Colossus and the Crab

Colossus #3

by D.F. Jones

The 22nd Century.

Dr. Charles Forbin is Earth’s most powerful man. As mediator between Colossus, the Super Computer, and the rest of humanity, Forbin holds the key to Earth's fate.

When Colossus, an awe-inspiring technological creation suddenly became self-aware and took upon itself the task of righting humanity’s wrongs with no regard for humans themselves, Forbin intervened.

He took the decision to turn off his great machine – but could not do it alone.

Forbin called upon invaders from Mars.

The Martians did their fastidious work, shutting down Colossus.

The Earth descended into chaos. Rival factions sparred for supremacy, with only Forbin to control the populace and maintain order.

But now, the Martians have returned. And they want compensation.

A race so technologically advanced, towering in scope and innovation … What could they possibly want from Earth?

Only one its oxygen.

The Martians are in need of Earth’s most natural resource, after radiation from the Crab Nebula threatens to eradicate all of their stores.

Forbin is asked to design a super Collector in order to solidify the Earth’s supply of oxygen – or, a large proportion of it – to be handed over to the Martians.

But to do so would condemn the lives of hundreds of millions of Earth’s inhabitants.

There is only one entity on Earth with the power to stop the Martians…

Colossus must return.

The supercomputer is the only chance Earth has to defend itself…

But can Forbin reactivate his creation in time?

Or will Colossus, once tyrant, now potential saviour, turn to dust, along with the rest of humankind?

COLOSSUS AND THE CRAB is the final instalment of D. F. Jones’ enthralling science fiction COLOSSUS series.



‘Full marks for this technological horror story. A combination of cybernetics and suspense that adds up to real SF’ – Sunday Citizen

‘A whip-cracker…’ - Chicago Tribune

'It chilled my blood' - The Yorkshire Post

'Horrifying instalment of the man vs. machine competition' - New York Times

Dennis Feltham Jones was a British Science Fiction author; he was a Naval Commander in World War II, and lived in Cornwall until his death in 1981. His writings dealt with the ongoing battle – both physical and philosophical – between man and machine. He is perhaps most famous for his Colossus series, which was translated to the big screen in 1970 for the film The Forbin Project, which was well received by critics, and was nominated for a Hugo Award in 1971.

Venture Press is a science fiction and fantasy imprint of Endeavour Press, the UK’s leading independent digital publisher. We are committed to the discovery and rediscovery of immensely talented authors in the SFF genre, and continue to push boundaries in search of great literature. Join us as we venture across universes and unknown landscapes – past, present and future.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Artificial Intelligence, Fantasy

214 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 1, 1977

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Dennis Feltham Jones, a British Science Filction Author wrote under the byline D.F. Jones

Reviews

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Volume 3 brings the Colossus story to a close even more implausibly than the narrative in volume 2. It seems that the Martian invaders - which are strange energy creatures that can take any form they wish - have invaded because they want to steal half of Earth's oxygen to create an atmosphere for Mars. Firstly, Mars lacks an atmosphere because it doesn't have the gravity to retain one and secondly, if they are not really material beings why do they need oxygen anyway? It seems this is to block out some kind of harmful ray emanating from the Crab Nebula. As the ending suggests they didn't need to take the oxygen all in one go and could manage a small amount gradually over many years, their haste and lack of concern for the damage done by their device when used at full blast is pretty incomprehensible.

At least the misogyny is turned down in this as Forbin's wife is offstage in all of this, just mentioned as not wanting to come back to him because she has been brainwashed by Colossus' experiment to find out whether a continually raped woman would come to 'love' her attacker. And Forbin does gradually return somewhat to the more dynamic and decisive character of volume 1. A racist stereotype of the Italian engineer throws in every cliche going, with a phonetic representation of how the man is supposed to speak.

Angela, Forbin's secretary, has a chance to prove her worth despite the obligatory trope that she is madly in love with Forbin, but of course is treated in a derogatory fashion. At least Blake's treatment by the Martians makes him a more thoughtful and less plain awful character. But the idea that the only way to save the day is to revive the more primitive Colossus I - which then proves non co-operative anyway - and this will lead to the rebuilding of the greater machine which surely would result in the reinstatement of a dictatorial slave status for humankind makes a mockery of the whole thing.

On the whole, only book 1 in this series has any real merit, and this one only scrapes up 2 stars mainly for the sequences aboard the robotic WWI battleships.

[Phil Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think a little bit of me died when reading this book.
I had to finish it, having read through the first two books, but really, don't bother.

