic as Snow Crash but a genre classic imho.
T.R.Napper is also worth looking out for. "Neon Leviathan" is not what i would call a masterpiece, but the author seems promising.
