Thursday 3 May 2012

Wonder - Robert J. Sawyer


A superb near-future SF trilogy of an awakened Internet.

The Internet has become sentient. The world's governments are terrified, it seems the evolution of a new intelligence might have left mankind behind. It is up to one blind girl, a maths genius, to convince mankind that this new digital life is not its enemy.
Perfect for fans of Charles Stross and Vernor Vinge this is a rich imagining of a future that may be just around the corner.

Series: WWW #3, Genre: Sci-fi even if there is not much sci-fi there, and it feels very YA too, Pages: 352, Published: 2012 (2011) by Gollancz, Source: For review

My thoughts:
The good thing about this book is that I could just start reading without having read the previous books (this I of course did not know when I started.) Sure things are mentioned that happened before, yes I would like to read about these things as the book was interesting. But as it is now, it worked and I never felt a bit lost at all.

Did I understand all of the science talk? No, not really, but this did not matter either cos he made it real easy for you. I also linked how he sprinkled a bit of pop culture here and there, like Big Bang and the Skynet clause (look it up). There was also a certain presidential candidate that I saw clearly who he based it on. He made it very now and it felt like it could happen any day.

But to the story then. It's about a blind girl who can see again thanks to modern science. Caitlin is living her life, having a boyfriend and communication with the presence known as Webmind. This is the thing then. The Internet was awakened, an AI was formed and now the news about this is everywhere. The US government is scared and wants to shut it down, the Chinese wants to shut down the outside internet in general. All while webmind tries to tell everyone that he so to say come in peace. He cures cancer, because he can. But like all things that are just too big to understand he is feared and this book is all about trying to kill him, while others tries to understand him. And Caitlin tries to save him.

Conclusion:
The book was interesting, it made you think a bit and of course I understood the fear some had. I would fear him, then again the things he could do...Of course I already feel that google has a mind of its own ;)


34 comments:

  1. Lol I totally agree that Google has a mind of its own!

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    1. It sure is pretty evil..I mean awesome *whistles*

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  2. This sounds a tad creepy. I agree Google has a mind of its own.

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    1. It's not creepy, webmind is a good guy :)

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  3. From the book cover I thought that this book was horror, but after reading your post, I realized its science fiction :)

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  4. Google? Gah! Google is me! ;p

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  5. Sounds great. I'll have to look into the series.

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    1. Maybe even I could force bf to read, lol

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  6. You seem to be hopping into the middle of a series a lot lately! It's always nice when you can do that without being confused:):)

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    1. I know, it's very out of character for me. But I am so glad it works, cos even if a book is good it sucks when you get all confused

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  7. SOunds really interesting _ i would be very worried if the internte did become sentient!

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    1. Oh yes, you can see why some fear him. I would certainly freak out

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  8. What an intriguing idea! Have you read any of Kelly McCullough's books? You might enjoy the Webmage series. :)

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    1. They do not ring a bell just now, I have to check goodreads

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  9. This one might be for me. I have times where I really want to get into some sci-fi. Will have to check out this one.

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    1. You can always start with book 1 ;) Or not, since we all know we kind of skip things, lol

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  10. Oh these scifi reads are starting to really get interesting these days! Very nice review. :) Thank you!

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    1. I really should read more, cos in the end, way too few makes it into my reading pile

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  11. this sounds really interesting! i hadn't seen it before.

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    1. Neither had I, but I have seen a tv-sries based on another book of his

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  12. This sounds really good and I never heard of it before either. I like that you aren't lost if you haven't read the previous books.

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    1. Yvonne,
      It was great being able to read it even though it was book 3 :)

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  13. I don't think this is for me but interesting is always good. Interesting always sticks with me for awhile!

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  14. :0 wooooow what an original book! I had re-read the summary twice to make sure I was reading it right. haha. But yes...anything that is different is always feared and the government wants it gone.

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    1. It's, well it certainly is complicated when trying to explain it but when reading, I picked it up in 2 seconds :)

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  15. Your last line cracked me up. I think Google has a mind too!!

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  16. This book sounds interesting but I don't think I'll like it.

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    1. it might not be for everyone in the end

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  17. Google is becoming kinda scary these days. I'll have to tell my husband about this books; sounds like one he'd enjoy.

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    1. Good idea :)
      Oh yes google knows everything

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