Setting aside the repeated issues of the book being rampantly sexist while claiming that sexual equality exists, and the fact that the kind of ideological viewpoint I think Jones has is so different to my own, the main problem with this book is that it's not science fiction - it's fiction-fiction. That is it is SOOOOOO badly wrong scientifically in pretty much every conceivable way. The whole premise is nonsense. The physics used to explain it is nonsense. No-one ever asks WHY Mars has little atmosphere (something I had to do in high school physics: hint: its gravity is too low to retain it), and so on. If you can somehow accept that this book is set in a weird parallel universe where nothing has to make any sense, you may just about be able to cope with it: the way the tension builds up towards the end is done quite nicely, but frankly, the whole thing, including the ending, is highly disappointing.

[Anne Mey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again the same style of writing, still sexism, in three books three women are used to serve and adore Forbin and nothing more. Except his wife Cleo who first had contact with the martians that's it.
So Colossus was shut down and the martians arrived with an incredible demand, half of earth's oxygen. Instead of finding ways to collect it or make them produce their own oxygen they built a machine to suck the oxygen in no time. In the end though Forbin broke their machine before dying and they found a way with Colossus to take the oxygen over a longer period of time (should have done that earlier though).
The idea behind helping the martians is interesting. Doing this now gives humanity leverage to ask for help when the sun will start burning up planets and they'll have to go live on Mars before maybe trying to leave into space.
I was frustrated all through the three books because they didn't go very far into the ideas. But they have consistency in the way they're written.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found myself enjoying this book far more than I thought I would. I do not know if it had to do with reading reviews about how horrible it was affecting my “judgment” or opinion, but it was not nearly as bad as others made it out to be. Not that I am saying it does not have its faults, its mistakes such as implying all Mars needs for an oxygenated atmosphere is for more oxygen to be added when it is more that the gravity of Mars is not strong enough to hold onto any kind of atmosphere needed to support human life or most other life forms. The character development is so-so; I did think the author did a nice job of describing the horror of discovering maybe a mistake had been made in the shutdown of Colossus. It is a lot of dialogue and very little action the book.

The world does not realize it has exchanged one soulless master for another (or, two others). Forbin gets himself recognized as the new “Master of the World” because nobody realizes that Colossus has been overthrown and shut down. It was interesting how Forbin’s character changed over the course of the novel as he took on more power and authority; his emotional swings would go up-and-down as the situation changed around him. Blake is assaulted by the “Martians” and then has to undergo medical treatment to recover; he becomes a “new man” because of what they did to him (they showed him the “worst parts” of himself and it changes him, making him a better person for it). The Martians can read minds; they claim if they are over ten feet away they can no longer read one’s mind, and that apparently holds true due to what happens in the book.

Forbin convinces the Martians that Colossus has to be reactivated in order for their “plans” to have any chance at succeeding. They want to build some kind of “Collector” that will allow 50% of Earth’s oxygen to be removed in a short period of time. He has to explain that Earth has regressed and is no longer able to build ANYTHING because Colossus controlled everything. The Martians had not taken this into consideration when they helped shut Colossus down. They study his schematics and then “lobotomize” Colossus so that his “higher functions” are not accessible before allowing his basic functions to be restored. Once Colossus is reactivated, he studies the Martians schematics and says that the Collector could probably be built with the technology the Earth has available under Colossus’ control. Forbin is shocked, believing that what the Martians wants is far and above anything the Earth can create. The first test of the Collector causes catastrophic damage in a small area; the second test causes catastrophic damage in something like a 200-mile radius. However, Forbin convinces Blake to head to the original Rocky Mountain facility and see if that “older” version of Colossus can be restarted. It works, but Colossus refuses to obey Blake and destroy either the Martians of the Collector. Colossus determines there is a third alternative that will prove beneficial to Earth’s distant descendants, long in the future.

Unbeknownst to Blake, Forbin has commandeered Britain’s “Battle Fleet” of five battleship/dreadnoughts and uses them to attack and destroy the Collector. He had figured out that the Martians cannot function in or around a wet environment; Mars is so dry, they have no experience with the heavy moisture content of Earth. Over forty shells are fired at the Collector; the nature of the Collector sucks them all into itself and the shells explode inside the Collector, thus destroying it. Blake takes Forbin’s place in the new society; the three “loves” of Forbin’s life are present at his funeral; Forbin is declared a global hero because of his actions and how his actions forced the Martians to concede that they did not know enough about humanity to prevent any kind of “scorched earth” policy the humans might embrace to keep the Martians from taking what they need from Earth. Having come to agreeable terms with Colossus, the Martians leave Earth knowing that they owe the Terrans a debt that will be repaid in the distant future.

