Computer One

Collins, Warwick

ISBN 10: 0714530336 / ISBN 13: 9780714530338

Published by Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd, 1997

Very Good condition. Very Good dust jacket. In protective mylar cover. A copy that may have a few cosmetic defects. May also contain light spine creasing or a few markings such as an owner's name, short gifter's inscription or light stamp. Seller Inventory # L10K-01985

Synopsis:

In the early years of the twenty-first century, Professor Enzo Yakuda fears that if he sounds a warning against Computer One, the international civil computer network that runs most of the planet, it will lead to humankind's annihilation

Reviews: Acclaimed for his two recent novels, The Rationalist (1994) and Gents (1997), British writer Collins shows a less subtle side with this publication of an earlier work, a talky apocalyptic tale first published in 1993 in England. In the 21st century, humankind's main problem has to do with increased leisure time--and how to fill it--since a massively networked supercomputer, Computer One, has taken over everything from climate control to its own maintenance. Utopia proves a delusion, however, when biology professor Yakuda, in an address to a symposium on leisure, neatly links Darwin, Konrad Lorenz, and a sudden increase in atmospheric radioactivity to suggest that the master computer--which, since it's self-replicating, is now by definition a species itself--is taking steps to eliminate its main rival, Homo sapiens. Yakuda and a colleague are attacked soon thereafter when mirrors, part of a solar-power station, focus on them as they go for a stroll: Yakuda's friend is fried, but Yakuda himself, only partially burned, is rescued by ``externals,'' members of a separatist community who belong to a larger network of anti-computer groups living underground and avoiding contact with surface dwellers. When the professor recovers, he makes his rescuers aware of their peril, but it's not until a neighboring group of externals is wiped out by a virus, despite their precautions, that his warning hits home. Yakuda and a team of anti- computer specialists race to devise a means to fight Computer One; as they do, he has to watch not only his former society, but all animal and plant life, systematically exterminated. A supervirus finally renders Computer One nonfunctional--but Yakuda and his team return to base to find that an all-too-human tragedy has struck. A chilling story, but one has to look beyond the talking heads and an Ayn Rand style of pontificating to appreciate it. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Computer One
Publisher: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd
Publication Date: 1997
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included