From his triumphant debut with Snow Crash to the stunning success of his latest novel, Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson has quickly become the voice of a generation. In this now-classic thriller, he and fellow author J. Frederick George tell a shocking tale with an all-too plausible premise.
There's no way William A. Cozzano can lose the upcoming presidential election. He's a likable midwestern governor with one insidious advantage—an advantage provided by a shadowy group of backers. A biochip implanted in his head hardwires him to a computerized polling system. The mood of the electorate is channeled directly into his brain. Forget issues. Forget policy. Cozzano is more than the perfect candidate. He's a special effect.
“Qualifies as the sleeper of the year, the rare kind of science-fiction thriller that evokes genuine laughter while simultaneously keeping the level of suspense cranked to the max."— San Diego Union-Tribune “A Manchurian Candidate for the computer age.” —Seattle Weekly
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"A Manchurian Candidate for the computer age" Seattle Weekly
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Neal Stephenson is the author of The System Of The World, The Confusion, Quicksilver, Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and other books and articles.
J. Frederick George is a historian and writer living in Paris.
Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer, known for his speculative fiction works, which have been variously categorized science fiction, historical fiction, maximalism, cyberpunk, and postcyberpunk. Stephenson explores areas such as mathematics, cryptography, philosophy, currency, and the history of science. He also writes non-fiction articles about technology in publications such as Wired Magazine, and has worked part-time as an advisor for Blue Origin, a company (funded by Jeff Bezos) developing a manned sub-orbital launch system. Born in Fort Meade, Maryland (home of the NSA and the National Cryptologic Museum) Stephenson came from a family comprising engineers and hard scientists he dubs "propeller heads". His father is a professor of electrical engineering whose father was a physics professor; his mother worked in a biochemistry laboratory, while her father was a biochemistry professor. Stephenson's family moved to Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1960 and then to Ames, Iowa in 1966 where he graduated from Ames High School in 1977. Stephenson furthered his studies at Boston University. He first specialized in physics, then switched to geography after he found that it would allow him to spend more time on the university mainframe. He graduated in 1981 with a B.A. in Geography and a minor in physics. Since 1984, Stephenson has lived mostly in the Pacific Northwest and currently resides in Seattle with his family. Neal Stephenson is the author of the three-volume historical epic "The Baroque Cycle" (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) and the novels Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
This is not Stephenson at his best (Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon). The book has a slow buildup to the premise described on the back cover, and then rips through most of the good stuff in the last 150 pages. The story takes place in the 1996 election (I'm assuming, as the book was written in 1994). Besides the wiplash ending, there are some other major problems with the book.
The characters are very two dimensional, adhearing to besic archetypes. There is no real protaganist. None of the charcters are developed enough for the reader to even care about them.
The plot is implausible, not from a technological standpoint, but from a political one. It takes a leap of suspension of disbelief to think that Cozzano (the hero?) makes it as far as he does.
The story skips major events in the srory, such as Election Day!
Don't get me wrong, this is an entertaining story, but nowhere near as deep as the Stephenson we know and love.
If you've seen the size of some of his works, the System of the World trilogy spans almost 3000 pages, then you know what I mean. Six-hundred pages seem like a quick read by comparison, and it does go by quickly.
The incumbent president's platform for re-election is the negation of the national debt. A large conglomerate decides to use it's money to get someone into office that will not renege on the American Debts. This entity sees a perfect opportunity when William A. Cozzano has a stroke and thus opens up the possibility of a new procedure. Doctors implant a chip in his brain to replace lost nerve connections. However, who is now making his decisions?
Part thriller, part political satire, this will keep you hooked wondering how it will all work out.
Oh, yeah; if you want a cheaper copy, just input "Interface" at the search for books menu and it should bring up an earlier edition printed in 1999. It is the same book under the pseudonym Steven Bury and can be had for about two dollars plus shipping.
This is a great summer read, which you should be able to knock off in about a week, but this may be the worst Stephenson novel. (Which means it's a good novel, but just not up to the standards usually set by this author.)
This novel has the worst character development of any Stephenson novel that I have ever read. (That includes everything, chronologically, from Zodiac through the Baroque Cycle.) Rather than an interesting critique of the American political process, which is what Stephenson apparently set out to create, Mr. Stephenson has created a passion play in which the characters are superficially developed and somewhat cliched.
The central theme of political hacks hijacking American democracy is interesting enough -- especially considering that this novel was written in the pre-Rovian era -- but this novel uterly lacks the exhaustive research, meticulous prose, and well-rounded characters that make Stephenson one of the greatest modern authors.
When compared to the rest of Stephenson's work, this one is just shy of three stars. When compared with everything else being written in this genre, it gets four and a half. Buy it, read it, but don't expect vintage Stephenson. All in all, what you get here is a very good story that fails to meet the very high expectations set by this author.
