Agreed. For my tastes, a lot of tech thrillers are a little too "and then magic happens" when it comes to the tech details. Daemon's rich detail in this regard was appealing to me.

If you read Daemon, you really need to read FreedmonTM. It's a direct sequel, and almost has a hopeful vision of the future where Daemon has a dismal vision.

I've wondered about whether there was a sequel, given how Daemon ends.

Honestly, I feel like the story is incomplete without the sequel. It made the whole idea even better.