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Earthweb
Two decades after the Shiva first tried to destroy Earth, Shiva V, an all-powerful entity, enters the solar system, bent on the ultimate eradication of humankind, and the only way to stop it is for five heroes to get inside the Shiva and annihilate it from within. Original.
320 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
June 26, 2022
Really loved the prediction markets, how central they were, the emphasis on how effective they are at getting humanity's best knowledge about important topics. Everything else seemed insufficient, though, half-done, skeletal, unconvincing. The world was not fleshed out very much, although there was plenty of potential. For some reason I was never taken in by the clever dialogue, was completely indifferent to all the various romances. The logistics of the aliens was really nonsensical, I never understood why things had to be done in just such the way they were.
August 22, 2014
I thought this was an interesting and enjoyable book, although it fell short in a few areas for me. The story is set on Earth, in the future. Every five years, an alien race sends a ship to Earth to attack the planet. Each time this happens, a small team of people intercept the ship, board it, and attempt to destroy it in order to save Earth. The story is set during the final month before the fifth such event. There are several point-of-view characters ranging from those directly involved in the defense of Earth to those who have a less direct but equally important impact on events.
The story was pretty straight-forward. There were no real twists and turns and I found events to be generally predictable. The story itself, however, was interesting and so were several of the characters. But there were a lot of characters in proportion to the rather short length of the book, so there wasn’t as much page time as I would have liked to allow me to get to know all of the characters better. There were also a couple of romance side-stories in the book which I found to be jarring. In one case, it was between two characters who had very little “page time”. I had no investment in their relationship, so I felt like it detracted from the story rather than added to it. In the other case the romance was more important to the story, but I had trouble buying into it. At least, it needed more build-up to make it believable for me. I also think the story would have worked just as well with a strong but non-romantic relationship.
The ending was reasonably good, if predictable. We were given a decent wrap-up for each character, with an idea of what the future held for them. I wasn’t entirely happy with how everything turned out, but it was far better than having an abrupt ending with open questions and no closure. The one thing I really wanted to know, which was never covered in the book, was more information about the attacking aliens and their motivation. I suppose it wasn’t really the point of the story, and it probably wouldn’t have fit in very well without drastically changing the length and structure of the book, but I did find myself pretty curious. Although the book tells a complete story, my first reaction upon finishing it was to double check that it really didn’t have a sequel. There was definitely room for continuation of the story had the author chosen to do so. I liked the book well enough that I probably would have read it.
The story was pretty straight-forward. There were no real twists and turns and I found events to be generally predictable. The story itself, however, was interesting and so were several of the characters. But there were a lot of characters in proportion to the rather short length of the book, so there wasn’t as much page time as I would have liked to allow me to get to know all of the characters better. There were also a couple of romance side-stories in the book which I found to be jarring. In one case, it was between two characters who had very little “page time”. I had no investment in their relationship, so I felt like it detracted from the story rather than added to it. In the other case the romance was more important to the story, but I had trouble buying into it. At least, it needed more build-up to make it believable for me. I also think the story would have worked just as well with a strong but non-romantic relationship.
The ending was reasonably good, if predictable. We were given a decent wrap-up for each character, with an idea of what the future held for them. I wasn’t entirely happy with how everything turned out, but it was far better than having an abrupt ending with open questions and no closure. The one thing I really wanted to know, which was never covered in the book, was more information about the attacking aliens and their motivation. I suppose it wasn’t really the point of the story, and it probably wouldn’t have fit in very well without drastically changing the length and structure of the book, but I did find myself pretty curious. Although the book tells a complete story, my first reaction upon finishing it was to double check that it really didn’t have a sequel. There was definitely room for continuation of the story had the author chosen to do so. I liked the book well enough that I probably would have read it.
February 6, 2011
Think of Youtube and voting on posted videos: or Twitter and Facebook and how you "like" an entry. Or how people rate websites on Delicious or Digg. Or rate restaurants using Yelp or UrbanSpoon. These have all been hugely popular, and have been instrumental in rocketing someone/trend/ideas into fame or infamy. And we know how popular opinion and national moods affect even the stockmarkets and fates of companies.
Now imagine a world where all major decisions are based on such crowdsourcing, including technology and political and military decisions. Even war.
Told in a swift moving short novel of Earth vs the unknown attackers, it is engaging and fascinating.
Now imagine a world where all major decisions are based on such crowdsourcing, including technology and political and military decisions. Even war.
Told in a swift moving short novel of Earth vs the unknown attackers, it is engaging and fascinating.
April 13, 2016
Not as bad as the cover. But only slightly better.
Idea markets are a cool concept, but not enough to drive an entire novel. The scenario where any sort of military operation with the fate of the Earth at stake would not just conscript anyone who offers useful advice rather than paying them extravagant prizes seems unlikely.
I was expecting more mythology to be built around the Shivas, but none of the characters seem to care about contemplating any interesting questions about them - other than the tactical aspects of how to blow them up. The blurb on the back seems to tease this, but it never delivers.
The book fails as an action romp as well. The constraints on the action scenes were poorly defined - the environments, equipment of the Angels and specifics of their foes were seldom described and never in detail. It's hard to feel any sort of tension during a fight scene when the capabilities of both sides are so unknown. In general, the alien components of this story sorely lacked concrete and vivid descriptions.
Too many characters, all too thin. The heist-like plot demands we know them and care about them before the mission, and there simply isn't anything to them.
Not awful, but bad. I'll give it a very high 1.
Idea markets are a cool concept, but not enough to drive an entire novel. The scenario where any sort of military operation with the fate of the Earth at stake would not just conscript anyone who offers useful advice rather than paying them extravagant prizes seems unlikely.