It seems odd that something different could not have been come up with, to be honest. The “future danger” to both Martians and Terrans is that supernova that formed the Crab Nebula was sending lethal rays to the Sol system. The lack of atmosphere meant that Phobos and Deimos would be wiped out whereas the Terrans on Earth would survive due to the Earth’s atmosphere. However, that is thousands of years in the future; there is no reason why some kind of amicable agreement could not have been reached in which the required oxygen was taken over a long period of time. This would have allowed the taken oxygen to theoretically be replaced over time, thus ensuing no long-term damage to the Terran environment and various species inhabiting the planet.

The book takes place 150 – 200 years in the future, apparently. At least the author talks about the Moon colony; however, one would think that this colony would have been a bit more independent and able to survive the Fall of Colossus as it was well in place before Colossus was built (according to the first book). In any case, the moon colony is mentioned once and then never again, which is stupid. There should be multiple satellite/space stations orbiting the Earth during this time (based on the first book); those are not mentioned, either. It’s kind of “stupid” to have all this advanced technology described in the first book and then completely forget about it in the second and third books.

it is kind-of annoying that the author has “strong, intelligent” women in these novels and they end up taking “second-place” to the men despite the author’s repeated comments about how there is now some kind of equality between the sexes. Like, Angela. I knew it was only a matter of time before she beds her boss; she has to initiate everything because of how socially inept Forbin is. Yes, she has the brains to keep the installation running because Forbin cannot be bothered with mundane stuff due to his “relationship” with Colossus. She even helps Blake with his attempts to reactivate Colossus in the Rocky Mountain facility. Yet the author (and the other men in the novel) treat her like she is nothing more than a glorified, pumped-up secretary or something.

Even though the book is mostly “dialogue,” it does have some good moments with it. The Martians visit with Forbin and Blake was quite interesting, as they were able to get the humans to admit how the humans would have reacted/responded had the Martians made themselves known to “everybody” early on, and the two men were honest enough to admit that humanity would have sought to have killed them. They showed themselves “better” than humans because they did not respond in kind but sought a method that would allow Terran life to continue, albeit in a more limited fashion, while ensuring the survival of the Martian “race.”

There were some other interesting moments, such as when Forbin took over as the ‘master of the world’ until such time as Colossus could be restarted and take “his” place as the rightful ruler of the world. Or when Blake admitted that at one time he wanted to be “master of the world” but now realizes he does not want the job and the world was better off with his never receiving the job (or, his violently taking the position). Instead, he ends up having it forced upon him after Forbin dies, because Forbin makes Blake his replacement if something ever happened to Forbin and Colossus will now only recognize Blake as Forbin’s replacement. Angela actually has some “good moments,” too, but even after she shows some backbone, the author ruins it by having her cower in fear and abject terror when “the men” start to yell at her and castigate her instead of standing up and telling them off, how they could not have survived her or her help (which is true). She ends up letting Forbin have it more than Blake, but Blake still gets a bit of her tongue-lashing by the end of the book.

The book really jumps around, ��time-wise.” The first few chapters (most of the first chapters) focus almost exclusively on the arrival of the Martians and how both Blake and Forbin handle it. Then, it jumps ahead several months when the Collector has been built and is ready to be tested. I have to admit, I figured by that point Forbin would have been bedding Angela a long time before the Collector was finished (or that Angela would have initiated the “relationship” with Forbin long before she did). The restarting of Colossus only takes the throwing of a few switches at the Rocky Mountain complex, and that “younger” version of Colossus begins to learn as quickly as it did the first time around; actually, I would say it learns even quicker, as it immediately starts communicating with the Martians right after it is reactivated.

Overall, I liked the book. I think it was a worthy end to the series, considering how bad the second book turned out to be and all of the “stuff” that was introduced in the first book and then ignored in the second (and third) book. I did not have high expectations for this book, so perhaps that is why I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. In any case, I am glad that I finally found a copy of the book and was able to read it and finish the series. I may not reread it again, but at least I finished it.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final novel in D. F. Jones’s “Colossus Trilogy” picks up where the last one left off, with Charles Forbin – the creator of Colossus, the supercomputer that took over the world five years before – and his assistant Edward Blake awaiting the arrival of the Martians who provided them with the means of shutting down the computer. When they appear, they soon reveal that the aid they supplied was to remove the one obstacle to their plan, which is to re-oxygenate Mars by taking half of the Earth’s atmosphere. Facing the devastation of the planet and the deaths of millions, Forbin and Blake are forced to undertake a plan that is Earth’s only hope of defeating the Martians – the reactivation of their former overlord, Colossus.

