Customer Reviews

Earthweb

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is a future where pseudoanonymous identities with persistent reputation contract, over the web and in person. Decisions are guided by anonymous betting on idea future contracts. Reporters must be honest and accurate, because bi-directional, reputation endorsed public commentary follows them wherever they go. And Shiva V is coming to destroy the world.

Welcome to Marc Stiegler's latest book, "Earthweb". It is a space opera with a bibliography. (And the bibliography includes some of my favorite links.

Highly recommended.

Bill Frantz

The future never looked so clear....This story brings a lot of pioneering elements just now starting to show up in society and the world wide web together into a plot that seems very plausible. The palmtops that everyone seems to have in their possession are reminiscent of the PALM PILOT handhelds and their clones...The ATMs of today are replaced by these palmtops with e-cash being the norm in transactions. No greenbacks around in this scenario...Sky Cars rule transportation while land cars are antiques to be collected. The Windows OS is hinted at being gone, but the future's OS name is unknown, no endorsements here...

Upwards of two billion people are supposedly avid 'net users with sports bars replaced by web-cast bars...This is brought about in haste by an alien attack that comes in five year cycles. The aliens known as the SHIVA, are just robots in a ship-(who sends them to attack Earth is unknown). The fifth attack is underway so its been twenty five years since the first one. The people of earth, and I mean literally billions of people, team up to fight the SHIVA through strategy sessions on internet sites that try to come up with the most plausible defensive/offensive moves for the navy seals of the future known as Angels to use.

I like the fact that past events are hinted at as to what may have happened in our very near future, which doesn't seem good. With our near future being in past tense though, the story presents a future where society becomes reliant on individuals that use computer/information technology and less reliant on government. In fact, the reliant government in essence has recruited the whole world into the role of gamblers that try to put money on the strategies that will best work in defense of earth. People can suggest a way to fight and others will either improve on it and/or place money on it. They put their money where their mouth is so to speak...

If you're a 'Net Addict then this book is impossible to put down. If not, then EARTHWEB is a very good book to read over the course of a week.

This is the first book of a new trilogy. Although it starts a bit slowly--it has to, to set the scene--by the time you get to Chapter 4 you can't put it down! It's about a group of people (most of whom never meet each other)who unite using the World Wide Web to devise strategies to defeat a starship trying to destroy Earth. It takes all kinds of people and skills to accomplish this aim, and this book has them.

Earthweb is different from Mr. Stiegler's earlier works, which were more oriented towards the process than the people. The treatment of his characters made Earthweb more interesting to me (although I enjoyed David's Sling, Valentina and The Gentle Seduction) but for his loyal fans who have been waiting ten years for a new novel in his old style, don't despair--the innovative ideas and interesting uses of technology are still there!

The book has many funny as well as tense moments. A great read! I can't wait for the second book in this trilogy!

I saw a mention of this book on Slashdot a week ago. When both Vernor Vinge and David Friedman recommend a book, it is a pretty safe bet that it is a good story and well thought out. I wasn't disappointed.

The origin and purpose of the Shivas practically demands another novel. While I am not a big fan of series that never die, I'll be looking for that one. I hope that once again, the ideas are the best part.

Earthweb is a book that contains interesting characters. It also has an exciting alien attack. Those two elements would make this a good book. The element that makes this a great book is the way the author makes the future of the web come alive for every reader. We learn about Capablilty-Based Security, Idea Futures and Bidirectional links. These are real technologies that are being developed right now. In this book we see how these technologies may change the face of the internet forever. Please Mr. Marc Stiegler, give us more!

As I was reading "The Wisdom of Crowds" by James Surowiecki, I remembered "Earthweb" and decided to reread it. In "The Wisdom of Crowds" James Surowiecki does a good job of explaining how groups of people may make better decisions than the experts. Marc Stiegler in "Earthweb" writes a wonderful story about humans defending their planet against doomsday machines from space, called Shivas. One of the most important tools is the Earthweb which allows everyone on earth to help in fighting the doomsday machines.

This is a well written book. It was hard to put down. We are introduced to a variety of interesting characters and the story weaves their lives together as it builds to the exciting conclusion.

The book explores the events leading up to the second attempt to destroy another Shivas. We meet the attack team which is going onto the most recent Shivas. An important character is Morgan MacBride who directs the team remotely. He was the leader of the team that destroyed the first Shiva. The rest of characters are mostly those who kibitz via the Earthweb to help the attack team blow up the Shiva.

The basic premise, that of these Shivas coming every five years and they can only be destroyed by sneaking on board, is a bit farfetched. But it does provide the author with a way to explore the power of the wisdom of crowds. One of the interesting things to me is this book was published in 1999, and "The Wisdom of Crowds" was published five years later in 2004.

The action and characters-you-care-about keep you turning those pages, but each page also makes you think.

Against a foreground of gripping Sci-Fi save-the-world action adventure, Stiegler shows how a future web, enhanced by cryptographic markets, makes possible cooperative efforts at a scale breathtaking by current standards. We see how the Earthweb, by being a superconductor for both bits and prices, enables knowledge dispersed across humanity to be quickly integrated into useful results.

A hopeful look at where all this web technology may go. As a programmer, I felt "I want to build this future!". I hope we do.

Stiegler a presents an intriguing vision of computer-enhanced collaboration. He draws on the work of Robin Hanson, Norm Hardy, Mark Miller, Dean Tribble and other little-known, but first-rate thinkers. Earthweb is a nearly painless introduction to the "good" sides of cryptography and of free markets. Unfortunately, the writing isn't as good as the ideas he showcases. I would have liked the characters to be more complex, the plot to be more compelling or at least not quite so blatantly contrived, and the writing to be less syrupy and self-congratulatory. If you read lots of Science Fiction, you probably won't mind these flaws. Even if you are spoiled by excellent writing, Earthweb is still well worth reading.

I read this book through Baen's Free Library (A site worth going to). This was a very well written book. The characters were well defined. I enjoyed this book enough to buy a paper copy. Highly recommended.

Earthweb was pretty good, at least as good as David's Sling from a decade ago. What I really enjoyed was the lively optimistic setting (I liked the idea of Earthweb Everywhere) and the characters that intrigued me and were worth caring about. I honestly look forward to seeing the other 2 books in the trilogy to see the fates of CJ, Dealer and everyone else.

My nagging questions are: Did it seem like Shiva was a video game? Every 5 years a new level, with deadlier bad guys, new traps and layouts, etc. And sandstone in space? Surely you don't think the author was referring to sedimentary rock.