This book grabbed me from the start. I suppose though it was always likely to do so given that it is a sf book about software engineers (and I am one). But the other thing that came to mind when reading the synopsis about this was a fear that this might be a book that limited itself to a small audience. After all everyone knows computer programmers are dull uninteresting folk, the ones people like to avoid at parties (well apart from those of us who are also programmers).

This book though should appeal to a wide readership, and no one who likes futuristic Philip K. Dick-ish science fiction should not be put off reading this book just because it revolves around programmers. Especially when you consider that in this book the programmers are writing BioLogics applications utilisint nanoscopic robots in people's bodies. This means that they can change eye colours to match backgrounds, prevent nausea, eliminate drowsiness temporarily and manipulate many other bodily-functions.

Natch is the lead programmer with a BioLogics fiefdom (the software house of the future. He's a man desperate to make his fiefdom the lead in the market, and he's not above using some shady tactics to achieve his goals.

So when he is contacted by Margaret Surina (a descendant of the man responsible for BioLogics) about a co-venture on a major advancement in BioLogics programming it is simply something he cannot resist.

This book was superb. I simply cannot believe that this is a debut novel, it reads so much more like the work of a seasoned writer. He's managed to write characters that sound familiar to some of the people I've known in the industry, but without being dull (which I suppose means he isn't all that accurate).

He's also managed to add a certain tension and excitement to programming. Now I know programming can be stressful (as can any industry with deadlines) but that's only from the inside - outside this can appear boring. This book however is anything but boring - it grips you from the start and leaves you at the end of the book wishing you had book two to hand. Unfortunately I do not, so I guess I will have to wait.

Synopsis
How far should you go to make a profit?

Infoquake, the debut novel by David Louis Edelman, takes speculative fiction into alien territory: the corporate boardroom of the far future. It's a stunning trip through the trenches of a technological war fought with product demos, press releases, and sales pitches.

Natch is a master of bio/logics, the programming of the human body. He's clawed and scraped his way to the top of the bio/logics market using little more than his wits. Now his sudden notoriety has brought him to the attention of Margaret Surina, the owner of a mysterious new technology called MultiReal. Only by enlisting Natch's devious mind can Margaret keep MultiReal out of the hands of High Executive Len Borda and his ruthless armies.

To fend off the intricate net of enemies closing in around him, Natch and his apprentices must accomplish the impossible. They must understand this strange new technology, run through the product development cycle, and prepare MultiReal for release to the public-all in three days.

Meanwhile, hanging over everything is the specter of the infoquake, a lethal burst of energy that's disrupting the bio/logic networks and threatening to send the world crashing back into the Dark Ages.

With Infoquake, David Louis Edelman has created a fully detailed world that's both as imaginative as Dune and as real as today's Wall Street Journal.