[XB1]≡ PDF Free WWW Wake WWW Trilogy Robert J Sawyer 9780441016792 Books

WWW Wake WWW Trilogy Robert J Sawyer 9780441016792 Books

Download As PDF : WWW Wake WWW Trilogy Robert J Sawyer 9780441016792 Books

WWW Wake WWW Trilogy Robert J Sawyer 9780441016792 Books

I'm having trouble getting through this book. The storytelling is generally good, and I'm enjoying the characters. I particularly enjoy hearing about the challenges of a blind person. Much of that was -- er -- eye-opening for me. My issues are with the content.

The storytelling only flops when the author pretends to be the consciousness of the Web. It's goofy but perhaps does conform to how some people imagine consciousness to arise. I don't find the sudden approach compelling, much less a sudden sophistication.

My biggest challenge with the story is perhaps my own expertise. I'm an experienced software developer, including a web developer, and I know the ins-and-outs of how the web works. The author is largely consistent with the actual workings of the web, but the explanations don't hold my interest. For me, the serious failing is the manner in which the protagonist perceives the web. That's pure fantasy to me. I really was hoping for something more inspired.


Tags : WWW: Wake (WWW Trilogy) [Robert J. Sawyer] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Receiving an implant to restore her sight, math genius Caitlin's life is changed in ways she could have never imagined when she suddenly begins to see a world beyond reality and an incredible realm that others cannot.,Robert J. Sawyer,WWW: Wake (WWW Trilogy),Ace Hardcover,0441016790,Thrillers - Technological,Blind women;Fiction.,Implants, Artificial;Fiction.,Women mathematicians;Fiction.,Blind women,ENGLISH CANADIAN NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,FICTION Thrillers Technological,Fiction,Fiction - Science Fiction,Fiction Science Fiction General,Fiction-Science Fiction,GENERAL,General Adult,Implants, Artificial,Monograph Series, 1st,SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY,Science Fiction,Science Fiction - General,United States,Women mathematicians

WWW Wake WWW Trilogy Robert J Sawyer 9780441016792 Books Reviews

OK, now I'm a solid Robert J. Sawyer fan. I started with his trilogy with Neanderthals, and now here I am with the waking to consciousness of the world wide web. Nothing, absolutely nothing like HAL 9000.<br/><br/>This is not the first time we've had stories of artificial intelligence that becomes self-aware -- a prerequisite to being considered intelligent, in my opinion. But this is the first I've read that is completely believable, plausible, and perhaps even inevitable. Also profoundly appealing.<br/><br/>The trigger is Caitlin, a young blind woman who has a pretty rare form of blindness which is caused by scrambled messages to her brain rather than any defect in her eyes except, it turns out, myopia. A Japanese neurobiologist and computer designer figure a way for her signals to be set right, using a device she immediately dubs her eyePod. The signals depend on software that resides on the web (or is it in the cloud? I'm no nerd about this), and so the gestating self-awareness of the Web is awakened by the interaction. Of course it's a great deal more complicated than that, but the net effect (Oh, cute pun there) is that this bright young teenager is the Web's first teacher. She's the first to get the fact that the web has become self-aware, but keeps it to herself. It's not simple selfishness, although there is an element of that. More to the point, the Japanese scientist has given plenty of evidence that anything he discovers is going to find commercial application in no time at all, and Caitlin fears she would lose not only the contact with "the phantom" but all control over its development, as well.<br/><br/>The human characters are so very human, with all the good and bad that implies, but the Webmind, as it is eventually dubbed, seems eager to become as human-like as possible. Peeking ahead to the one-page preview of the next book (wwwwatch), I find myself rooting for him. Her? It?
I have been on an AI sci-fi reading spree. I had high hopes for this story based on the reviews and the fact that Robert J. Sawyer has an impressive record. Unfortunately, Wake is not one of those books. If other stories like it did not exist in the sci-fi realm around it, Wake might have been innovative and exciting, but contrasted with other efforts, not so much.

First, some of the characters-- Caitlin as the blind math-IT-blogging genius, simply comes off as arrogant and petulant. An argument could be made that she is a teen and that is the way it is, I just did not take it that way. And maybe I am just too old to understand "Calculass". I just think there is so much more that could have provided depth to blindness besides the love of Helen Keller. Then we have the autistic father that adds nothing to the story. The vacuous Dr. Masayuki Kuroda seems unlikely to have created anything like the eye-pod that is the star of the story.

Second, maybe Sawyer was trying to stay out of the normal sci-fi thriller framework or maybe not. That framework is composed of multiple story lines converging into one with a climactic conclusion, often with a tease or cliffhanger into the next segment. Sure, all the different stories are there, but they are hardly tied together in this segment. So what do Chinese data walls and painting communicative monkeys have to do with the emergence of a web intelligence and a blind girl? Not much in this story. Maybe next time? And for those that seemed to think there was some kind of cliff hanger at the end...really? That was not a cliff hanger.

Third, the overall segments of emergence of the web intelligence were just silly in comparison to other stories of this genre. It seemed superficial, and you may find yourself reading quicker through these portions.

If there was one concept in the book that was intriguing, and somewhat unfamiliar to this reader, was the idea of bicameralism. When sci-fi encourages you to look outside the book for additional information, that is a win for everyone.

I found myself reading faster through the second half just to provide some level of courtesy to the author that I read the whole story and could comment on it. More importantly, if the objective of story telling is to endear the reader to want more (a win-win for reader and author), Wake did not do it. In fact, I am less likely to explore the probable diverse and entertaining works of Robert J. Sawyer based on Wake.

This review will probably get some "not helpful" votes because those who provide 5 stars to this story will disagree with the opinion rather than understanding the perspective. So be it, but please consider the following stories as better representations of the same genre that Sawyer is exploring.

Avogadro Corp The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears

Daemon

Nexus
I'm having trouble getting through this book. The storytelling is generally good, and I'm enjoying the characters. I particularly enjoy hearing about the challenges of a blind person. Much of that was -- er -- eye-opening for me. My issues are with the content.

The storytelling only flops when the author pretends to be the consciousness of the Web. It's goofy but perhaps does conform to how some people imagine consciousness to arise. I don't find the sudden approach compelling, much less a sudden sophistication.

My biggest challenge with the story is perhaps my own expertise. I'm an experienced software developer, including a web developer, and I know the ins-and-outs of how the web works. The author is largely consistent with the actual workings of the web, but the explanations don't hold my interest. For me, the serious failing is the manner in which the protagonist perceives the web. That's pure fantasy to me. I really was hoping for something more inspired.