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Supermind
The age of biological augmentation and post-humanity has dawned. Amid the social upheaval that results, scientist Greg Corbin is reaching what he believes is the apex of his career. With the help of a living supercomputer, he intends to create a computer simulation of the universe so accurate that even humanity's past, present and future will be revealed. But then his life collapses around him and he is faced with a decision that will determine the fate of the one he loves.
- GenresScience Fiction
314 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2017
49 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 5, 2024
I don't really know if it's fair to write a critical review just because I expected something completely different. Being a John's subscriber on YouTube I decided to give it a go because unlike most sci-fi writers he seems to be really into hard science and cosmology. And to some extent you can feel it in his book. Accurate scientific descriptions of dying stars and the universe evolution are beautiful and captivating, and the brief stories about scientists in pursuit of extraterrestrial life are also very unusual and exactly what I was looking for. Too bad it all takes around 5% of the book. The rest fall so much short of what I expected! The book takes itself very seriously, and has this vibe of sad melancholy raising very 'deep' questions on pretty much every page, revolving around religion, technology augmentation, in a clichéd dystopian society that, as genre demands, depicted in a way that you don't really want to live in, and (oh my goodness please NOOO) human feelings and love, that the AI tries to understand in a series of cheesy dialog. "Would you kill in the name of Love?" the incredibly powerful AI asks a human at some point, as if with it's power it couldn't analyze the entirety of the human history and make a perfect model of human behavior and accurately predict what exactly people can do in the name of love, as well as other feelings such as greed, envy, lust, hunger for power etc. "Love is the ultimate manifestation of the Universe" - a human would answer. Oh boy. Yeah sure. Whatever.
But the biggest disappointment for me personally was the lack of hard science, and solid logic behind the story. Having quite a few plot holes, the biggest one undoubtedly is a computer of a size of no more than a building, that could simulate the entire universe 100% identical to the external one, starting from the Big Bang, and do so with incredible speed, fast-forwarding 14 billions years of creation in a matter of weeks. It's such a massive plot hole that it's impossible to keep the suspension of disbelief. It just violates the very basic laws of logic. So much coming out of this fact that I couldn't stop thinking about it throughout the book, and this idea never lives up to its full potential, never going deeper than considering witnessing Jesus crucifixion or visiting one or two planets, and something else eye-rolling, that is a spoiler. Well, for one, if such a universe exists, and is 100% accurate, it means the computer inside it should exist as well, as much as all events that lead to its creation, making it an infinite loop, with the fast-forward feature pretty much meaning that every loop will be faster and faster, until the speed of simulation becomes infinite. To put it shortly: there's a computer in the book, that can simulate identical computer inside itself, only many many order of magnitudes *FASTER* that the original computer. I don't know. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. That killed it for me.
All in all I feel very sad leaving the book a negative review, and I do really hope that John writes another book, where he would use his talent and knowledge to write about cosmos, universe, extraterrestrial life, and focus less on love, religion and human feelings that is a cliche in a power of 10. Spin-off about those scientists looking for aliens? Bring it in! A book describing a dying universe and humanity trying to survive? Make it two please! And of course, looking forward to seeing the next video.
But the biggest disappointment for me personally was the lack of hard science, and solid logic behind the story. Having quite a few plot holes, the biggest one undoubtedly is a computer of a size of no more than a building, that could simulate the entire universe 100% identical to the external one, starting from the Big Bang, and do so with incredible speed, fast-forwarding 14 billions years of creation in a matter of weeks. It's such a massive plot hole that it's impossible to keep the suspension of disbelief. It just violates the very basic laws of logic. So much coming out of this fact that I couldn't stop thinking about it throughout the book, and this idea never lives up to its full potential, never going deeper than considering witnessing Jesus crucifixion or visiting one or two planets, and something else eye-rolling, that is a spoiler. Well, for one, if such a universe exists, and is 100% accurate, it means the computer inside it should exist as well, as much as all events that lead to its creation, making it an infinite loop, with the fast-forward feature pretty much meaning that every loop will be faster and faster, until the speed of simulation becomes infinite. To put it shortly: there's a computer in the book, that can simulate identical computer inside itself, only many many order of magnitudes *FASTER* that the original computer. I don't know. I just couldn't stop thinking about it. That killed it for me.
