The Fear Index

We are suffering under an acute shortage of technologically literate smart fiction. The Fear Index should be read up by everyone who works in and around computing. Not that the book will have much to teach technology folks, but more that technology folks will be hugely entertained by a book that is simultaneously smart about computers, character and plot.

Why don't we have more technology literate quality fiction? Is it because good writers don't tend to hang out in server rooms or with coders? Or maybe because software engineers seldom become novelists?

Robert Harris is not a technologist, but he is a terrific writer, (and the author of a two of my favorite books, Fatherland and Enigma). In The Fear Index, Harris has something to say about the financialization of the economy, the growth of unregulated and un-checked hedge funds, and the dangers of handing off our economic decisions to computers and algorithms.

The Fear Index reminds me a bit of Daniel Suarez's books Daemon and Freedom (Suarez was a technologist), but I think that Suarez would even admit that his writing is not in the same class as Harris. This is not to denigrate Suarez, or the work of other cyber-thriller authors, only to note how rare it is for a quality novelist to take on technology as a central theme.

I don't usually share and recommend fiction (although the new Elmore Leonard's new book Raylan is cracking good), as I like to review books that are somehow relevant to higher ed. However, when a book as good as The Fear Index comes along it seems prudent to drop everything else and start reading.

What technologically literate quality fiction can you recommend?

Plot seemed very predictable - the M5 from Star Trek, HAL from 2001, WAR GAMES, and any number of other stories where artificial intelligence eventually runs amok. Other Robert Harris books that I have read were outstanding but I was underwhelmed with this one. The narration by Christian Rodska was acceptable, although his performance in this was very much inferior to the one he had in Winston Churchill's the Second World War.

Having read and so thoroughly enjoyed "The Ghost", I was extremely pleased to get another Robert Harris book. I ended up genuinely surprised these two works were from the same author.

From the beginning of this "mystery", there was an overly obvious ending that suggested itself at every turn. For that reason, I assumed that it must be some sort of reverse psychology attempt, to draw the reader's attention to one possibility, so we'd be surprised when the clues left for the actual resolution were laid out.

As the story progressed, I started to get nervous; my hopes for a clever ending started slipping away as the hints became increasingly clumsy and heavy-handed. Sure enough, the "plot twist" ended up being no twist at all, but rather the unoriginal concept so clear from the beginning.

I didn't hate my time with this book, but it left me bewildered and disappointed. There are certainly worse ways to spend your time; but there are better ways as well. For that reason, this won't be one of the selections I end up passing on a recommendation for.

I first learned about this book when I heard the author interviewed on NPR. It sounded interesting so I decided to give it a shot. It was really a present day story. The financial services/stock markets environment, which I work in, throw in Charles Darwin and his "Survival of the Fittest" and a dash of Space Odyssey and Hal and you have the making of a god yarn. I enjoyed it and I'll look to see if any other books by this author catch my eye.

Another riveting discovery for me. Good story, easy listen, and fast takeoff. Fun and fast, but not a mindblower.

Hard to tell you why I liked this so much without being a plot-spoiler. Very well written, perhaps a bit long, but also very well researched. I've done a little corporate finance work in Switzerland on a far lower level that the hedge funds this book describes but the backgrounds, the understanding of financial technology, and the details of expense account life in and around Geneva are dead perfect.

The characters are well rounded for this type of rona-a-clef and the narrator is perfect for the really good writing. You will learn something about derivatives training as well as being intrigued. (At least I did.)

HAL (of 2001 infamy) meets the 21st century financial markets. Takes over. Makes billions. Destroys lives. Kills people with elevators. Crashes planes and the stock market. All in 24 hours. Then the book ends.

This is worth listening to. I did need to follow it closer than I do some books, but I felt it ws worth the listen. It passed the time well!

I bought this audiobook after hearing an interview with the author on NPR. The world of finance is not something I am at all familiar with but I found the premise of the book interesting and it did not disappoint. Though I think the 'reveal' was obvious and there were a few lose ends that frustrated me (like the storyline with the Darwin book) I still loved this book. Found the setting, the characters, and the story line different and compelling. The performance was EXCELLENT! Overall just a fun and hard to 'put down' book. I was really sad when it ended!

Robert Harris is a great writer and he is talented. The idea behind this book is just not that great...that's pretty much it.

The story was just weak and really didn't have enough a foundation to carry it along. The fact that he was able to get so much out of a bland premise is a testament to his skill as a writer nonetheless.

Both Hoffman and Inspector LeClaire were my favorite characters as performed by Christian Rodska. He was amazing! His unique and diverse voicing for each character really helped to make this somewhat weak story, more tolerable. He gets 5 stars!

Sure. It was entertaining at some level and not a complete disappointment.