Robert J. Sawyer was born in Ottawa and lives in Mississauga. He has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel. |
WAKE
BOOK ONE IN THE WWW TRILOGY
Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math—and blind. But, she can surf the Net with the best of them, following its complex paths in her mind.
When a Japanese researcher develops a new signal-processing implant that might give her sight, she jumps at the chance, flying to Tokyo for the operation.
But the visual cortex in Caitlin's brain has long since adapted to allow her to navigate online. When the implant is activated, instead of seeing reality, she sees the landscape of the World Wide Web spreading out around her in a riot of colours and shapes. While exploring this amazing realm, she discovers something—some other—lurking in the background. And it's getting smarter…
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Part one
Part two
The wildly thought-provoking first instalment of Sawyer's WWW trilogy, serialized in Analog in 2008 and 2009, explores the origins and emergence of consciousness. Blind teen Caitlin Decter gets an experimental signal-processing implant that inexplicably opens up her vision to the wondrous infrastructure of the World Wide Web. Inside the Web is a newborn "webmind," a globe-spanning self-contained consciousness that is just becoming aware of the outside world. Secondary plot threads about a highly intelligent hybrid primate and Chinese bloggers battling a repressive government extend the motif of expanding awareness. The thematic diversity—and profundity—makes this one of Sawyer's strongest works to date. Numerous dangling plot threads are an unnecessary pointer to the forthcoming books; readers will keep coming back for the ideas. (Apr.)
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Almost alone among Canadian writers, he tackles the most fundamental questions of who we are and where we might be going — while illuminating where we are now."
—National Post
"Sawyer continues to push the boundaries with his stories of the future made credible. His erudition, eclecticism, and masterly storytelling make this trilogy opener a choice selection."
—Library Journal
"Wake is, in the words of its heroine, made out of awesome."
—McNally Robinson Bookseller review
"Sawyer's take on theories about the origin of consciousness, generated within the framework of an engaging story, is fascinating, and his approach to machine consciousness and the Internet is surprisingly fresh."
—Booklist
"Emotionally satisfying and intellectually stimulating. Along with William Gibson's Neuromancer and Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, Wake presents a unique perspective on information technology. I eagerly await its sequels."
—SFFaudio
Robert J. Sawyer was born in Ottawa and lives in Mississauga. He has won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel.