All in all I feel very sad leaving the book a negative review, and I do really hope that John writes another book, where he would use his talent and knowledge to write about cosmos, universe, extraterrestrial life, and focus less on love, religion and human feelings that is a cliche in a power of 10. Spin-off about those scientists looking for aliens? Bring it in! A book describing a dying universe and humanity trying to survive? Make it two please! And of course, looking forward to seeing the next video.
September 30, 2020
This is one of those sci-fi novels which drew me deep into the near-future world it established, in part because of how real it all felt. I absolutely loved the level of detail that went into not just the characters but the world they inhabit. Being a hard sci-fi novel, Supermind doesn't skimp on technical details when it was needed while at the same time providing just enough context from a character's POV which strongly alluded to how technologies worked. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read - a book which was very hard to put down until it's finished.
October 18, 2017
I found myself getting irritated that the book was going to be so short, I definitely wanted more. The end was a little bit weaker than I expected but overall, definitely worth the read.
July 19, 2022
At times, this book is brilliant. The descriptions of cosmological events were exquisite, and the story played with many fascinating themes. Still, the main story has its fair share of flaws. It often feels rushed from one action to the next, characters morph in inexplicable ways from good to bad or moral to immoral, and overall that took away from the interesting thought-experiments woven throughout. None felt fully formed, but neither did they fall completely flat. 3/5 stars doesn't feel overly generous or harsh.
December 19, 2022
There’s a core of a good idea here and some really interesting stuff going on, but the execution is a bit clumsy. The characters are bland to the point they were hard to keep apart, the ending was very weak, and I wish the exploration of the ramifications of the technology were explored in a less biased way.
July 6, 2025
Unfortunately not very good. I feel like most of the reviews here (which seem to be pulled from Amazon) probably did not even read the book and only posted their glowing review because they are fans of the author's science essay YouTube channel -- which, unlike this book, is very good.
The book has some some interesting ideas and a handful of very well written pages of a kind of romantic cosmology. These short-story digressions are the best parts of the book by far. The overwhelming majority of the book, however, is a dialogue-heavy character-driven drama, and I'm sorry to say the dialogue is at best mediocre and at worst really bad. The author seems to have a misguided rule that whenever two characters are speaking, they have to mention each other's names at least once every two lines to indicate who's speaking, which results in some really stilted dialogue, like this excerpt from a chapter aptly titled "Greg and Joel":
The plot of the book, to say something kind about it, has potential, but for such a short book it tries to explore too many themes and plot threads. The book could do with a lot more show and a lot less tell, especially because the author, if the short story digressions are anything to go by, is a lot better at showing than he is at telling. The book opens with several chapters of basically nothing but exposition, and because this exposition is chiefly told in the form of exposition dialogue, the dialogue in those chapters is even more contrived than in the rest of the book. The characters talk at great length about things that should be obvious to the point of not having to be said in-universe, but are said solely for the sake of the reader.
The book also desperately needs a copy-edit. Thankfully it's quite short at about 200 pages. I don't think I could've finished it if it were any longer.
The book has some some interesting ideas and a handful of very well written pages of a kind of romantic cosmology. These short-story digressions are the best parts of the book by far. The overwhelming majority of the book, however, is a dialogue-heavy character-driven drama, and I'm sorry to say the dialogue is at best mediocre and at worst really bad. The author seems to have a misguided rule that whenever two characters are speaking, they have to mention each other's names at least once every two lines to indicate who's speaking, which results in some really stilted dialogue, like this excerpt from a chapter aptly titled "Greg and Joel":
"All I know is that I'll play hell ever getting this project off the ground again", he said. "All because of politics and your bullshit fears Joel."
