Identify this novel.

March 27, 2006 1:52 AM

This should be an easy one. I'm trying to remember the title, and author, of a sci fi / cyberpunk novel I read a few years back. The book started in Galveston, Texas, then moved on to guys in the Caribbean running ecosystems on ships. I think it also involved an escape from Hong Kong on a ship, and later, jail in Mali. Oh and while you're at it, reccomend some lesser known books with a similar vibe, if you can.
posted by Jimbob to writing & language (10 comments total)

The book you're thinking of is by Bruce Sterling. It's called Islands in the Net. For other stuff like it, you might read other Bruce Sterling books, especially Heavy Weather, Holy Fire, and Distraction.
posted by cgc373 at 2:23 AM on March 27, 2006

Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling?

A more recent novel that struck me as similar in some ways was Whole Wide World by Paul McAuley.
posted by thatwhichfalls at 2:24 AM on March 27, 2006

Yeah, Islands in the Net. Just read that, actually. Fun stuff. I definitely suggest you check out his other work. My favorite of his is Zeitgeist. Not exactly sf, but severely strange.

Characters vomit currency at several points.
posted by brundlefly at 3:18 AM on March 27, 2006

Maybe you should check out books by John Courtenay Grimwood - his books are along a similar vein.
posted by mattr at 6:31 AM on March 27, 2006

Recommended reading for those interested in how things might go down post Peak Oil.
posted by Mitheral at 7:10 AM on March 27, 2006

It definitely sounds like Islands in the Net. For an older but still surprisingly prophetic take on similar themes, I recommend The Sheep Look Up by John Brunner. It's a classic but so much of it has come true, it's scary (and it's a good book, read-wise).
posted by doctor_negative at 8:36 AM on March 27, 2006

Hardwired, by Walter Jon Williams is a very similar cyberpunk-style, though it's closer to Neuromancer than Islands.

In some ways I liked it better than Neuromancer, despite the cheesy cover. (Tell me they didn't use Dolph Lundgren as a model...) but it's well-written and posits some unique nuts and bolts to the cyberpunk genre that I haven't seen elsewhere.

Loved this book, I did.
posted by TeamBilly at 9:54 AM on March 27, 2006

Yes, it sounds like the Sterling book, but Stephenson's Cryptonomicon wold probably also grab you.
posted by emg at 10:48 AM on March 27, 2006

I second the recommendation for The Sheep Look Up.
posted by gentle at 11:57 AM on March 27, 2006

Voice of the Whirlwind by Walter Jon Williams is also good. I'd recommend Vurt by Jeff Noon (bizarre but very good) and the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard Morgan.
posted by hardcode at 1:52 PM on March 27, 2006