The Hacker and the Ants: Version 2.0

From a two-time winner of the Philip K. Dick award, and one of the founding fathers of cyberpunk comes a novel about a very modern nightmare: the most destructive computer virus ever has been traced to your machine. Computer programmer Jerzy Rugby spends his days blissfully hacking away in cyberspace — aiding the GoMotion Corporation in its noble quest to create intelligent robots. Then an electronic ant gets into the machinery ... then more ants .... then millions and millions of the nasty viral pests appear out of nowhere to wreak havoc throughout the Net. And suddenly Jerzy Rugby is Public Enemy Number One, wanted for sabotage, computer crime, and treason — a patsy who must now get to the bottom of the virtual insectile plague. "Rudy Rucker warms the cockles of my heart ... I think of him as the Scarlet Pimpernel of science fiction." — Philip Jose Farmer

Computer programmer Jerzy Rugby spends his days blissfully hacking away in cyberspace, aiding the GoMotion Corporation in its quest to bring intelligent robots into existence. Then an electronic ant gets into the machinery, then millions of them. Suddenly Jerzy is public enemy #1, wanted by the government for treason--a set-up patsy.

From a two-time winner of the Philip K. Dick award, and one of the founding fathers of cyberpunk comes a novel about a very modern nightmare: the most destructive computer virus ever has been traced to your machine. Computer programmer Jerzy Rugby spends his days blissfully hacking away in cyberspace — aiding the GoMotion Corporation in its noble quest to create intelligent robots. Then an electronic ant gets into the machinery ... then more ants .... then millions and millions of the nasty viral pests appear out of nowhere to wreak havoc throughout the Net. And suddenly Jerzy Rugby is Public Enemy Number One, wanted for sabotage, computer crime, and treason — a patsy who must now get to the bottom of the virtual insectile plague. “Rudy Rucker warms the cockles of my heart ... I think of him as the Scarlet Pimpernel of science fiction.” — Philip Jose Farmer

Publishers Weekly

With a protagonist named Jerzy Rugby, a realty company called Welsh & Tayke, hackers who call themselves Bety Byte and Riscky Pharbeque and computer daemons that look like ants and destroy digital television transmissions, Rucker's second novel clearly dwells in that peculiar subdivision of postmodernism known as cyberspace. As it is enthusiastically described, Rugby's attempt to design a household robot that can function even in the most dysfunctional of homes seems truly like the Great Work he believes it to be. Rucker ( The Hollow Earth ) defines each computer-related term that might confuse the reader, ensuring that everyone will be able to understand the travails Rugby endures after he is blamed for the release of the TV-disrupting daemons. As matters become steadily more absurd, Rugby ultimately deals with the evolution of the human race. Readers familiar with Rucker's previous foray into virtual reality may be pleasantly surprised by his more mature perspective here. Even those who don't break into paroxysms of laughter while reading of bankrupt LISP programmers should find the Antland of Fnoor fascinating. (May)