The Shockwave Rider

A Science Fiction Book Club Selection

"When John Brunner first told me of his intention to write this book, I was fascinated -- but I wondered whether he, or anyone, could bring it off. Bring it off he has -- with cool brilliance. A hero with transient personalities, animals with souls, think tanks and survival communities fuse to form a future so plausibly alive it has twitch...

A Science Fiction Book Club Selection

"When John Brunner first told me of his intention to write this book, I was fascinated -- but I wondered whether he, or anyone, could bring it off. Bring it off he has -- with cool brilliance. A hero with transient personalities, animals with souls, think tanks and survival communities fuse to form a future so plausibly alive it has twitched at me ever since."

-- Alvin Toffler

Author of Future Shock

He Was The Most Dangerous Fugitive Alive, But He Didn't Exist!

Nickie Haflinger had lived a score of lifetimes...but technically he didn't exist. He was a fugitive from Tarnover, the high-powered government think tank that had educated him. First he had broken his identity code -- then he escaped.

Now he had to find a way to restore sanity and personal freedom to the computerized masses and to save a world tottering on the brink of disaster.

He didn't care how he did it...but the government did. That's when his Tarnover teachers got him back in their labs...and Nickie Haflinger was set up for a whole new education!

英国科幻作家，其创作深受科幻“新浪潮”运动的影响，同时有意识地借鉴主流文学，尤其是多斯·帕索斯的“群像小说”。1968年，布鲁纳完成了他的代表作《立于桑给巴尔》：多人物、多角度、兼顾宏观与微观，全景式地展示了一个阴郁的近未来世界——人口暴涨、资源枯竭、传统家庭与社会关系分崩离析。

人文关怀之外，布鲁纳对科技发展的趋势也有独到见地。创作于1975年的《电波骑士》预见了电脑病毒的出现，我们熟知的“蠕虫病毒”一词即出自此书。

1995年，约翰·布鲁纳参加了在格拉斯哥举办的世界科幻大会。与会期间，因心脏病发作去世。