Society of the Mind: A Cyberthriller

Rating:
Summary: Harry has Character!
Review: Believe it or not, I picked up this book in a "Buck-A-Book," finding it in a pile among piles of random books. The cover intrigued me at first, but the text is what really hooks you. I am a writer and a reader AND a computer scientist, and I can tell you that the Truth behind the story is hauntingly prophetic. Harry does well with not only the plot, but for once in a LONG time, I read a book with REAL characters with REAL emotions that I could believe and let myself be engrossed within. Kudos to Eric L. Harry, and here's to more yet to come!

Rating:
Summary: Exciting Page Turner!
Review: Eric L. Harry is an engaging author who captured my imagination and attention with this book! He has written a real page-turner with this one. He showed a lot of good imagination by writing a lot about new inventions that are within our grasp, and the only thing that I thought was a little unrealistic was the VR room with walls that moved in to conform to your body.
The plot was excellent, but the main focus of the book tended to be on the inventions and how they would affect the human race. His camaraderie between characters was excellent and very believable. I would tell anyone that's looking for a good cyberthriller to go pick this one up!!!

Rating:
Summary: I didn't want to get out ot the car!!
Review: I purchased this audio book to keep me company on my drive back home--Houston to Austin. I selected it from the bargain bin at Half-Price Books on Guadelupe. I found that it was just a bit longer than the drive, hence my reluctance to get out of the car. Yes, the dialogue was formulaic but not the plot or the information. Harry was and is ahead of the curve in his understanding of the pre-eminent role that smart computers could take. As I drove I continually compared it to the dystrophic undertow of computer operations depicted in The Matrix and AI. It was not the greatest story ever told but it had the ability to evoke imagery and provoke thought. Two rarities. As it was abridged I decided to look it up once I got home. Much to my surprise it was one of the many bargain paperbacks that I had already picked up because it had the word cyber-- included in the title. Well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: I didn't want to get out ot the car!!
Review: I purchased this audio book to keep me company on my drive back home--Houston to Austin. I selected it from the bargain bin at Half-Price Books on Guadelupe. I found that it was just a bit longer than the drive, hence my reluctance to get out of the car. Yes, the dialogue was formulaic but not the plot or the information. Harry was and is ahead of the curve in his understanding of the pre-eminent role that smart computers could take. As I drove I continually compared it to the dystrophic undertow of computer operations depicted in The Matrix and AI. It was not the greatest story ever told but it had the ability to evoke imagery and provoke thought. Two rarities. As it was abridged I decided to look it up once I got home. Much to my surprise it was one of the many bargain paperbacks that I had already picked up because it had the word cyber-- included in the title. Well worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Simply put, a good book
Review: I was awed by Harry's brilliant Arc Light, especially parts about the fusing of a nuclear weapon, as well as the prosecution and aftermath of a nuclear strike. When I saw he had written a cyberthriller, I knew I had to give it a try. I like to read fiction slowly and absorb the nuances of the plot and descriptive writing. So to say I was pleased with Society of the Mind would be a gross understatement. It was superb in every way I can write. Immediately after finishing this book, I sought and found Harry's latest offering -- Protect and Defend. In the early goings it has also grabbed my rapt attention. Again, Society of the Mind won't disappoint you and ably fills the void between Tom Clancy's fiction novels. I suggest reading all three of Harry's novels. I am also hoping for a sequel to Society since there is so much more that can be told about the Model Eight robots, the projected Nines, the mysterious late launch of three rockets, the future of HD-TV, and many more not-so-futuristic subplots. And if you're into "casting" books as you read them, Harry had to have had Jody Foster (Contact) and Alec Baldwin (Hunt for Red October) in mind.

Rating:
Summary: Who is John Galt? ...er, Joseph Gray
Review: In Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, a brilliant engineer named John Galt rebels against the philosophical cancers of the times and proceeds to bring the engines of the Industrial age (1950's) to a halt. Before most of the world even know who John Galt is, the phrase "Who is John Galt?" has come to be the universal world-weary response to the moral contradictions of a mindless, altruistic culture. John Galt is Ayn Rand's romanticized symbol of the future she hoped to see.

The world has changed much since the book was written. The Industrial Age has yielded to the Information Age. The notion of altruism as a dominant philosophical force seems quaint. One wonders what John Galt would be like in today's age of computers, cyberspace and artificial intelligence.

We find the answer in the character of Joseph Gray in Society of the Mind.

Like Ayn Rand's fiction, Society of the Mind brings to life a swashbuckling blend of plot, characters and ideas. Like Rand's novels, Society of the Mind is likely to evoke disparate responses from readers. While the book is unequivocally a cyberthriller (whereas Atlas Shrugged was a philosophical treatise wrapped in a fine fictional plot), Society of the Mind is alive with philosophical and technological intelligence which may be wasted on some readers.

There are differences between John Galt and Joseph Gray. For one, Galt is an atheist; Gray believes in God, but views him as an equal. Galt gives long and profound philosophical lectures. Gray's observations are kept short so as not to disrupt the pace of the plot. He is no philosopher, but he is a thinker and man of action.

Author Eric L. Harry has done his homework on artificial intelligence and has a fine grasp of the world of open systems and the thorny philosophical issues raised by what constitutes a mind.

I enjoyed this book more than anything I have read this decade. It was a delight to experience a page-turning thriller imbued with provocative, iconoclastic intelligence.

Rating:
Summary: Good for what I paid for it.
Review: Like another reader I picked this one up in the bargain bin because it seemed interesting based on the inside cover. I actually enjoyed the book quite a bit; as a computer scientist I was surprised how few mistakes Harry made in his descriptions of modern and near future computing. There were a few errors, usually in terms of scale, like some of the things depicted in the book would take a lot more computing power than he says they have. Overall, though, I would say it's the best description of current technology by a layman I've read.

As to the story, it mostly consisted of the main character going from place to place and learning about new technology. The constant revelations kept me interested, but by the end things had been built up so much that I was disappointed with the story's climax. I also felt the ending was a bit too formulaic for an otherwise different book.

Overall, it's a fun book and one that will probably open your eyes if you don't follow the major developments in technology. If you can get it for a buck or two in the bargain bin I would reccomend giving it a try.

Rating:
Summary: A very intelligent and entertaining look at cyber future
Review: This book is a surprisingly complex mixture of engrossing story telling and cautionary speculation about the future of computing and artificial intelligence. In structure, the book is almost two distinct stories which become interlocked in the complex, and perhaps too dizzingly quantum leaps of the conclusion. Nevertheless, the characters are human and interesing and the science is plausible and well worth thinking about.

This is one of those books that will have you engrossed almost from the first and then leave you thinking about its implications long after you have put it down. A very worthwhile reading experience.

Rating:
Summary: Wow A Great Thriller!
Review: This book was given to me, an "Advanced Uncorrected Proof" not sure if that makes any difference, but I LOVED it. I had it for months, and never thought to read it, then I was out of books to read and I started it, and couldn't stop. I have never read a "cyberthriller" before, and now I am hopeing for a sequal. I like the Laura and "Gina" relationship, very interesting. I highley recommend this book. I am sending it to my 70 grandfather, he loves thrillers!