Name: Cal Desmond‐Pearson's review of The Shockwave Riders by John Brunner
Item: The Shockwave Riders
Rating: 4
Author: Cal Desmond‐Pearson

John Brunner

Nickie Halflinger, the only person to escape from Tarnover -- where they raise hyper-intelligent children to maintain the political dominance of the USA in the 21st century -- is on the run, dodging from loophole to crevice to crack in the computerised data-net that binds the continent like chains. After years of flight and constant changes of identity, at the strange small town called Precipice he discovers he is not alone in his quest. But can his new allies save him when he falls again into the sinister grasp of Tarnover?

The Shockwave Riders

Brandon Liew

Cal Desmond‐Pearson

Fraser Simons

This is, like many 70s sci-fi social spec novels, a novel of big ideas. In the backseat is the plot and characterization. Though, what gives it staying power is some prophetic ideas about the Information Age and the wired world that came. Rightly, it envisions a future in which the massive influx of data is used to steer the young and privileged. Propaganda 2.0. 

I can’t say it was a completely pleasant book to read though, as I’m a character and plot driven reader. Go figure. This reminds me somewhat of Foundation. Almost B movie dialogue with complicated and fantastic worldbuilding and ideas. Fascinating to consume something meant for a completely different kind of reader.

He was the most dangerous fugitive alive, but he didn't exist! Nickie Haflinger had lived a score of lifetimes . . . but technically he didn't exist. He was a fugitive from Tarnover, the high-powered government think tank that had educated him. First he had broken his identity code - then he escaped. Now he had to find a way to restore sanity and personal freedom to the computerised masses and to save a world tottering on the brink of disaster. He didn't care how he did it . . . but the government did. That's when his Tarnover teachers got him back in their labs . . . and Nickie Haflinger was set up for a whole new education! First published in 1975.

Brandon Liew &
The Shockwave Riders by John Brunner

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Brandon Liew &The Shockwave Riders by John Brunner

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Brandon Liew &
The Shockwave Riders by John Brunner