Shockwave rider
Shockwave riderThere are numerous books on the science fiction
market, that deal with the myriad of possibilities
involving the technology of the future. John Brunner’s
book, “Shockwave Rider,” is one of the most popular, as
well as one of the most famous, books dealing with this
issue. Brunner presents many different realities to the
reader, and they are all potentially very realistic in
terms of the current state of technology. For the most
part, Brunner seems to illustrate that technology, as it
relates to the world wide datanet, is a good thing. This
is not to say that he does not illustrate it as a very
negative reality in the world he presents to the reader,
but he does indicate that the world wide datanet and
technology has great potential to make the world a better
place for all concerned.
In Brunner’s book we have a reality that is
incredibly tense, and almost plausible today. The space
that the author deals with is filled with endless bits of
information (information overload to be more precise),
corporate domination, and it appears, just like many
science fiction books that deal with the planet earth in
the future, everything is known about everyone. there are
no secrets from the system. Brunner illustrates this as a
reality that is not necessarily very desirable. He plants
a character, Nickie Haflinger, onto the scene. As with
many books we can look at this character and see the
author within. Haflinger is a prodigy whose talents allow
him to switch identities with a simple phone call. By the
advanced technology and the ingenuity that is completely
Haflinger’s, we see that the author is not one to be
content with the realities that may be a possibility in
the future of technology.
Brunner clearly illustrates, by the previous
description of Haflinger, that technology and the advances
within that field, are incredibly beneficial, or they can
be. but he is clearly unhappy with the way things have
turned out due to the controlling nature of the
governments. This is further illustrated in the fact that
Brunner’s hero is a young man who is bent on changing the
world. He struggles to evade the officials and uses all
skills available to him, whether inherent skills or
technological ones, to the best of his ability, to put an
end to the misuse of power that is so much a part of his
world which involves the entity of the world wide datanet.
Perhaps, one of the most insightful parts of the book
comes in the first half, when Haflinger is experiencing
flashbacks due to interrogations. It is in these sections
that we see the inner mind of Brunner as he deflty
illustrates the world and mind of Haflinger. In this part
we see many different ethical arguments arise between
Haflinger and his interrogators. Not only does it seem as
though Brunner is telling a fascinating story, but that he
is attempting to enlighten people about...
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