Having described the computer-run future he created in his last novel, The Fall of Colossus, in this one Jones concentrates on the plot and his antagonists. The Martians he describes are well imagined by the author, and many of the best parts of the novel center around their interaction with Forbin and his efforts to comprehend them. In many ways they are better realized than most of the humans, as some of the secondary characters are little better than ethnic stereotypes. The challenge the aliens pose is also well developed, providing an impending threat that Jones conveys well with effective visualization and pacing. In all it provides for a satisfying end for an occasionally overshadowed, yet enjoyably entertaining series.

[Bhakta Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you read the description of the book then you know that after Colossus was deactivated the Earth was invaded by aliens. What you don't know is that the reason for the invasion has to do with radiation coming from the Crab Nebula. This was the least plausible part of the story for me.

I finished the novel, but I found it to be the least compelling of the books in the trilogy. That's about all I can say about it.

Charles Forbin has deactivated Colossus, but he must convince the world that the super computer is alive and well while the alien invaders carry out their plan, plus he has to figure out how to thwart that plan.

[Bruce Stephenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Martians arrive on Earth and face Forbin and Blake, explaining their need to remove 1/2 of Earth's oxygen. The oxygen is needed to protect them from a specific type of radiation coming from the Crab Nebula. When Forbin explains the devastating impact this will have on Earth and the humans, the Martians simply respond that they are not anti-Earth, but pro-Martian! Construction soon begins on a massive device designed to extract oxygen from the atmosphere. Blake is incapacitated by the Martians but eventually recovers enough to support Forbin in a plan to re-start the original Colossus and destroy the Martian threat. Everything does not quite go as planned however and Forbin, makes use of a weakness in the Martians while Blake attempts to re-animate Colossus.
Very much in the same tone as the other books in this series, Forbin is portrayed as a pillar of virtue willing to lose it all - and consume copious amounts of brandy - in order to save the Earth. Some of the ideas are rather preposterous and if you think too much about the story you can ask some questions that shoot holes in the basic premise - for example: with all of the power and technology that the Martians have, why do they need to take oxygen from the Earth? Isn't there some other more easily accessible source in the solar system? Surely they could produce oxygen quite easily from a source of water...? In the book it is revealed that the two Martians are in fact Phobos and Deimos - how would oxygen in the atmosphere help protect them from the radiation from the Crab nebula? Anyway, you get the idea. I found the narrative a bit hard to follow at times - especially as it would sometimes jump from one set of characters and location to another without any kind of page break at all. Overall though, this series was kind of fun and there were some interesting concepts presented.

[kevin browning · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the final entry in the Colossus trilogy. The first was fun and read like a Cold War thriller. The second one got campy, sexist, but still intriguing enough to finish it. This one was goofy. First, here are the pros. It has great twists, especially when they revive the original Colossus, that I didn't see coming. It also has a huge blockbuster ending. D.F Jones served in the Royal Navy, so he made an epic naval battle complete with nautical language. The pacing was fantastic, the relationship between Charles and the Martians was fully developed, and Jones had an ending in mind when he wrote this book for Forbin.

Unfortunately, the idea that Martians came to Earth to steal oxygen to protect their planet from Gamma Rays, or Gamma Ray 6, was nonsense. It was silly. Then, they reveal that the Martians are actually the moons of Mars, and humanity has instinctively always knew they were the enemy. Uhmmm, OK. And then the funniest bit was the Martian weakness, water. It's also a dated novel complete with sexist remarks and men treating women like second-class citizens.

Overall, it's a weird ending for this trilogy. I like the first book over the other two. I'd still read this one if you are interested in classic sci-fi.

[Mike Pluta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Anyone who has not yet read this series would be well advised to stop at the end of book 1. Book 1, "Colossus", was the basis for the 1970 classic science fiction movie, "Colossus: The Forbin Project". Those who have seen and love this movie will be pleased with how true to the book it is. That is pretty much the extent of positive things I can say about this trilogy.

The second book in the series, "The Fall of Colossus", goes off the rails by having a disembodied voice from Mars assist the Colossus resistance to disarm and deactivate the dictatorial super-intelligent computer. The celebrating earthikins have their party cut short when the Martian voice declares their intent to come and conquer the earth.

That brings us to the streaming bowl of brussel sprouts that is "Colossus and the Crab." The cray-cray begins with the Martians announcing their intent to take 50% of the earth's oxygen. They will accomplish this act by compelling the earthikins to build for them giant inverted alpenhorn to suck in huge volumes of atmosphere, separate out the oxygen, and compress it down into a solid. They need to do this so that Mars can be protected from the cosmic radiation raining down from the Crab Nebula. It goes downhill from there.

