Dreamships - Hardcover

Scott, Melissa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312851537 ISBN 13: 9780312851538

Publisher: Tor Books, 1992

Synopsis

In search of the lost brother of the mysterious Mitexi, freelance space pilot Reverdy Jian and her crew discover that the object of their search, the founder of a civil rights movement for artificial intelligence, is insane

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

Scott's hardcover debut offers a thought-provoking examination of the possibility of artificial intelligence. Reverdy Jian, a freelance ``dreamspace'' pilot based on Persephone (an arid world so hot the population lives underground), and her partners Imre Vaughn and ``Red'' take on a job flying a custom-made ship for the secretive Meredalia Mitexi. They're to search for Mitexi's lost brother Venya--an almost legendary designer of the near-sentient computer ``constructs'' that help human pilots navigate dreamspace- -who vanished soon after his claim to have created a true artificial intelligence was suppressed by his corporate employer, Kagami Ltd. Aboard Mitexi's ship, Reverdy works with Manfred, Venya's custom construct, and she grows ever more convinced that Manfred might be sentient. When Reverdy learns that Mitexi plans to turn Manfred over to Kagami on their return, she decides she must protect the construct, though she risks her career and maybe her life. Scott's claustrophobic urban world owes a bit too much to cyberpunk (as do her characters, whose chip-on-the-shoulder postures receive little justification), but she adds colorful touches of her own, and her intelligent consideration of the issues surrounding AI is rare and refreshing. Not perfect, but a solid, thoughtful novel from a promising writer. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Scott ( Mighty Good Road ) puts a slightly different spin on the SF staples (and present-day impossibilities) of faster-than-light (FTL) travel and artificial intelligence (AI); the former is part of the novel's well-thought-out future atmosphere, and the latter is the focus of the plot. The "Drive" that sends the novel's protagonists into an alternate space (thus allowing for FTL travel) translates that space into a virtual reality landscape of the pilot's choice. Scott's future world is on the brink of achieving AI, and Scott deals with the political and social ramifications of this. Reverdy Jian, a freelance pilot, and her partners, Imre Vaughn and "Red," are hired to fly to a planet called Refuge to find their employer's brother. Manfred, the computer that aids their flight, appears to be AI, and their return from Refuge brings about a tremendous controversy--if Manfred is sentient, the question arises: Do AIs have the same rights as humans? The plot itself is fairly thin, and could not fill out a 350-page hardcover on its own. Scott's solution is to pad it with the aforementioned atmosphere, which is forgivable because it is so well done. This postulated future is convincing, just different enough from our own to pique the reader's curiosity.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tor Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0312851537
• ISBN 13: 9780312851538
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 342