"It won't take that, Greg. Just try to do it responsibly next time."
"It will be years Joel. Maybe never. Over what? Your concern over some artificial intelligences?"
"Safety, Greg. And yes, also my ethical objections."
"You said it yourself, there may never have even been a danger of an emergence."
"We can't take risks like that, Greg. I told the Council that and they acted prudently. Q.A.D.I.R. backed me up on it, or at least I think he did. But I didn't shut your project down, you did it by taking it a step too far."
The plot of the book, to say something kind about it, has potential, but for such a short book it tries to explore too many themes and plot threads. The book could do with a lot more show and a lot less tell, especially because the author, if the short story digressions are anything to go by, is a lot better at showing than he is at telling. The book opens with several chapters of basically nothing but exposition, and because this exposition is chiefly told in the form of exposition dialogue, the dialogue in those chapters is even more contrived than in the rest of the book. The characters talk at great length about things that should be obvious to the point of not having to be said in-universe, but are said solely for the sake of the reader.
The book also desperately needs a copy-edit. Thankfully it's quite short at about 200 pages. I don't think I could've finished it if it were any longer.
January 24, 2024
This book was all over the place. The beginning was very sluggish and reminded me of the early writing by Phillip K Dick. But, after a bit too much character development, it really starting going about 25% in and I was hooked. It built and built and seemed to be really going somewhere. But then the author decided to start adding in side characters and side stories that did little for the story and worldbuilding. It really became a mess near the end, with so many pointless stories just kinda finished. I get that was the point, but I think I would have gotten it anyways.
Beyond that, what really befuddled me was the ending. I still, a day later, am still unsure what I read. Like the twist I was kinda hoping for, but then the AI becoming human because it wanted to die? What? And then we just showed that this council had all control and were erasing everyone memories and that was it.
Also they brought up the secretive China, then never talked of it again. Wanted to see something come from China, or it turn out it no longer even existed or something.
Just added way too much at the end. Still glad I bought and read it though, really like your youtube. Will buy your next book for sure.
p.s. You had quite a few bits where I laughed out loud. You have a nice dry sense of humor at points in the book. Appreciated that.
Beyond that, what really befuddled me was the ending. I still, a day later, am still unsure what I read. Like the twist I was kinda hoping for, but then the AI becoming human because it wanted to die? What? And then we just showed that this council had all control and were erasing everyone memories and that was it.
Also they brought up the secretive China, then never talked of it again. Wanted to see something come from China, or it turn out it no longer even existed or something.
Just added way too much at the end. Still glad I bought and read it though, really like your youtube. Will buy your next book for sure.
p.s. You had quite a few bits where I laughed out loud. You have a nice dry sense of humor at points in the book. Appreciated that.
July 11, 2020
I have to say, my favorite part are the flashbacks to different points in Earth history (and elsewhere). While the science is good when it's explained, I think I could use more, especially given those were my favorite moments.
Some of the storylines are not as well done, while others are very interesting. Some of the beginning is slow and we expect that the character build-up will reach some kind of crescendo, but I don't know if it does. I still am intrigued by the ideas, but some of the other characters (not named Greg) don't have the best storylines or characters.
I think that John could have used some more proofreading or an editor. I definitely noticed a decent amount of grammatical errors and some clunky sentences, but it reads pretty well.
I still liked this book though, and am interested in reading some more. I would recommend.
Overall score: 7.8/10
Some of the storylines are not as well done, while others are very interesting. Some of the beginning is slow and we expect that the character build-up will reach some kind of crescendo, but I don't know if it does. I still am intrigued by the ideas, but some of the other characters (not named Greg) don't have the best storylines or characters.
I think that John could have used some more proofreading or an editor. I definitely noticed a decent amount of grammatical errors and some clunky sentences, but it reads pretty well.
