The Devil's Dictionary
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Empathy Evolved: A Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Thriller
New York Times bestselling author Steven Kotler's follow up to Last Tango in Cyberspace, The Devil's Dictionary is a near-future thriller that explores the evolution of empathy in the tradition of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson.
Lion Zorn, the 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 a useful skill in today's competitive business market, but when a routine em-tracking job goes sideways and em-trackers themselves start disappearing, Lion finds himself in a life and death race to uncover the truth.
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. But as 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, heart-pounding action, and unforgettable characters, The Devil's Dictionary blends cutting-edge science, cult comic touches, and vivid storytelling. It's Steven Kotler at his thrilling science fiction best, delivering a thought-provoking tale of empathy, evolution, and the future of humanity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kotler's earnest hero Lion Zorn gets back to work (after 2019's Last Tango in Cyberspace) in this action-packed but moralizing techno thriller in which billionaires fight to control the fate of the global ecosystem. Lion, an "empathy tracker" whose sensitivity to individual and social emotions makes him a valuable marketeering tool, is on the trail of two colleagues who vanished after telling him of a new empathy drug, Evo. The case leads Lion into the feud between Sir Richard (his former boss) and a charismatic self-help guru, Chang Zee. Both wealthy men have visions of remaking the world: Sir Richard with a series of restored wilderness "mega-linkages," Zee by reengineering humanity from the genes up. As more people go missing, Lion has to penetrate Sir Richard's project and piece together his past connections to Zee to solve the case. Kotler tends to lecture but never quite forgets to keep the plot boiling, whether Lion is dangling over the streets of Seattle or slaloming off cliffs in search of killer flying snakes. Readers with a fondness for nature will appreciate Lion and the sincerity of his quest.
