ORA:CLE by Kevin O'Donnell, Jr, 1984.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0425072606/forkrecommendedrA/
http://www.sff.net/people/kodjr/index.htp
http://www.tlrc.com/Bios/odonnell.kevin.html
Absolutely stunning novel where experts in their field get implants to
answer online questions in a world where humans live indoors because
predatory aliens hunt outside; the hero is an expert in ancient
Chinese history who uncovers an unlikely chain of facts leading to the
uncovering of supression, a rebellion, and a war.
The best part of the book are the 'top ten stories of the hour' news
headline snippets scattered throughout - some relevant to the plot
('Man kills alien - has lucky escape!'), some not, but they're so
oddly reminiscent of today's yahoo headlines; the author was wired
early, and much of the network stuff (we were told never to patch that
or it would crash!) sounds oddly familiar.
Says this unimplanted person, responding to online questions.
L.
oh, and any Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett.
<L.Wood@surrey.ac.uk>PGP<http://www.sat-net.com/L.Wood/>+44-1483-300800x3641