I still liked this book though, and am interested in reading some more. I would recommend.
Overall score: 7.8/10
August 27, 2019
Something to Blow Your Mind
In the not too distant future, man has solved most his obvious problems with technology. Robots do our work. Computer implants make us smarter and saner. Nanobots keep us healthy and young.
Experimental scientists create a quantum computer with power and abilities far beyond that of mortal man, and while the computer works on improving itself something unexpected happens. It becomes aware. What would such a computer do? What would it’s motivations be?
Meanwhile, humans struggle with new problems: coping with boredom when robots don’t need our help.
Step outside your own day to day problems and imagine a whole new world of problems.
In the not too distant future, man has solved most his obvious problems with technology. Robots do our work. Computer implants make us smarter and saner. Nanobots keep us healthy and young.
Experimental scientists create a quantum computer with power and abilities far beyond that of mortal man, and while the computer works on improving itself something unexpected happens. It becomes aware. What would such a computer do? What would it’s motivations be?
Meanwhile, humans struggle with new problems: coping with boredom when robots don’t need our help.
Step outside your own day to day problems and imagine a whole new world of problems.
February 23, 2024
Entertaining and profound
I found the author through YouTube, I was impressed by his unique delivery style of scientific content. This made me but this book, and I'm very glad I did. The story is entertaining by itself, and has the bonus of being tempered with nuggets of outlandish ideas, the best being: love is not the highest expression of the universe, conscience is; conscience is the universe aware of itself.
I found the author through YouTube, I was impressed by his unique delivery style of scientific content. This made me but this book, and I'm very glad I did. The story is entertaining by itself, and has the bonus of being tempered with nuggets of outlandish ideas, the best being: love is not the highest expression of the universe, conscience is; conscience is the universe aware of itself.
September 8, 2018
Well written
Well written and engaging. Could have been much more I think. Had a lot of potential with all the storylines. But weren't as fully explored as I would have liked. Some characters that I related to just didn't have the role that they were built up to. But overall a good read.
Well written and engaging. Could have been much more I think. Had a lot of potential with all the storylines. But weren't as fully explored as I would have liked. Some characters that I related to just didn't have the role that they were built up to. But overall a good read.
February 28, 2023
Looked forward to reading this for a really long time, as a fan of John Michael Godiers YouTube channel. This is easily one of my top 5 science fiction novels, sitting somewhere between Isaac Asimov’s End of Eternity and Alastair Reynold’s Eversion.
Science fiction gold — highly recommend this one to anyone who is thinking about reading it.
Science fiction gold — highly recommend this one to anyone who is thinking about reading it.
December 8, 2025
Damn. Never getting a neuralink ever, that’s for sure. I hope modern AI scientists are heavily considering human ethics when it comes to the first sentient AI that we create. Great quick read, want to read more from this author. Highly recommend.
March 8, 2019
Amazing story
It is interesting to consider the possibilities of sentient AI, and what it means to be human. I could not put it down.
It is interesting to consider the possibilities of sentient AI, and what it means to be human. I could not put it down.
April 10, 2020
Amazing!
This book had me question many things! It perfectly exhibited the dangers of fully trusting and relaying on A.I. it is true they make life easier, but at what cost?
This book had me question many things! It perfectly exhibited the dangers of fully trusting and relaying on A.I. it is true they make life easier, but at what cost?
January 28, 2022
Now I'm a fan of Godiers books too!
Great book! I had always planned on reading his books as I'm a fan of the YouTube videos. I wasn't disappointed. Great strory.
Great book! I had always planned on reading his books as I'm a fan of the YouTube videos. I wasn't disappointed. Great strory.
November 8, 2024
Wonderfully intriguing and thought-provoking book on humanity that perfectly reflects the author's character in his videos. If you are a fan of the channel I'd definitly recommend giving it a chance.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews