The Sword and Laser discussion

First and foremost, let me tell you this: I have not finished Daniel Suarez's popular novel "Daemon" - but then again, that is entirely what this post is about.  For a long while I have had this novel pushed upon me by tech journalists/ podcasters like Leo Laporte and Tom Meritt.  I think no ill of these men for their preference of this novel, but I cannot help but wonder what the heck these people see here.

Here are a few choice excerpts from the novel.  I picked then randomly and only used the word 'choice' because it makes me feel gangster.  Also, the page breaks were added to accent where my issues lay;

He tried to recall the last time he actually felt something.

The last time he felt alive.

That inevitably led to thoughts of her.

Memories of the trip to the Grand Cayman.

He tried to remember the smell of her hair.

He wondered where she was right now, and if he'd ever see her again.

She didn't need a damned thing from him.

Maybe that's what he loved most about her. (p. 48)

He had this custom map done by the CyberStorm folks themselves?

Gragg was obsessed with reaching the wine cellars again.

He had to find out what Boerner was doing there.

Only this time  he wasn't going to let that fuck shoot him in the back.

Yet he knew only too well what Boerner was a slippery character—not likely to repeat his tactics.

Gragg resolved to save grenades for the cellars. (p. 64)

By no means am I calling myself some fantastic writer (I leave that to my friends - hah!), but really?  I accept that I went into this book with higher expectations than it had warranted, but this book was just plain hard to read.  After reading 104 pages, my ability to insert imaginary pieces of grammar into the writing and therefor making it legible, dwindled and I asked myself why I was acting as this guys editor.

Now, before you fans get your knickers in a knot, let me reassure you: this judgement is based entirely on this books actual prose, not its characters or plot or faux-sentient Hummer's.  Although I do find the authors specific naming and usage of certain technologies superfluous, these problems were hardly an issue in comparison to the other.

But then again, is it a good thing that one possible fault of your writing can seem minuscule when compared to something so god awfully glaring and obvious as your prose?  Listen, Daniel, I am sure you are a smart guy, but you write like a little kid.  It hurts, it pains me to see such a well thought idea burdened down by such fear of grammatical objects.

Please, please, please argue me into being able to read this book, someone, please!

Daemon
Daemon

I stopped believing that everyone should like the same stuff I do a long time ago. If it's not for you, it's not for you.

I seem to remember some conversation like this at the Ning forum. I didn't particularly care for Daemon. It was OK, but I felt that parts of it were rushed, parts were dragged out, the ending sucked (forcing the sequel), and the characters didn't make me care. Oddly enough, I also read Freedom, which I also didn't care for. I know I'm not the only one who didn't care for it, but it's most assuredly one of those "to each their own" things.

Andrew wrote: "First and foremost, let me tell you this: I have not finished Daniel Suarez's popular novel "Daemon" - but then again, that is entirely what this post is about.  For a long while I have had this no..."

I went into Daemon with an appropriate level of expectation for a first-time author and a sci-fi thriller. I don't think anybody reads it for the prose. To me, it felt exactly like Dan Brown- really intriguing story and ideas, really cheesy dialogue and prose. Meh. I still thought it was worth reading for the cool ideas and situations Suarez created.

I think of it like Avatar - the visuals are so great I'm willing to overlook the poor writing.

Scott wrote: "I don't think anybody reads it for the prose. To me, it felt exactly like Dan Brown- really intriguing story and ideas, really cheesy dialogue and prose."
Really? Besides the story itself, prose is the most important part of a story for me

As for the Avatar argument, I somewhat agree, but this was more than just dialogue. Avatar did not depend on writing to be pretty, Daemon did

I was really impressed with the authentic computer stuff in the beginning. Once the killer hummers and motorcycles came out, I just accepted it as something he did for mass appeal.