Rating: 
Summary: A unique look at the origins of species
Review: Millions of years ago, an ancient civilization sent out robot ships to find uninhabited planets with rich resources, to mine them and manufacture products to ship back home. When a suitable planet or planetoid was found, the ship would set up a self-sustaining and expanding mining operation, then move on to find another. But one ship accidentally catches the fringe of a star going nova, and is damaged. It lands on Titan, a moon of Saturn, and tries to set up operations. But its programs have been altered, and all sorts of aberrations and mutations start occurring, and things go very wrong. But then, natural selection sets in, and the long, slow process of evolution begins. . . .
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for computer science and AI enthusiasts
Review: Reading the prologue was like witnessing the birth
of the human race. This book takes the question
of Darwinism versus Creationism and through a unique perspective -- that of a race of robots on Titan -- gives both sides something to think about. And even if you're not into not into the heavier issues, the evident renaissance metaphor is extremely effective (and the source of amusement when humans arrive on the scene).
Rating:
Summary: A must-read for computer science and AI enthusiasts
Review: Reading the prologue was like witnessing the birthof the human race. This book takes the questionof Darwinism versus Creationism and through a unique perspective -- that of a race of robots on Titan -- gives both sides something to think about. And even if you're not into not into the heavier issues, the evident renaissance metaphor is extremely effective (and the source of amusement when humans arrive on the scene).
Rating:
Summary: one of the best books ive ever read
Review: The book manages to give many new perspectives on commonly asked questions about religion, life, death, science, and the universe without ever getting dull. It is truely a fascinating read.
Rating: 
Summary: Background
Review: There was a lot of talk in the eighties about Artificial Intelligence and the question of whether machines or any other kind of artificially produced system would ever be able to think. That struck me as smacking a bit of carbon- chemistry chauvinism. What it asked, essentially, was if intelligence based on some kind of hardware other than that which we happen to possess is possible. I could see no compelling reason why not. Would intelligent machines that had never experienced anything different be equally hard-put to conceive intelligence not based on silicon circuits? That was also a time when the Creationism-Evolution controversy was at a height. The two issues were not entirely separate but shared a certain commonality in views concerning the nature of life, thought, and so on. A race of intelligent machines might find itself debating not only the possibility of "artificial" intelligence, but also the question of its own origins and the existence of non-machine-based life. After all, if the only systems observed to exist that possess the complexity needed to support life and intelligence are machines, then what made the first machine? This led to the notion of a story about a naturally evolving machine biosphere which includes an intelligent, self-aware species that asks all the same questions as we do, but the other way around. The only problem was, I could never visualize a way in which such a scheme could ever have gotten started, and for a long time the idea languished. Then, one day I was invited to attend a summer study that NASA was hosting at the Goddard Spaceflight Center, where various people from the agency, industry, and academia got together to discuss future space mission possibilities and the roles that computers would play in them. One concept we talked about was that of a self-replicating lunar factory, built from components fabricated out of lunar materials by an initial "seed" mission of advanced robots. The factory would build more robots, which in turn would construct more factories, and eventually the scheme would grow itself into a fully self-supporting operation capable of carrying out a vigorous export business to Earth. In fact, calculations showed that in twenty years the output could exceed the entire production of Earth's manufacturing history! On the flight back to California, I realized that here was the way to get our electromechanical biosphere started. Imagine a scaled-up operation developed by an advanced alien race, operating over interstellar distances to exploit the resources of distant planets. One of the missions goes seriously wrong, and the world of replicating machines that it spawns "mutates." Then, after a million years, say, have gone by . . . I started writing CODE OF THE LIFEMAKER the day after I got back. A number of readers have written to say that the Prologue was worth the price of the book. The world that the messed-up alien mission ended up on was Titan, largest of the moons of Saturn, and the strange inhabitants who now dwell there are discovered in the course of exploration by humans.
Rating: 
Summary: A waste of trees...
Review: This book begins with prologue, and what a great prologue it is! And that is, I think, this book's biggest problem. The prologue is very enthralling and captivating, and sets up the rest of the story very well. But after that, no matter how good the rest of the book was, it would seem a little disappointing compared to the prologue. It seems that Hogan peaked a little too early. So, what's all the fuss about? The prologue begins by describing an alien automated spaceship who's main job is to find planets with lots of natural resources, build automated factories to exploit the planets, and send various products back to the alien home world. It does this by building lots of little robots, who build the factories, and then go on to build more factories. Those factories build more robots, and so on and so on, until the planet is fully automated, and is sending loads of stuff back home. So far, so good. Then the spaceship, on its way to another planet, gets damaged in a super nova. It is now virtually blind, and its instructions badly damaged. The first planet it comes across is the moon Titan, in our solar system, a million years ago. So the ship starts building factories, which in turn start building robots....and to make a long story short, the robots develop in peculiar ways, and start developing strange characteristics, such as predation, reproductive behaviours, and survival instincts... Cut to a million years later, and we find ourselves on earth, in the middle of the preparations for a Mars shot, with lots of politicking going on, and with a scurrilous shyster of a fake psychic getting in on the space trip (supposedly to do experiments), along with a scientist who's out to discredit him (he knows he's a fake, but he just can't prove it!). So, off they go to Mars, along with a nice big military contingent. But then...! They get re-routed to Titan. A passing Voyager type explorer has just sent back some funny looking pictures of what's taking place on the surface, and our heroes are sent to have a look. The rest of the story is spent examining the robot culture which has developed in the million years since we last saw them, how they interact with the humans, how this amazing development affects all the politicking still going on between the humans, how relations between various factions of robots are affected, power plays, robot religion (very medieval), etc. etc. Actually, it gets quite interesting, and Hogan's attention to technical detail and his ability to think of small but important details (especially from the robots perspective) is quite good. A lot of the action takes place between the robots themselves, with the arrival of the humans as a kind of backdrop, which is a nice feature of this book (at least not everything revolves around the humans!). The robots are shown to have a quite complex culture, with their own goodies and baddies, just as the humans do. Some of the robot characters are quite likeable, and you can find yourself growing attached to them (always a good sign if, after you've finished a book, you start missing the characters!). I won't give too much more away about the story, but suffice to say that there's plenty of intrigue going on to keep you interested. On the downside, the writing (apart from that great prologue!) is not as snappy as it could be, and the plot gets a bit complicated for me (a danger in any book where there are lots of characters all interacting with each other). By the end, it is a bit of a struggle to keep going, but is, I think, worth it to see what happens. This was, I believe, Hogan's first book, and you can tell from the lack of polish in the style. Overall, though, this is an interesting book, about an interesting subject. There's plenty of stuff going on to keep you interested, and the robot culture is enjoyable to learn about. While the writing style isn't great, that good beginning, and the fascinating interaction of robot and human make up for all that. This is well worth a read, and if you like it, there's plenty more by Hogan out there to keep you happy!
