WWW: Wake
WWW: Watch
WWW: Wonder
All by Robert Sawyer. Fun and interesting reads for the SF/geek crowd – the World Wide Web spontaneously develops consciousness, and with a little help from his friends, undertakes the task of increasing the net happiness of humanity. I’m on book 3, and have really enjoyed them. Additionally, I encountered Mr. Sawyer when I was doing tech support for Wordstar International, back in 1989 – and he tells me that it’s still his word processor of choice! Which I think teeters on the edge of credibility, but finally lands on the credible side, due to my theory (developed while working for Wordstar) that the word processor that you learn first is the one you stick with, no matter the attractions of superior products. Of course, there are exceptions – I wouldn’t touch Wordstar now with a ten foot pole.
Betrayer, by C. J. Cherryh (one of my favorite authors). This is the twelfth book in the Foreigner series, which continues to keep me interested. I think it’s become HER favorite series to write, and that’s why, unfortunately, her Alliance/Union universe is suffering (in my opinion). She recently returned to that universe to write:
Regenesis, a continuation of the story begun in Cyteen, but it was disappointing. It lacked the scope of her earlier work, especially Cyteen and Downbelow Station. It was more tightly focused on the main character and what she was thinking and doing, and while that’s interesting, it wasn’t enough to sustain my interest. In those earlier works, she was able to focus on the politics of four or five different situations, and give a sense of how they informed and affected each other … and that just wasn’t there with Regenesis.
