Kill Decision
65% recommend35% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Near-future techno-thriller about autonomous, swarming killer drones and AI in warfare; readers like its plausible tech, page-turning pace, and how well its drone predictions have held up. Suits Daemon fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
When the U.S. finds itself subjected to targeted drone assassinations, the race is on to find those responsible. But after the drones are discovered to be autonomous — programmed to strike without direct human control — the search for the perpetrators becomes infinitely more difficult. It's a discovery that heralds in a new era of cheap, anonymous war, where the kill decision has moved from man to machine with lasting consequences for us all.
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Related: "Kill Decision" by Daniel Suarez. Talked about this exact thing. What happens when drones become so cheap and able to be armed, that a swarm of drones could come out of nowhere, commit a crime, and no one would have…
on “Home-made drones now threaten conventional armed forces” ↗I'm constantly reminded of "Kill decision" by Daniel Suarez that I read last year based on a recommendation here. It plays these ideas (cheap, autonomous) out for some quite interesting reading, only it is the bad guys who are in control.
on “Veil of secrecy lifted on Pentagon office planning micro-drone swarms” ↗You might enjoy reading Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez. https://www.daniel-suarez.com/killdecisionsynopsis.html
on “Military drone swarms and how to combat them” ↗I haven't read Kill Decision, but I loved Daemon/Freedom by Suarez so I'll have to pick it up sometime :)
on “The future of warfare: A $400 drone killing a $2M tank” ↗"Daemon" or "Kill Decision" by Daniel Suarez "Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗…from normal behavior. They may know before you do when you're starting to get restive, and will certainly be able to defuse or destroy any resistance. A fun novel relating to this is Daniel Suarez's "Kill Decision".
on “This is a bit f'd, Quora” ↗…top of my list to replace Stephenson. His books aren't great literature, and not as great as Stephenson when he was at his best but they are good page turners for near future tech. Daemon, Freedom, Kill Decision, Influx. http://www.amazon.com/Influx-Daniel-Suarez-ebook/dp/B00DMCPO...
on “Sci-Fi Novels You Should Read” ↗> That book (along with a small handful of others) made near-future scifi my favorite genre. Any other suggestions? Which others? If you've read Daemon and Freedom (TM), maybe you've already read Kill Decision, also by Daniel Suarez. It's about autonomous, swarming drones used in the military. Daemon is a better book though IMO. There's Hieroglyph: Stories & Visions for a Better Future, which is a collection…
on “How Magic Leap Is Creating an Alternate Reality” ↗Anything by Iain M. Banks. Start with "The Player of Games" and "Consider Phlebas". Anything by Vernor S. Vinge especially "Zones of Thought" series. "Daemon", "Freedom(tm)", "Kill Decision" and "Influx" by Daniel Suarez. "The Martian" by Andy Weir. Anything by Neal Stephenson, especially "Reamde: A Novel" and "Cryptonomicon". Anything by Hannu Rajaniemi, especially "The Fractal Prince".
on “What are your favourite sci-fi books?” ↗I've been meaning to read Kill Decision for quite some time. Daniel Suarez has some really unique perspectives using near-future fiction. Daemon and Freedom™ were fascinating glimpses into the potential of the future of modern day technology.
on “Pentagon Confronts a New Threat from ISIS: Exploding Drones” ↗Daniel Suarez, the author of Daemon, has another book called Kill Decision, which explores a lot of these ideas.
on “Slaughterbots: Stop Autonomous Weapons [video]” ↗Related, some of you might enjoy the book “Kill Decision“ by Daniel Suarez, about this very topic.
on “A Criminal Gang Used a Drone Swarm to Obstruct an FBI Hostage Raid” ↗…meant to be realistic in any way and a bad example, but the way you generalized it to all of sci-fi makes it also not very helpful. Try The Martian from Andy Weir, or some of Daniel Suarez' books like Kill Decision. There is some scary realistic sci-fi out there.
on “Firefox Reality” ↗Obligatory book recommendation: http://www.amazon.de/Kill-Decision-Daniel-Suarez/dp/05259526...
on “US Department of Homeland Security looking for (more than) a few good drones” ↗I read Daniel Suarez's new book, "Kill Decision". I was expecting it to be a continuation of "Demon" and "Freedom", but it was a completely new storyline. I liked "Kill Decision" a lot, and I can highly recommend it.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