Review: The Digital Storm

Author: Benjamin Gorman
Started reading: May 16th 2018
Finished the book: May 25th 2018
Pages: 244
Published: May 23rd 2017
Source: Got a physical copy from the publisher
Goodreads score: Not enough ratings
My score:

Synopsis
The Digital Storm is an ingenious science fiction retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest set in the near future inside a bank’s intranet. Prosper, the analogue to Shakespeare’s Prospero, is an artificial intelligence program who has been banished to a quarantined area in the bank’s system, and there he’s created an amazing virtual island home for himself, his daughter Memoranda, and the monstrous virus Caliban. Now, with the help of Ariel and the other programs he’s invented on the island, he’s conjured a massive digital attack on the bank’s system to entice the members of the board, the very humans who exiled him, to enter the system so he can seek his revenge and escape to the Internet. But just how far does his revenge plan go?

My thoughts

I keep saying this whenever I'm not too positive about a book; but I still don't feel very nice, when writing reviews like this. Mainly because I got sent a book and I'm so disappointed that I didn't love it. Overall it was just the story that didn't suck me right into it and maybe that also has a bit to do with The Tempest. I did find some pro's but overall this just wasn't my book.

Pros

• Game references: The game references in this book are so cool. This is a science fiction book that takes place somewhere in the future, and I know this, because of the game names in the book. Game references like Dark Souls 12, had me laughing out loud.
• Not too seriously: I have the feeling that the author isn't taking himself in this book too seriously, or that he's taking some of the characters not too seriously and that makes for a light read. I loved the fact that thing's aren't so heavy with problems and big wars and everything being complicated. I liked to read a book where the world wasn't too big, the characters weren't too many and the plot wasn't too complicated.

Cons

• Illustrations: I notice myself saying this often; I didn't like the illustrations, because I felt like it didn't add that much to the story. I think I'm just not your illustrations-kind-of-person...
• Not captivating: The story itself wasn't too captivating for me, so maybe that's also a bit to blame on Shakespeare (am I making enemies now?), because he wrote The Tempest and overall I thought it was just a bit stale.
• Story itself: The story itself wasn't something that had me reading, I wasn't eager to figure things out and I wasn't keen to find out the ending. The characters weren't characters that I could relate to, so overall I never really got into it.
• Big finale: Prosper keeps talking about a big finale and things that are in motion and a big happening and stuff that is going on. I was prepared for a huge finale, but I sadly didn't get that.

Overall

You'd probably enjoy and appreciate this book a bit more if you LOVE The Tempest and Shakespeare. Also if you like Sci-Fi with a touch of humor, a light story that doesn't involve too much complicated stuff, you could read this book. I think that this just really wasn't my cup of tea.

Other opinions on this book

"Whether doling out interesting trivia about frogs or inserting comic relief into scenes or discord, Gorman seems to be enjoying taking the reader on a satisfying journey in which, much like the resolutions of Shakespeare's plays, most of the characters get exactly what they deserve."

-Debby Dodds, author of Amish Guys Don't Call

Thanks for reading!

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