1990s absurdity action adrenaline adventure aerial-combat air-combat air-force ambition artificial-intelligence atmospheric aviation betrayal bioengineering bioethics bioinformatics biotechnology bravery brotherhood camaraderie canadian-literature character-driven cloning coding combat comedy coming-of-age competition computer-programming computer-science confession conspiracy contemporary corporate-culture corporate-espionage corporate-greed corporate-life corporate-world corruption coupland courage courtroom-drama crime crime-fiction danger dark-comedy dark-humor death-penalty detective determination digital-age digital-revolution dna douglas douglas-coupland dreams dysfunctional-family entrepreneurship ethical-dilemmas ethics existential existentialism fantasy fast-paced fate fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots forgiveness friendship future futuristic gaming geek-culture geeks generation-x genetic-engineering genetic-manipulation genetic-research genetics gripping guilt haruki-murakami heroism honor humor identity identity-crisis innocence innovation intense internet introspective james japan japanese-literature jpod justice lawyer legal-drama legal-system legal-thriller literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love loyalty magical-realism manipulation masculinity medical medical-ethics medical-research medical-thriller metaphysical microserfs microsoft military mind-bending moral-dilemma morality murder mystery nanotechnology nerd-culture nerds novel obsession office-culture office-life office-politics page-turner passion personal-growth pharmaceutical-industry pharmaceuticals philosophical philosophy pilots pop-culture postmodern postmodernism programming psychological quest redemption relationships research revenge rivalry romance sacrifice salter satire science science-fiction scientific-advancement scientific-advancements scientific-ethics scientific-experimentation secrets self-discovery sheep silicon-valley social-commentary software software-development start-up start-up-culture start-ups startup-culture supernatural surreal surrealism survival suspense suspenseful symbolism tech-industry technological-advancements technology the-hunters thriller tokyo tragedy transformation triumph unconventional vancouver video-games vietnam vietnam-war virtual-reality war work-life-balance workplace workplace-culture workplace-dynamics world-war-ii