[Kendal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to make of the addition of Martians. Jones may have painted himself into a corner with vol 1--how to stop the supercomputer? He used a now cliche of introducing a computer virus (Independance Day; 3001: The Final Odyssey; Star Trek:TNG, "I, Borg"), but what else could they do?

This books ending suggests a fourth novel with Colossus and the Martians fight the Crab Nebulans. Was one ever written?

In some ways, vol. 1 could be a stand-alone horror, as was the movie.

Sorry for the rambly review. Like Tolkien said of CS Lewis's space triolgy, this final book spoiled the series. Though the ending is vague and satisfying, in a basic way.

[Christina Widmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

It gets more ludicrous with every page.
First, Blake and Forbin fear worldwide chaos because Colossus isn't controlling birthrates or providing accurate weather forecasts anymore. Yeah, right. As if everyone would instantly riot because of that.

Then, the Martians want half our atmosphere's oxygen for their planet. And the supposedly most brilliant scientists of Earth don't suggest extracting oxygen from the rust-red Martian soil. Neither do they suggest the Martians just stay right here where the oxygen is, seeing that there's only two of them and they can survive here.


It only gets worse from there. Should have read "Colossus" as a standalone.

[Anne Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to know how the trilogy ended. I wanted to know if Forbin overcame Colossus at last. And I wanted to know what the "Crab" in the title signified. Well, it's no spoiler to reveal it's the Crab Nebula - because that has so little to do with the plotline that I'm still left wondering why it got into the title. Maybe if I'd enjoyed the movie of the first book in the series a whole lot less, I'd have been less disappointed in this finale. Sure, the ending was about the triumph of the human spirit but it was overlaid with so many mixed messages that it didn't quite gel.

[Sue Dounim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have to say on reading many of the reviews of this and all the other Colossus books that they are very fair and accurate. I do find it interesting that as poorly written as the books are, they apparently have enough interesting ideas in them to make them worth writing about, if for no other reasons that to attack their dismal sexism and misogyny, or mock the stereotypes and wooden characters
(I'm just going to copy this to my other review of and people who are interested in this series or my ideas on it should have no trouble finding plenty of opinions.)

[Brent · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly a product of the period in which it was written-- quite a bit of cliche, stereotypes, unexamined sexism, scientism, and just plain-old bad "science". For those who don't like to leave the remainders of a trilogy unread, it won't necessarily disappoint; however, for those who were only lukewarm about the first book in the trilogy, neither follow-up exceeds the qualities of the first novel in the set.

[Daniel Stephens · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doesn't fix any of the problems from 2, and is full of bad science to boot.

So short review of series as a whole:
Colossus is a Sci-Fi classic, a little rough around the edges but a legitimately good book on its own merits.
The sequels:
Best of just pretending they don't exist.
But they do, and they are very bad and now I've read them I wish I hadn't.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

effective wrap up but unsatisfying as a story

it’s a clever finish, and a resolution by talking it out is refreshing, especially in the current political environment. however, it is still loaded to the gills with deus ex machina, even as the denouement celebrates the human spirit. it was alright.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Put a nail in the coffin of this trilogy.
It was almost like the second book was everyone wants a sequel, but then it was broken up over the second and a third
You can get by with with just the first book

[chrstphre campbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

this trilogy should have ended after The first book !

I need 20 words to complete this review…12 more to go… 9 still required.
Not enough twists, I predicted several which failed to come to fruition !

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, not quite as offensive as The Fall of Colossus, but still not worth the read, I don't believe. The main plot, again, is interesting and I did skim to see what happened. But the tone of the book is just off. If you are going to read something about Colossus, stop after the first book.

[Geoff Hunton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fitting end

What a fantastic ending to a great series of books. I loved the film of the first book but this book is such a fitting end to Forbid and his machine

[Steven Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

8 out of 10

[Lee Bateman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Decent story ruined by terrible sexism of it's day.

[Frank Ashe · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author got steadily worse as the series went on.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Better than the last in the series but not worth the time.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat redeems the trainwreck that was "The Fall of Colossus." The Forbin character finally achieves a bit of depth. Unfortunately all the others don't.

[Lawrence Plummer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book three of the Colossus series, the worst of the bunch! Again, heavy on the sexism, again, must have been the times of England.

[Timothy Haggerty · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third and last

This was interesting yet disjointed. I did enjoy reading it but as a series it doesn't hold together. It is somewhat dated in many ways.

[Keef · Rating 1 out of 5]

Colossus and the crap.

[Brent Winslow · Rating 3 out of 5]

The weakest of the trilogy, the Martians demand half of the world's oxygen leading to a desperate struggle and the reactivation of Colossus

[Cottonball · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this third book in the trilogy not as engaging, but it was still a fun read.