John Joseph Adams, in his wonderful “Strong Medicine,” a review column for Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, has some absolutely fantastic things to say about David Louis Edelman’s new novel, Infoquake:
“If all novels were as chockfull of ideas as Infoquake is, then science fiction would never have to worry about a shortage of sense of wonder. The author who Edelman reminds me most of is Charles Stross, for the sheer complexity of his ideas and his thrusting of the reader into a new and daringly different, yet plausible future. If anything, Edelman is like a more accessible Stross; whereas Stross’s fiction is about as dense as it can get and still be readable, Edelman’s style is more inviting, and, to me, more appealing.”
Adams further adds, “Few first novelists manage as assured a debut as Infoquake; almost all new authors stumble around a bit in their first novel, but Edelman comes off as a seasoned professional.”
Meanwhile, over on his personal blog, The Slush God Speaketh, Adams continues with some praise for our typesetters and designers: “Infoquake’s (and all Pyr titles’) typesetting on the other hand, is widely-spaced and a pleasure to read. As someone who is both a lover of books as entertainment, and as a lover of books as physical objects, it just has to be said that Pyr puts together some of the finest-looking books on the planet–both on the inside with their lovely typesetting and on the outside with their beautiful covers. Coincidentally, they’ve also been publishing some of the best books period, so it’s a mighty fine combination.”
In this instance, Infoquake’s jacket was designed by the wonderful Dave Stevenson, while all our interior layouts are done by the incomparable Bruce Carle, whose work always blows me away and who deserves way more credit than he usually gets, so I’m very glad Adams noticed and called him out!
Update: SFReview has also posted their thoughts on Infoquake:
“Edelman has managed to capture the mania and obsession of Internet moguls nicely, and Natch is just the sort of person who can create a market from a new technology…but that doesn’t make him lovable, as Natch’s closest associated note, or even sympathetic. I found Infoquate interesting, and genuinely wanted to find out what happened next…but the characters in the book are quite like people I’ve known in the world of international entrepreneurship. Work is their life, and much as I channel the puritan ethos myself, it’s hard to do anything other than feel sorry for them as they ramp themselves up for another 36 hour stint to prepare for the next dog and pony show. On the other hand, I know just how compelling it can be to stand in the center of that storm and imagine that you can actually affect the winds of change.”
I think that the lack of an endgame for Natch keeps the reader from knowing whether to root for or against him, while the sympathetic characters in the story seem bent to go down roads that lead away from their dreams.