Infomocracy

2,207 registered governments (corporate, ideological, political, religious, local, extremist, or otherwise) vying for a supermajority in a world government situation where each voting bloc is 100,000 people. Micro democracy. This near future world has also embraced a new form of technology called 'Information' that projects real time data, entertainment, propaganda, just about anything in the eyes and on the screens of nearly everybody on the planet. The heroes in this story are the data analysts, political advocates, and technicians that attempt to foil plots to overthrow or gain control of this burgeoning form of governance during its third election cycle.

What we learn through Infomocracy is that, regardless of the volume of information you give voters, you can't force them to use it to make decisions in their own best interests. Democracy is a very flawed system, it just happens to be the best one we can think of. Regardless of how small you divide elections, how close to home you bring governance, you still have people you've never met, never will meet, deciding things for you. Democracy is also incredibly prone to undermining. Once the validity of an election is questioned, it's hard to earn trust back in the system.

While I personally agree with many of the conclusions that Infomocracy comes to over its lengthy course, I can't say that I found the vessel that these ideas are contained in to be nearly as agreeable. Older is especially fond of explaining her world to you in vast information dumps, eschewing mood, atmosphere, and characterization in favor of detailing another data crunching session. It's clear where the authors passions are found, and I'm sure that a book with the same passions could be made without being so dull the vast majority of the time.

I will commend Older for steering away from the pitfall of quippy, smart, cultural reference laced dialogue that a lot of contemporary SF falls into, but at the same time I can't defend prose that is pedestrian at best throughout. There's a weird clashing of tones that I never could get over too. Suddenly, the plot will switch to an intense action scene where political nerds that were but a moment prior discussing the ramifications of election fraud are now wielding throwing stars and flamethrowers. It feels like the author was pushed into manufacturing tension in a plot that had it's heart set on showing the heroism in the perceived mundane work of data analysis. This criticism extends to the shoehorned love story at the center of the plot, that I was never convinced to care about. How can I care about characters that I don't know beyond their name? What purpose does it serve other than to make the novel fit in with the other best sellers in the airport bookstore?

Infomocracy is unfortunately rather forgettable despite the nuggets of promise that it contains.