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Book Summary and Reviews of The Devil's Dictionary by Steven Kotler

The Devil's Dictionary by Steven Kotler

The Devil's Dictionary

by Steven Kotler

  • Critics' Consensus (5):
  • Published:
  • Apr 2022, 336 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler's follow up to Last Tango in Cyberspace, a near-future thriller about the evolution of empathy in the tradition of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson.

Hard to say exactly when the human species fractured. Harder to say when this new talent arrived. But Lion Zorn, protagonist of Last Tango in Cyberspace, is the first of his kind―an empathy tracker, an emotional forecaster, with a felt sense for how culture evolves and the future arrives.

It's also a useful skill in today's competitive business market.

In The Devil's Dictionary, when a routine em-tracking job goes sideways and em-trackers themselves start disappearing, Lion finds himself not knowing who to trust in a life and death race to uncover the truth. And when the trail leads to the world's first mega-linkage, a continent-wide national park advertised as the best way to stave off environmental collapse, and exotic animals unlike any on Earth start showing up―Lion's quest for truth becomes a fight for the survival of the species.

Packed with intrigue and heart-pounding action, marked by unforgettable characters and vivid storytelling, filled with science-based brilliance and cult comic touches, The Devil's Dictionary is Steven Kotler at his thrilling science fiction best.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"This fast-moving SF thriller—a follow-up to Last Tango in Cyberspace (2019)—pops with weirdness and imagination...The descriptions rival what you'll find in Coleridge's Xanadu or Herbert's Dune...It's an engrossing story that will make you both laugh and think. A richly lunatic tale of the future." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"This joyride never loses steam…Kotler puts together a top-notch cyberpunk novel with authority and flair." - Booklist (starred review)

"Kotler's earnest hero Lion Zorn gets back to work in this action-packed but moralizing techno thriller in which billionaires fight to control the fate of the global ecosystem...Kotler tends to lecture but never quite forgets to keep the plot boiling...Readers with a fondness for nature will appreciate Lion and the sincerity of his quest." - Publishers Weekly

This information about The Devil's Dictionary was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Steven Kotler

Steven Kotler is a New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, and Founder and Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. He is the author of over a dozen books, including The Art of Impossible, The Rise of Superman, Abundance, and Bold. His work has been translated into over 50 languages and appeared in over 100 publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, and Forbes.

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