Talk:The Shockwave Rider

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Assessment comments The following comments were left by the assessors: (edit · refresh) Rated stub due to short length. A complete article would probably contain at least an image of the cover art, a complete plot synopsis, a discussion of the influences on the work, and a discussion of the influence of this work on later works. Rated mid-importance because this novel is influential really only in the science fiction genre. -- The Photon 00:21, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

I read somewhere that one edition of the book was butchered by an editor who somehow turned two separate characters into one. If there was one thing Brunner always hated it was meddling editors, and I can only imagine his reaction to something like that. Can anyone confirm this and supply further details? ...Lee M 00:36, 24 Oct 2003 (UTC)

Isn't this the book that introduces the concepts "flash mobs" and markets where people trade in predictions of future events, like the one suggested for terrorism in the USA?

Answer: Yes, indeed thats one of the many novel ideas introduced in this book. While it isn't the business of SF to predict the future (quote from: Ulrika O'Brien, Potlatch 13 Programming, http://www.potlatch-sf.org/potlatch13/programming.html), this book (of 1974!) has predicted quite a number of developments that only occurred many years later and we might see even more to come, like worms, the world-wide-web, automatic spying on data transmissions within the www by government agencies, reality TV shows like jackass and more, or warrying factions of religious fanatics, to name a few. The setting is after the big quake devastating the West Coast. If you believe in conspiracy theories there might be a reason why this book is unavailable and out of print almost all the time. When you see a copy somewhere, get it.

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Question.. concerning the game "Fencing" described in the book. I had heard that John Brunner had wanted to actually make the game, but some game theorist pointed out that there was some flaw (or some such). So the question is -- does any one have any information behind this story? CheyenneWills 20:48, 18 April 2006 (UTC)

I always imagined he was referring to some "go" like game.