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Virus
Chicago, 2078. A depleted city, a city where a sterile population, still recovering from a terrible war, struggles towards a better future. But something deadly is going on at Hawk Engineering and Amanda and the rest of the staff can only watch as one by one they fall ill and die.
272 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
August 24, 2021
I've been meaning to read this book for rather many years already, perhaps should have done it earlier as in a way it's pretty outdated, but there has never been a better time for reading any post-apo fantasy than right now. I suppose the word "virus" has become so overused ever since this whole Corona thing started, but in this story the form and the means of infection has a whole new angle.
The characters of the book are rather plain, I also spotted several logic errors while reading it, and the world has not been described in very many detail. So in that sense it's not very special and perhaps you'll be disappointed, shall you pick it up with expectations in this regard. But there's an interesting point from where to look at the whole AI development and how it can turn out.
So while there's plenty of stuff that makes you wanna skip this book, it is more accurate today regarding it's main topic than ever before, warning the humanity against playing the God and how that can turn out for all of us...
The characters of the book are rather plain, I also spotted several logic errors while reading it, and the world has not been described in very many detail. So in that sense it's not very special and perhaps you'll be disappointed, shall you pick it up with expectations in this regard. But there's an interesting point from where to look at the whole AI development and how it can turn out.
So while there's plenty of stuff that makes you wanna skip this book, it is more accurate today regarding it's main topic than ever before, warning the humanity against playing the God and how that can turn out for all of us...
January 8, 2018
Olin seda väga noorena lugenud, ning tuli välja, et nii mõnigi asi on seosetult jäänud väljendina meelde. Uuesti lugemisel aga nentisin, et keskpärane YA, milles loogikavigu ja muid hädasid veidi liiga palju.
November 7, 2023
A cheesy little teen-friendly sci-fi novel from the late 80s.
It's fun reading this and seeing just how far technology has progressed. This book presents the ideas of trojans, worms and viruses as a whole without any regard for how far the world would leap in some short 30 or so years since it was written. There were plenty of spots where I, as a modern reader and as someone who works in IT, wanted to jump and say 'what about the internet?' or 'what about a dmz?' or even a darn firewall. Then I'd remind myself that this book was written in the late 80s or early 90s (bit weird, I keep seeing different dates) and Ms Molly Brown probably didn't even work in IT.
In this no-longer-so-far-flung future of 2078, the human population is down to just 1% of what it used to be, thanks to a One Day War. AI has been decimated and computers are run... well, apparently NOT by AI, even though it seems that way. Russia is the new Vegas, computers disks are still around and the internet apparently doesn't exist.
Oh, and some computers run off brains.
A virus, both transmissible to humans and computers, is killing people, and it's up to a plucky temp to save the day.
I thought a romance was brewing between Amanda, said temp, and Steve, but apparently not. Then his mother and her uncle start dating, so now they're cousins. Hey, I've read weirder romances.
It's fun reading this and seeing just how far technology has progressed. This book presents the ideas of trojans, worms and viruses as a whole without any regard for how far the world would leap in some short 30 or so years since it was written. There were plenty of spots where I, as a modern reader and as someone who works in IT, wanted to jump and say 'what about the internet?' or 'what about a dmz?' or even a darn firewall. Then I'd remind myself that this book was written in the late 80s or early 90s (bit weird, I keep seeing different dates) and Ms Molly Brown probably didn't even work in IT.
In this no-longer-so-far-flung future of 2078, the human population is down to just 1% of what it used to be, thanks to a One Day War. AI has been decimated and computers are run... well, apparently NOT by AI, even though it seems that way. Russia is the new Vegas, computers disks are still around and the internet apparently doesn't exist.
Oh, and some computers run off brains.
A virus, both transmissible to humans and computers, is killing people, and it's up to a plucky temp to save the day.
I thought a romance was brewing between Amanda, said temp, and Steve, but apparently not. Then his mother and her uncle start dating, so now they're cousins. Hey, I've read weirder romances.
March 1, 2020
Lugu oli nii ja naa. Minu jaoks küllaltki põnev idee aga veidi nõrgalt kirjutatud. Veidi rabe
July 23, 2020
I read this book in my teens! Definitely a good read!
December 17, 2021
A fun little sci fi read about AI and viruses. I would have liked it more in my teens, but I still had fun with it.
June 18, 2022
Really enjoyed reading this book. Interesting storyline about A.I and humanity.
May 7, 2023
I was gifted this book years ago and I couldn't put it down. I've started reading it again and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's mysterious, exciting and fun.
June 26, 2023
My absolute favourite book I have ever read. The way it captures the fear and darkness that could possibly arise with AI and everything associated is amazing, especially given that this was back in 1994 that I first read it and experienced its effect. I'm very keen to read this again given our current state of affairs.
October 1, 2014
I was quite young when I read this book, and found it odd but interesting. It didn't make me a fan of Point SF, but I enjoyed it anyway.
October 6, 2015
Easy to read and really interesting SF story.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews