Cyberdrome Kindle Edition

This came recommended on one of the discussion boards here at Amazon, so I picked it up to give it a try after liking the free Kindle sample. I was not disappointed - one of the points I really need for science fiction novels is for it to be believable. In other words, if there is going to be some futuristic theme or plot in the novel, rather than taking a leap of faith I need to be able to conceptualize it. The authors didn't disappoint in the case, and combined with nice character development and interaction I was sorry to see this book end.

I did like how the authors left you hanging at the end with unfinished business, which I hope will turn out to be a sequel!

Real Scifi!

What a thrill ride! Just finished Cyberdrome. The sample convinced me to buy the full download right away. Top notch, highly original, this should be selling in bucket-fulls.

Cyberdrome is relentlessly fast-paced. It is very imaginative, with multiple environments and scenarios, and a multitude of potential bad guys. Separating out the heroes, anti-heroes and out-and-out bad guys from the rest, while keeping abreast of the twists and turns in this fascinating plot, is a job and a half! The film Tron comes to mind here, with humans trapped inside a giant computer but there the resemblance ends. Instead of low-res graphics, Cyberdrome is the equivalent of fully rendered 3D action, with protagonists pitted not against a guy on a cycle but against a megalomaniac computer program with versatile adversaries at its command.

Being ex-IT myself I liked all the computer references but understanding these was not essential to following the thrust and heady zest of the novel.

Reminds me also of Ghost in the Shell, where variously cyberised humans inhabit a hazardous future world somewhere between program data and reality. However, Cyberdrome has the benefit of humans fully integrated with the computer and non-stop, heart-pumping action along the way. If you like the film `Avatar', you will almost certainly like this.

The book is even better than I remember.
(A while back, I read the "sample" content that was available online.)

I got my copy just before a business trip. I had 3 planes to fly, but it was a night flight, so I was SUPPOSED to get some sleep. I compromised: I read during leg 1, slept on leg 2, and read/slept on leg 3.

I finished Part One (Earth) just before my final airport.

Then I planned to read just a chapter or two each evening in my hotel.
Well, the next night I read several chapters.
Then, I figured I might as well just finish Part 2.
Then, it sure looked like Part 3 was short enough to include.
Then there was only one part left. (Yes, I finished the entire book that night.)

As I got sucked into the world of Cyberdrome, I just couldn't put the book down. As each chapter ended, there was a sense of concluding, but then it drew me forward to the next one.
I enjoyed the story and enjoyed the ending.
(It was a satisfying ending, yet still left the Rhea's with a very smooth transition to a sequel.)

One of the great things about the writing style is the clues that are given out ahead of time. (I really dislike it when a book suddenly comes up with a solution "out of nowhere" -- it usually makes me think the writers were just too lazy to weave it into the fabric of the story.)

Another aspect that I really appreciated was the great background information that was peppered throughout to help us turn a science fiction story into a "science believable" one. The smooth blending of engaging story-line with just-enough realistic technology allowed me to travel effortlessly with the characters in their world. (If the technical descriptions had been left out, I would have cut off at least one star.)

Part of my initial interest in this story came from the similarities in base concept to the Matrix and Tron. Humans enter a virtual world to save the lives of real people. Programs that think and evolve on their own. Computer systems represented by a 3d virtual environment. However, this story adds more science-based concepts and doesn't suffer from fridge logic level plotholes. Think you see a plothole? A scientist notices and explains it.

This also combines more real-world scientific concepts than the previously mentioned works. Nanobots, the grey goo scenario, genetic algorithms, and metamaterials all make an appearance. Though there are some unrealistic aspects, they are generally kept manageable and don't break suspension of disbelief.

I also like how there is an actual reason for the people in the world to exist, and they have their own DNA allowing them to have complex behaviors, unlike the programs in Tron that are able to exist as people and have personalities despite only being made of a few thousand lines of code that should only allow for a very small set of actions based on specific cases.

The world is very entertaining, to the point that I devoured this book in 24 hours.... and immediately went looking for more. I was expecting to see a series of novels, with the potential for a highly entertaining cartoon series (special effects would be too pricey for live action... the CGI involved would be on the order of the recent Tron movie). However, what I found was that this was based off of some simulations that the author had created, with the idea of a potential computer game (possibly an MMO) based off of this.

I'm eagerly awaiting future developments in this story universe. This story has a huge potential for expansion, all based on what has been defined so far in this one novel. Multiple Earths, people to be rescued, and computers systems to explore. Everything a fan of the cyberpunk genre would ask for.