The Daedalus Code

by Colin F. Barnes

When agents Phaedra and Aegeus of New Crete's Intelligent Data Enforcement Agency are tasked to find five missing Artificial Intelligence students, their single lead takes them to a notorious hacker known as 'The Cretian.'

With his help, they uncover a terrible truth: Ariadne, one of the students, is involved with a rogue AI program called The Daedalus Project. The AI is out of control, people are going missing, and a great swathe of the world’s data is being secured within its digital labyrinth.

Putting all their trust in the hacker, not only are the agent's careers and the student’s lives in jeopardy, but also the very freedom of the public hangs in the balance. Their only hope lies in The Cretian, a rogue hacker who's only out for himself.

Genres: Science Fiction, Amazon

77 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2013

About the author

Colin F. Barnes is a British author of thrillers featuring working-class heroes doing extraordinary things. He is published by 47North, Audible, and Podium. He is represented by Paul Lucas of Janklow & Nesbit.

Reviews

[D.A. Lascelles · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Daedalus Code by Colin F. Barnes

Published by Anachron Press (2013)

You would not think that ancient myth and modern Cyberpunk could mix. Well, not until you had read Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash and seen his interpretation of how monotheistic religion and ancient Babylonian legends apply to computer viruses. The Daedalus Code is in a similar vein to Stephenson’s seminal classic with a skilful blending of the tale of the Labyrinth of ancient Crete with a futuristic vision of the world.

The Daedalus Code begins when Detectives Phaedra and Aegeus, privatised police officers in the corporate future world of New Crete, are on a missing person’s case. Five promising computer programmers have vanished soon after graduating from a top university, most recently a woman called Ariadne. They decide to hire a hacker known as the Cretian (or The Mouse) to help them with their case and the trail leads them into a tale of artificial intelligence and corporate malpractice.

It is not just the title which is reminiscent of myth here, either. Anyone familiar with the original myths will recognise the names of some of the characters here – for example, the missing Ariadne is named for the daughter of King Minos in the original story and is a name any primary school kid should recognise as the one who helped Theseus through the Labyrinth. A quick trawl of Wikipedia or Google reveals other, more obscure names – Phaedra and Aegeus, for example, who are the other daughter of Minos (and wife of Theseus) and the father of Theseus respectively. Little trivia snippets like these are nice for anyone with Geek tendencies to spot and crow over but it does not matter to the story if you do spot them or not. They are also useful for bringing the whole world of New Crete in 2047 to life by adding a veneer of classical myth to the story.

Overall this is a nice little cyberpunk style tale. It has all the elements – gritty streets, corrupt corporations, computers with virtual reality elements – and works into a good thriller story with a little bit of a police procedural show thrown in for good measure, which is especially interesting when it covers some of the issues and benefits which may come from what is effectively a privatised police service. This is all blended together into a well crafted whole which takes full advantage of the limited word count of a novella length story. If there is one flaw I would say it was issues with PoV. The story begins firmly in the lap of one of the two detectives – Phaedra – and this tends to paint her as the main character of the piece. However, once the hacker, Mouse, has been hired PoV shifts to him and it becomes clear that he is the real main character of the piece. It may have been a better choice to start the narrative with the detectives arriving at Mouse’s office and seeing the whole thing through from his perspective. However, this also risks losing out on some of the interactions between the two detectives, which are worth preserving, and the aforementioned police procedural elements. It is therefore a minor flaw in an otherwise wonderful story.

If you enjoy Cyberpunk, trawling for obscure mythological references or both you will definitely enjoy The Daedalus Code. It’s a short, gritty, to the point story with a lot of fun in it.

[Gary Bonn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vivid and visceral! Colin F Barnes is a master at building worlds and sucking you into them. In this one, we have a dystopia that's all too possible. Powerful multinationals, helpless governments and a society rigidly separated into ten layers - most of which are scary. All this created for a novella? Hopefully there will be more to come. In the Daedalus Code, Barnes takes us to the edge of a gritty reality and one pace more.
His characters and their relationships are always believable and interesting. In this story, Mouse, a hacker/software genius, undergoes an apotheosis that almost seems prophetic.
I do get a little lost in the technicalities of this genre, but with Barnes that doesn't matter - the world, the characters and the story are more than robust enough to keep me a fan.
Keep them coming, Mr Barnes!

[Charles Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agents Phaedra and Aegus, agents of New Crete’s Intelligent Data Enforcement Agency (IDEA) are tasked to find five missing AI students. Their investigation leads them to a mysterious hacker known as The Cretan. With The Cretan’s help, they learn of a rogue AI program called the Daedalus Project that threatens the freedom of society.
The Daedalus Code by Colin F. Barnes is a short novella that tracks Phaedra and Aegus as they bore deep into the AI networks of New Crete, putting their trust in an unproven lawbreaker, The Cretan, and their lives and careers on the line.
An imaginative story that is filled with action and future technology that science fiction fans will thoroughly enjoy.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this. The setting was interesting and the story seemed promising, but I couldn't get past the poor editing. I gave up when I'd been annoyed by bad writing five times, which was less than halfway through. A few examples:

"Behind the PR screens he had deep-set eyes, rich and dark. He was fit, too. His body muscled and slim, athletic."

"He flew out there for should have been a routine deal: getting some files metadata wiped, but he didn’t realize the information was in high demand by a number of the gangs there."

"Mouse negotiated through the last of the city towers and through the wide, panoramic windshield. He marveled at the beautiful Aegean Sea."

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great little tech thriller.
Really enjoyed all the Techxorcist books as well.