Ah, a sci-fi book about a coder set in the near future. Normally that is a sentence that makes me a bit twitchy. As a coder myself I get a bit sick of the poor way that we are represented on TV and in books: hoodie wearing beings with questionable personal hygiene and social skills tapping away on their laptops in a darkened room. Ok, the hoodie bit might be correct, but most coders have at least one, if not three, external screens that are in use at the same time. I’m very glad to say that Bitcoin Hurricane by Kate Baucherel came as an excellent diversion from the norm and had me captivated from the beginning. Clearly written by someone that actually understands the basis for the world they have created and that the use of external screens for coding is paramount.
Bitcoin Hurricane has the best beginning of a book that I’ve read in ages. You are transported into the world of a computer virus and it becomes a living breathing thing in the first chapter. I’ve never thought about a computer virus in those terms before and I found it a very captivating way to set off the whole story, I wanted to know more about this virus and what it was going to get up to.
There are all sorts of gems in the book as the story unfolds and I was kept fully entertained until the end. References to computers that I grew up with that used to belong to the main character’s mother. Yes, her mother. Great to have a book with many women who are scientifically literate, but the book doesn’t stop breaking the usual technical stereotypes there and you’ll have to read it to find out more as I’m not going to spoil the story for you.
The SimCavalier universe has some very useful technology advances. Delivery drones as the absolute norm that spell the end of your weekly shop, and robots that will come and clean up after you are all in a world that I look forward to living in. However, I absolutely agree that a smart refrigerator is un-necessary and have been heard to say so on many occasions in the past. I also now want to live on Tribble street, or perhaps Kryton street, and have the antics of a waring pair of cats to keep me entertained on a daily basis. I was delighted by naming of the hurricanes and the prospect of wine from my home region will make you laugh out loud.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first installment in the SimCavalier universe (Bitcoin Hurricane) and have put the next two books on my ‘read 24 books in Quarter 1 of 2021’ list. I’ll add a non-spoiler kind of review of Hacked Future and Tangled Fortunes here in due course. If you want to buy the books and enter the wonderful world of SimCavalier:
Bitcoin Hurricane: https://amzn.to/3mruJEo
Hacked Future: https://amzn.to/2KldQhJ
Tangled Fortunes: https://amzn.to/2J2MyMt
Kate Baucherel also has short stories available in Harvey Duckman and technical books available, so go and check them out on Amazon or Sixth Element!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kate-R-Baucherel/e/B08QW89CDV?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1609778380&sr=1-1
https://6e.net/product-category/harvey-duckman-presents/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08Q8QTWD6?ref_=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_tkin&binding=kindle_edition
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