Rating: 
Summary: Great beginning! But stick with it after that....
Review: This book begins with prologue, and what a great prologue it is! And that is, I think, this book's biggest problem. The prologue is very enthralling and captivating, and sets up the rest of the story very well. But after that, no matter how good the rest of the book was, it would seem a little disappointing compared to the prologue. It seems that Hogan peaked a little too early. So, what's all the fuss about? The prologue begins by describing an alien automated spaceship who's main job is to find planets with lots of natural resources, build automated factories to exploit the planets, and send various products back to the alien home world. It does this by building lots of little robots, who build the factories, and then go on to build more factories. Those factories build more robots, and so on and so on, until the planet is fully automated, and is sending loads of stuff back home. So far, so good. Then the spaceship, on its way to another planet, gets damaged in a super nova. It is now virtually blind, and its instructions badly damaged. The first planet it comes across is the moon Titan, in our solar system, a million years ago. So the ship starts building factories, which in turn start building robots....and to make a long story short, the robots develop in peculiar ways, and start developing strange characteristics, such as predation, reproductive behaviours, and survival instincts... Cut to a million years later, and we find ourselves on earth, in the middle of the preparations for a Mars shot, with lots of politicking going on, and with a scurrilous shyster of a fake psychic getting in on the space trip (supposedly to do experiments), along with a scientist who's out to discredit him (he knows he's a fake, but he just can't prove it!). So, off they go to Mars, along with a nice big military contingent. But then...! They get re-routed to Titan. A passing Voyager type explorer has just sent back some funny looking pictures of what's taking place on the surface, and our heroes are sent to have a look. The rest of the story is spent examining the robot culture which has developed in the million years since we last saw them, how they interact with the humans, how this amazing development affects all the politicking still going on between the humans, how relations between various factions of robots are affected, power plays, robot religion (very medieval), etc. etc. Actually, it gets quite interesting, and Hogan's attention to technical detail and his ability to think of small but important details (especially from the robots perspective) is quite good. A lot of the action takes place between the robots themselves, with the arrival of the humans as a kind of backdrop, which is a nice feature of this book (at least not everything revolves around the humans!). The robots are shown to have a quite complex culture, with their own goodies and baddies, just as the humans do. Some of the robot characters are quite likeable, and you can find yourself growing attached to them (always a good sign if, after you've finished a book, you start missing the characters!). I won't give too much more away about the story, but suffice to say that there's plenty of intrigue going on to keep you interested. On the downside, the writing (apart from that great prologue!) is not as snappy as it could be, and the plot gets a bit complicated for me (a danger in any book where there are lots of characters all interacting with each other). By the end, it is a bit of a struggle to keep going, but is, I think, worth it to see what happens. This was, I believe, Hogan's first book, and you can tell from the lack of polish in the style. Overall, though, this is an interesting book, about an interesting subject. There's plenty of stuff going on to keep you interested, and the robot culture is enjoyable to learn about. While the writing style isn't great, that good beginning, and the fascinating interaction of robot and human make up for all that. This is well worth a read, and if you like it, there's plenty more by Hogan out there to keep you happy!
Rating:
Summary: A waste of trees...
Review: This book was not even worth the paper it was written on. Total waste of both my time, and money. I can sum up this book in one word, ugh
Rating:
Summary: The evolution of machine is interesting
Review: Unlike a lot of other reviews, I found the first 30 pages a little boring, and the rest of the story great. The beginning of the book is excellent, then the character development of the humans occurs, and I found it hard to get through. Then once the robots are in the picture, I found it very exciting to the last page. I have read this general story line of the evolution of machines before, just not in this way. I found it very good. I liked the robot dialogue. I found myself enjoying the robot characters, and the primitive culture they had. The feelings of robots evolving over millions of years is neat, as is the origin of the robots on Titan. There seemed to be a lot of negative reviews of this book, with the beginning being all they liked. I liked the very beginning too, but most of the rest of the book did not let me down. It gets trivial at times, and the rescue of certain characters at the last minute occurs. All in all though, I did not find it a waste of time to read at all. In fact, I think it may be one of the most enjoyable reads I ever had.
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