Review: WWW:Watch ~ by Robert J. Sawyer

 

Review by John:  WWW:Watch ~ by Robert J. Sawyer (# 2 WWW series)

Part two of an intriguing and clever science fiction story with a tremendous young female lead character.

Continuing on from WWW:Wake (links to John’s review):

The “Webmind” consciousness that has spontaneously emerged on the internet is becoming ever more powerful. Caitlin Decter - the young, blind math genius who helped Webmind to evolve – remains determined to help it to learn and to grow, and she now has the help of her two highly talented parents. Despite the exponential growth in Webmind’s powers and his newfound ability to connect with people, he feels a very strong bond with Caitlin and she remains his prime source of guidance.

Meanwhile WATCH, a secret Government agency that is tasked with monitoring the Internet for any threats to the United States, has become aware of Webmind, though it neither understands what Webmind is nor what its intentions are. What the agency does understand is that Webmind is getting stronger by the hour and WATCH is not prepared to let that happen. While WATCH sets out to destroy Webmind, Caitlin has absolutely no doubts about Webmind’s compassion and good intentions, and so begins a battle over its very existence. What will happen when Webmind sets out to help people in a very direct way?

Not to repeat everything I said in the review of WWW:Wake, but Sawyer has a fabulous imagination and this is an excellent story with a clever plot. Caitlin has already been established as a great character and in this book a bit more time is spent fleshing out her parents. I would have to say that the pace has dropped off a smidgeon from the previous book, and some of the side stories are starting to feel like distractions. I can’t help but wonder if making this into a trilogy was the right thing to do. I guess I’ll have to read the third installment in order to find out!

And, despite my normal reticence to read trilogies or book series, I will read part three (WWW:Wonder has just been published), which says a lot about the strength of the storyline and Sawyer’s imagination. Prior to the WWW series, the only other Sawyer book I’d read had a fabulous story and an ending I really didn’t like. I’m hoping this won’t go the same way.

For now, I’d rate this book 4 stars – just. The first in the series was a 4 bordering on 4.5, while this is a 4 bordering on 3.5.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed for WWW:Wonder.

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WWW:Watch (#2) - Hardcover: 368 pages Ace Hardcover; (April 6, 2010)  US|UK|Canada.

WWW:Wake (#1) (April 7, 2009) US|UK|Canada.

WWW:Wonder (#3) (April 5, 2011) US|UK|Canada

Stay tuned since a review for WWW:Wonder, the last in the trilogy is coming very soon since the book is on order at our local library.

As always (unless he forgets!) John will be answering all the comments on this review, so do not forget to check the follow up box to get his response.

Don’t you just love these covers?  Gorgeous!  Thanks for reading.

Review: Rollback ~ by Robert J. Sawyer

 

Rollback ~ by Robert J. Sawyer (reviewed by John)

This Science Fiction novel explores a host of interesting moral and ethical issues. What do you do when you are suddenly returned to your prime and are 60 years younger than your partner?

About:  The year is 2048, and an 87 year old couple is quietly celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary with their family. After all of those years, Donald and Sarah remain deeply in love with each and the best of friends. By all appearances they seem like regular people and they are, but for a stunning discovery that Sarah had made 38 years earlier, which brought her a brief period of international fame and periodic interest from the press in the intervening years.

During her working life she had been one of the leading astronomers at SETI – the internationally backed Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence project. After decades of fruitless searching, a radio message had finally been detected coming from a planet orbiting Sigma Draconis, a star almost 19 light-years away from Earth. Of all the scientists involved it had been Sarah who finally figured out how to make sense of the message, and consequently she led the team who planned, created and sent a response to Sigma Draconis. That had been back in 2010, and in the meanwhile she had long since retired to live a quiet life with Donald.

Now, during their family gathering, the phone rings. The call is for Sarah. She assumes it is someone calling to celebrate their anniversary, but what she hears leaves her in shock. The aliens from Sigma Draconis had responded to the message sent to them 38 years earlier.

Most of the world had virtually forgotten about the earlier message and response. One of the constant challenges faced by SETI was that signals took many years to travel astronomical distances, so by definition SETI was a project that had to last through many generations. By contrast most humans have very short attention spans and consequently SETI always struggled for attention and funds. In this case it had taken 19 years for Earth’s message to reach Sigma Draconis, and a further 19 years before their response was received back on Earth. And there was a problem – the response is encrypted and SETI cannot decipher it.

SETI looks to Sarah for help despite her age. 38 years earlier she had seemed to be more intuitively in tune with the Dracons, and SETI hopes that she can help them once again. She is intrigued but she is feeling her age and is inclined to turn them down, until she gets a most unexpected offer. One of SETI’s main financial backers is an incredibly wealthy industrialist and in exchange for her help he offers her a rollback – a hugely expensive and experimental rejuvenation procedure that can effectively return people back to the age of 25. She refuses unless they give the same treatment to Donald. Sadly, the treatment only works for one of them resulting in a vast age gap between the loving couple.

Now you will have to read the book in order to find out what happens – and I would thoroughly recommend that you do so. Sawyer has a great imagination and has written an excellent story. Quite apart from the backdrop of first communication with aliens, the book explores a host of interesting moral and ethical issues. What do you do when you are suddenly returned to your prime and are 60 years younger than your partner? Not to mention younger than your own children. How does a young person with a whole lifetime of rich experiences interact with “normal” young people? What information should be shared with them and when? How can you not end up feeling like an alien in your own world?

My only quibble with the book – I didn’t like the ending! It didn’t work for me somehow. Nonetheless this was great read and I’d rate it 4 stars.

Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages; Tor Science Fiction; 1st edition (February 5, 2008) US|UK|Canada.

Wikipedia information for  Robert J. Sawyer.

 

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YouTube author interview:

 

 

Thanks for reading!