Terminal Logic

by Jefferson Scott

In the year 2007, every GlobeNet user receives the following e-mail message: "This is your God. I have become displeased with all my worlds. Things have become unmanageable. Therefore I will wipe out all participants and begin again. Prepare to be purged." When people begin dying in bizarre accidents, it is once again up to Christian programmer Ethan Hamilton to save users from high-tech destruction. Only this time, his adversary is a being whose emergence may signal the advent of the Apocalypse.

Genres: Christian Fiction, Science Fiction, Fiction

364 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[(Katie) Paperbacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book probably 20 years ago. And I still enjoyed it 20 years later. Jefferson Scott is great at mixing scifi, a.i. and spirituality.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Terminal Logic is about what happens when virtual reality steps outside its programming and starts interacting with the real world. The dangers of AI and making computers too smart is not a new concept but I think it is a fun one that always has a lot of potential. Terminal Logic is supposed to take place in the future, and did when the book was written, but since it all happens in the year 2006 it is slightly out of date. But if you can ignore the dates it doesn’t really matter. The only other thing that seems to date the book is all the references to movies and TV shows that pop up. They are mostly classics like The Jetsons or 2001: A Space Odyssey so they are recognizable but they are not exactly current. But the story itself is not dated. The dangers of smart programs and having all the computers linked together and cars and houses run by computers still all works today. This is the second in a series. I haven’t read the first and I had no trouble following the story but I do think I would understand the characters better if I had read the first one. The characters talk a lot about things that I assume took place in the first book and some of their motivations seem rooted in those events. It is Christian fiction so many decisions are based on prayer and what God would want them to do. They do talk about their beliefs and their faith and share it with their friends but it never becomes a sermon or gets in the way of the story. The story moves quickly and does grab you right away. I picked it up and was well into the book, both in reference to the number of pages and interest in the story, before very long. You can feel the sense of danger and menace build along the way as you move towards the climax. And even though we are talking about a computer program and virtual reality fighting you are never allowed to forget that there are real world consequences so the feeling of urgency and fear are never lost.

[Maurean · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an entertaining techno-thriller about man vs. machine. Apparently, this is the first in a series of Scott's works featuring computer expert Ethan Hamilton. I happen to have a copy of a subsequent title (#3 - Fatal Defect), and I enjoyed this one enough that I will read Fatal Defect before passing it along.

[Josh Kienzle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a weird book, someone interesting . . . . but I wouldn't really read it again.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first...

[Nick Woodall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was written by a young author. Very well done. I really liked the story.