I was expecting more mythology to be built around the Shivas, but none of the characters seem to care about contemplating any interesting questions about them - other than the tactical aspects of how to blow them up. The blurb on the back seems to tease this, but it never delivers.
The book fails as an action romp as well. The constraints on the action scenes were poorly defined - the environments, equipment of the Angels and specifics of their foes were seldom described and never in detail. It's hard to feel any sort of tension during a fight scene when the capabilities of both sides are so unknown. In general, the alien components of this story sorely lacked concrete and vivid descriptions.
Too many characters, all too thin. The heist-like plot demands we know them and care about them before the mission, and there simply isn't anything to them.
Not awful, but bad. I'll give it a very high 1.
July 3, 2015
Earthweb started off as an exciting and refreshing story. The notion of alien spaceships arriving once every few years to totally obliterate at least one city breaks away from the traditional direction of aliens vs. human stories. The fact that there were a distinct lack of aliens themselves and that the attacks are automated also adds an interesting notion to the story.
The plot of the story was simple, easy to follow and generally captivating. The first half of the book, while distinctively slower than the second half, gave a stimulating insight to a vision of the future, and Stiegler does a great job in writing a novel where humans are at a disadvantange.
However, while the book has an interesting premise, it falls on its delivery. The amount of bloodshed and seeming slaughter is added in without much support from the overall writing, making it seem unrealistic and doesn't achieve the emotional impact which it perhaps was originally intended to do. The second half of the story also seems rather rushed, and the book ends up feeling more like watching a video game rather than writing a book.
Overall, if you have the time to spare and want to break away from general science fiction stories, give Earthweb a try.
The plot of the story was simple, easy to follow and generally captivating. The first half of the book, while distinctively slower than the second half, gave a stimulating insight to a vision of the future, and Stiegler does a great job in writing a novel where humans are at a disadvantange.
However, while the book has an interesting premise, it falls on its delivery. The amount of bloodshed and seeming slaughter is added in without much support from the overall writing, making it seem unrealistic and doesn't achieve the emotional impact which it perhaps was originally intended to do. The second half of the story also seems rather rushed, and the book ends up feeling more like watching a video game rather than writing a book.
Overall, if you have the time to spare and want to break away from general science fiction stories, give Earthweb a try.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2012
You would think that a novel about a suicide mission to destroy an alien spacecraft which shows up once every 5 years would be a real downer and you'd be wrong. Once the premise of this book is set up you know that the main action characters are going to die. Just like the alien doomsday device that they are fighting, you can see it coming a long way off and you know the ultimate result. The strength of the characterization of not only the main characters but also the secondary ones made this a joy to read. I was also surprised that the web based technology ideas are still valid even though this was first published over a decade ago.
February 8, 2011
One of the best books ever. It is a page turn with excellent plot and characters but I love it for the concepts of society and technology. I cry and laugh each time I read this book. It is thought provoking and explores fascinating concepts for the future of society and technology.
March 12, 2017
This is a one off book. I don't believe we will see sequels. Given that...I LOVED it. No, the plot doesn't make much sense and neither does the finish but the ride is AMAZING and the world view is fresh, and interesting.
July 23, 2025
amazing story writing!
I had read this story a while back and couldn’t remember the title. But the forecast ideas and feelings from the story stuck with me, and I’m thankful to have found it again recently.
I had read this story a while back and couldn’t remember the title. But the forecast ideas and feelings from the story stuck with me, and I’m thankful to have found it again recently.
July 9, 2017
3.7 stars.
It was entertaining, but not really all that memorable.In fact I had forgotten that I have read it.
It was entertaining, but not really all that memorable.In fact I had forgotten that I have read it.
November 24, 2019
I really liked this book. Despite the very beginning being an obvious The Last Starfighter knockoff. I actually think the whole book was actually a galactic The Last Starfighter knockoff with some alien super intelligence trying to train civilizations to take on some greater threat. A more difficult challenge every 5 years must mean they are really in a hurry!
December 14, 2025
It just didn't end with anything.
February 1, 2018
This second edition is much improved over the first.
The characters are more developed and more self-consistent, the chapter order has changed and improved, and the plot has changed just slightly to make a better story overall.
This is my favorite introduction to prediction markets. Where previously I've said this is an okay story and a really cool way to teach about idea markets, this is now a great story as well.
The resources mentioned in the afterword are a worthwhile addition if you want to know more about the technical aspects.
Once again, this second edition is much improved!
The characters are more developed and more self-consistent, the chapter order has changed and improved, and the plot has changed just slightly to make a better story overall.
This is my favorite introduction to prediction markets. Where previously I've said this is an okay story and a really cool way to teach about idea markets, this is now a great story as well.
The resources mentioned in the afterword are a worthwhile addition if you want to know more about the technical aspects.
Once again, this second edition is much improved!
October 5, 2013
The book has many great interesting ideas about computers and business interwoven with an end of the world climactic battle. It is well worth the read just for the interesting ideas alone. But if you want a more in depth review check out this video.
May 24, 2008
Excellent near-future science fiction, with interesting side-stories including mention of a way to end spam emailing that may actually be feasible.
March 4, 2009
Shades of Ender's Game! Interesting story, good plot development.
November 21, 2009
Not as good as "David's Sling" but a very good read.
If you're not familiar with Stiegler, check this out and look for David's Sling.
If you're not familiar with Stiegler, check this out and look for David's Sling.
April 24, 2014
The most interesting parts of this book are the most ignored in the writing, which is a shame.
October 29, 2014
The writing isn't perfect, but this is one of those few books that really made me think about the near future differently. Parts of it were so fun.
June 4, 2015
Umm, yeah, except for the libertarian fantasy world it was an engaging story.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews