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A.I. Gang #1
Operation Sherlock
When their scientist parents are assigned to a top secret project on a small, remote island, the five members of the A.I. Gang have to come along, and find themselves trying to stop a spy from destroying the project.
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 4, 1986
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
August 8, 2007
I loved this book when I was in grade school. And I can't be sure, but it probably deserves a lot of the blame for my eventual choice of computer science as a major.
It's a book about twelve year olds fighting spies with their mad hacking skills, written by someone who may never have used a computer before. Good times.
It's a book about twelve year olds fighting spies with their mad hacking skills, written by someone who may never have used a computer before. Good times.
December 26, 2016
Right on Target
I read somewhere once that kids often like to read about protagonists who are a few years older than they are. That way they get to jump ahead a few years, if only vicariously. I thought about that while reading this series, which seems to perfectly capture young teens for readers who are just approaching that age.
The kids get to do cool things and have ripping adventures, but the books are written at a high middle grade level that is very inviting.
This is all complemented by a very clever premise. Here we get six kids thrown together on an island that is secured like a modern Manhattan Project. They have to get to know each other, and to begin to work as a team. While they are all supposed to be "brainiacs" they are not loaded up with quirks and outrageous personalities. Sometimes authors can get carried away with the whole kid-genius angle and they end up creating an unpalatable gang of know-it-alls. Here, the kids are smart and alert and resourceful, but also relateable and appealing. There is no weirdness for the sake of weirdness.
The upshot is that the book offers a very appealing combination of action/adventure, suspense, and detecting, with a bunch of thoughtful and creative heros. That may be just a touch old-fashioned, but it's a fast paced and engaging update of the old Hardy Boys style of reading adventure, and that's always a nice find.
(Please note that I found this book a while ago while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
I read somewhere once that kids often like to read about protagonists who are a few years older than they are. That way they get to jump ahead a few years, if only vicariously. I thought about that while reading this series, which seems to perfectly capture young teens for readers who are just approaching that age.
The kids get to do cool things and have ripping adventures, but the books are written at a high middle grade level that is very inviting.
This is all complemented by a very clever premise. Here we get six kids thrown together on an island that is secured like a modern Manhattan Project. They have to get to know each other, and to begin to work as a team. While they are all supposed to be "brainiacs" they are not loaded up with quirks and outrageous personalities. Sometimes authors can get carried away with the whole kid-genius angle and they end up creating an unpalatable gang of know-it-alls. Here, the kids are smart and alert and resourceful, but also relateable and appealing. There is no weirdness for the sake of weirdness.
The upshot is that the book offers a very appealing combination of action/adventure, suspense, and detecting, with a bunch of thoughtful and creative heros. That may be just a touch old-fashioned, but it's a fast paced and engaging update of the old Hardy Boys style of reading adventure, and that's always a nice find.
(Please note that I found this book a while ago while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)
January 22, 2008
I really enjoy Bruce Coville novels. This man knows how to write for youngsters. He doesn't write down to them, he challenges them, but manages to keep it within their own reading ability.
I just finished reading this aloud to my boys at bedtime. As one might expect, they love the action and adventure, giggle still at the humor, and totally wish they were part of the gang of kids. Everything you want in a book for young boys.
The book reminds me of the classic Tom Swift, or Tom Corbett, or Hardy Boys types of books, with modern theme and plot and characters.
My one complaint would be that there isn't a true conclusion to the book. There is an obvious need for at least a second book (it's billed as a trilogy) since only one of the criminals involved was apprehended. I suppose, like those other classics series' that I just mentioned, in which the villian often got away to be the heroes' foil another time, this book is simply following suit. However, I do dislike what is to me a ploy to sell more books.
Even so, like nearly any Bruce Coville book I read, this is highly recommended.
I just finished reading this aloud to my boys at bedtime. As one might expect, they love the action and adventure, giggle still at the humor, and totally wish they were part of the gang of kids. Everything you want in a book for young boys.
The book reminds me of the classic Tom Swift, or Tom Corbett, or Hardy Boys types of books, with modern theme and plot and characters.
My one complaint would be that there isn't a true conclusion to the book. There is an obvious need for at least a second book (it's billed as a trilogy) since only one of the criminals involved was apprehended. I suppose, like those other classics series' that I just mentioned, in which the villian often got away to be the heroes' foil another time, this book is simply following suit. However, I do dislike what is to me a ploy to sell more books.
Even so, like nearly any Bruce Coville book I read, this is highly recommended.
April 19, 2022
A favorite from my childhood, now sadly mostly unavailable . . .
OK, so, when I was a kid in the 1980s, I was a computer geek in a time when most people did not yet have home computers. My father was an early adopter of home computing (we had a TI-99-4A), and I was learning to program and even went to computer camp one summer (computers since moved on and I did not - I'm pretty useless with them now, sadly). Anyway, I was a gifted kid, into computers, and then this series came along - the A.I. Gang, about kids in a near-future whose parents are all part of a top-secret project to create A.I. on a remote island in the South Pacific. The gifted kids decide to create their own A.I. project, "Sherlock," and there are some sinister forces at work on the island (suspected that there might be a spy known as Black Glove who works for an international terrorist organization, and a religious fanatic infiltrator who sees A.I. as an affront to God). Anyway, I *identified* so much with these kids. I even wrote my own program called Sherlock in homage. I loved the thrill of the mystery and the setting and gifted kids allowed to be gifted . . . It had very Cold War overtones that seemed dated for a long time (though suddenly kind of relevant again). Well, a short while back I remembered the series and looked it up. It's out of print, but was available on Kindle. I bought the first volume and put the other 2 on my Wish List. But about a month later, I noticed they had been removed from the Kindle store - no explanation as to why, but the e-book versions are not sold any longer! I'm especially sad, because I could have bought them all, but put it off, and now I can't get them at all, except as very used books. Very sad that this series that meant so much to me as a kid is not something I can easily share with my own kids . . .
OK, so, when I was a kid in the 1980s, I was a computer geek in a time when most people did not yet have home computers. My father was an early adopter of home computing (we had a TI-99-4A), and I was learning to program and even went to computer camp one summer (computers since moved on and I did not - I'm pretty useless with them now, sadly). Anyway, I was a gifted kid, into computers, and then this series came along - the A.I. Gang, about kids in a near-future whose parents are all part of a top-secret project to create A.I. on a remote island in the South Pacific. The gifted kids decide to create their own A.I. project, "Sherlock," and there are some sinister forces at work on the island (suspected that there might be a spy known as Black Glove who works for an international terrorist organization, and a religious fanatic infiltrator who sees A.I. as an affront to God). Anyway, I *identified* so much with these kids. I even wrote my own program called Sherlock in homage. I loved the thrill of the mystery and the setting and gifted kids allowed to be gifted . . . It had very Cold War overtones that seemed dated for a long time (though suddenly kind of relevant again). Well, a short while back I remembered the series and looked it up. It's out of print, but was available on Kindle. I bought the first volume and put the other 2 on my Wish List. But about a month later, I noticed they had been removed from the Kindle store - no explanation as to why, but the e-book versions are not sold any longer! I'm especially sad, because I could have bought them all, but put it off, and now I can't get them at all, except as very used books. Very sad that this series that meant so much to me as a kid is not something I can easily share with my own kids . . .
March 19, 2023
It was nice to revisit this book I remember fondly from my childhood -- I first read it when I was around 9 or 10 and still remember some of the characters, plot, and the Big Bad from then (though the Big Bad is revealed at the end of the trilogy or quartet, depending on which canon you follow). This holds up pretty well -- the writing is fast-paced and engaging, the cast of characters is aspirational for pre-teens, and the humor was enjoyable for me as a kid and still enjoyable for me as an adult. It's never explicitly mentioned if the story is set in the mid-1980s when the book was originally published vs. some future decade, though the technology the kids used would probably place this in a fantasy 1990s setting (which I think is why the story appealed to me so much, reading it originally in the mid-90s).
April 19, 2021
Six genius kids meet on an island when their parents are brought there to work on a secret project creating the world’s best AI. They start working on their own AI to solve crimes, namely to figure out who’s out to destroy their parents’ work and kill them all in the process.
Really fun! The most down-to-earth Coville book I’ve read yet: no aliens, no monsters, just computers and children. The characters were all pretty fun and I liked the mystery a lot. Docked a star because I had real trouble picturing a pretty important scene, but I still really liked it. Looking forward to the next one.
Really fun! The most down-to-earth Coville book I’ve read yet: no aliens, no monsters, just computers and children. The characters were all pretty fun and I liked the mystery a lot. Docked a star because I had real trouble picturing a pretty important scene, but I still really liked it. Looking forward to the next one.
May 23, 2019
It was okay
Not the best he has written but enough to be interesting. Parts were difficult to really picture but I got enough to understand what was going on. Hopefully the next book will be better.
Not the best he has written but enough to be interesting. Parts were difficult to really picture but I got enough to understand what was going on. Hopefully the next book will be better.
January 15, 2019
Not bad but too young for me to be enjoyable. And then there was the thing with the door and if you can take out the hinges, you cannot kick it in.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2019
It mostly holds up.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2020
C. fiction, teen/upper elementary, mystery, science fiction, from stash, discard
April 29, 2021
Read this book as a child. Decided to check it out again. Was quite pleased to discover the rest of the trilogy.
November 10, 2018
Pretty fun young adult read! I found this book at the recommendation of Max Temkin on the Do By Friday podcast. It’s definitely a book for a younger audience but I bet I would have loved it when I was younger. The tech aspects hold up better than I expected and it’s a fun romp. I expect I’ll read the other two books because I want to know what happens next!
3.0 stars
3.0 stars
January 24, 2019
Well on my quest to reread some of the classic books of my youth. Heck if I end up finding No Such Thing as a Witch (my favorite book as a kid) I'll be in a special kind of personalized heaven.
Ok so rereading Operation Sherlock it's still a good book but being tech based some parts of it don't age well. It's the sort of book that you kinda want to see redone and modernized. It hit me half way through this book that what he really needed was Cory Doctorow who writes bad books but good technology and science. That would be a dream collaboration these characters in a Little Brother world. One of the things that really feels outdated is the natural speaking machines. Rachel and Roger with their talking head and Wendy with her machines. We have the power to talk with machines naturally with Google Assistance and Siri and Alexa. At least that's what a tech-head would say but the only natural speaking information robots are bleeding edge tech demos. I can't even get my Google Assistant to consistently turn up the themostat two degrees. Half the time the command works, half the time the command isn't recognized. It really gives me a gaslighting feeling.
But to get back on track the world and narrative of this book works. It just needs updated tech for the kids and maybe a little work on character arcs for the adults. After all knowing what I know now. There's no reason for the adults to live on an abandoned island. Any university would pay out the butt to get that kind of mind power.
What is a bit of clever narrative is the obstacles the kids face. They face three major obstacles. One they convert to a friend. One they capture, and one very very cleverly evades capture by faking an escape. Which I thought was great.
It's been a while since I've hung out with these characters and in the beginning of the book it's a rush to remember who they are and what they do but eventually you know them by how they talk and act. Even if at that point you lose track of what they look like because the descriptions were mostly frontally based. Ray and Wendy are short, Trip is tall and lanky. Roger and Rachel are I presume average but beyond that I can't really think of anything about what they look like.
Great book lotta fun. Now on to the sequel.
Ok so rereading Operation Sherlock it's still a good book but being tech based some parts of it don't age well. It's the sort of book that you kinda want to see redone and modernized. It hit me half way through this book that what he really needed was Cory Doctorow who writes bad books but good technology and science. That would be a dream collaboration these characters in a Little Brother world. One of the things that really feels outdated is the natural speaking machines. Rachel and Roger with their talking head and Wendy with her machines. We have the power to talk with machines naturally with Google Assistance and Siri and Alexa. At least that's what a tech-head would say but the only natural speaking information robots are bleeding edge tech demos. I can't even get my Google Assistant to consistently turn up the themostat two degrees. Half the time the command works, half the time the command isn't recognized. It really gives me a gaslighting feeling.
But to get back on track the world and narrative of this book works. It just needs updated tech for the kids and maybe a little work on character arcs for the adults. After all knowing what I know now. There's no reason for the adults to live on an abandoned island. Any university would pay out the butt to get that kind of mind power.
What is a bit of clever narrative is the obstacles the kids face. They face three major obstacles. One they convert to a friend. One they capture, and one very very cleverly evades capture by faking an escape. Which I thought was great.
It's been a while since I've hung out with these characters and in the beginning of the book it's a rush to remember who they are and what they do but eventually you know them by how they talk and act. Even if at that point you lose track of what they look like because the descriptions were mostly frontally based. Ray and Wendy are short, Trip is tall and lanky. Roger and Rachel are I presume average but beyond that I can't really think of anything about what they look like.
Great book lotta fun. Now on to the sequel.
January 1, 2025
Dated, but still a fun romp.
January 14, 2017
Genius children meet one another on a deserted island when their scientist-parents team up to design an artificial intelligence. Bored and rebellious, the children decide to devise their own A. I. system despite the constant distraction of various saboteurs and assorted spies.
When I was eight, I read Operation Sherlock to pieces. Genius children! Who design robots and drive dune buggies and foil dastardly plots! It was like a book made to order for eight-year-old me. A decade and a half later, its thrills have not diminished.
Wendy Wendell opened her right eye and glared at the toys. "Lemme sleep."
"Let us up! Let us up!"
"Chips!" exclaimed Wendy, pushing herself to her elbow. "What did I do to deserve this?"
The toys responded, as they had been programmed to: "Life is rough, Captain Wendy."
"And then you die," added Baby Pee Pants in her deep voice.
"Right. Rolling onto her side, Wendy pulled the sheets over her head.
"Let us up! Let us up!"
With a sigh Wendy reached down and scooped the toys onto her bed. This cued them to give her five minutes of silence.
When the time was up, the bear began to sing. [16-17])
When I was eight, I read Operation Sherlock to pieces. Genius children! Who design robots and drive dune buggies and foil dastardly plots! It was like a book made to order for eight-year-old me. A decade and a half later, its thrills have not diminished.
Wendy Wendell opened her right eye and glared at the toys. "Lemme sleep."
"Let us up! Let us up!"
"Chips!" exclaimed Wendy, pushing herself to her elbow. "What did I do to deserve this?"
The toys responded, as they had been programmed to: "Life is rough, Captain Wendy."
"And then you die," added Baby Pee Pants in her deep voice.
"Right. Rolling onto her side, Wendy pulled the sheets over her head.
"Let us up! Let us up!"
With a sigh Wendy reached down and scooped the toys onto her bed. This cued them to give her five minutes of silence.
When the time was up, the bear began to sing. [16-17])
July 20, 2025
Spoilers Maybe
4 Stars for the main characters and their adventures
1 Star for the backdrop of AI dev.
The strength of the book lies mostly in its main cast of characters and their circumstance, beyond that the backdrop of AI development is not particularly deep in anyway. The characterization of the "Fanatic" seemed incomplete. The issues raised by the 'Fanatic' are never resolved or addressed in anyway. I suppose the main focus remains on the 6 main characters and their misadventures - which are fun and underpinned by plenty of humor.
In conclusion if you want to read a story about misadventures of a 'gang' of really smart kids and nothing more then go for it.
By the way, there are uncanny similarities between Paracelsus
and Doofenshmirtz's robot-Norm from Phineas and Ferb.
4 Stars for the main characters and their adventures
1 Star for the backdrop of AI dev.
The strength of the book lies mostly in its main cast of characters and their circumstance, beyond that the backdrop of AI development is not particularly deep in anyway. The characterization of the "Fanatic" seemed incomplete. The issues raised by the 'Fanatic' are never resolved or addressed in anyway. I suppose the main focus remains on the 6 main characters and their misadventures - which are fun and underpinned by plenty of humor.
In conclusion if you want to read a story about misadventures of a 'gang' of really smart kids and nothing more then go for it.
By the way, there are uncanny similarities between Paracelsus
and Doofenshmirtz's robot-Norm from Phineas and Ferb.
December 26, 2015
when I was a kid I read and re-read every Bruce Coville book my library had. so imagine my surprise when I discovered that this was oRiginally published back then! Somehow my libraRy NEVER got this series in so I'm finally reading it at the age of thirty two. I gotta say, kid me had great taste because Coville really stands the test of time.
the kids in this story were crazy smart but at the same time their personalities read realistically. there was intrigue, but at the right level for the target audience. more importantly, in this book at least there was NO forced tween romance! glory hallelujah! It's a recommend from me, along with most of Coville's oeuvre.
the kids in this story were crazy smart but at the same time their personalities read realistically. there was intrigue, but at the right level for the target audience. more importantly, in this book at least there was NO forced tween romance! glory hallelujah! It's a recommend from me, along with most of Coville's oeuvre.
July 7, 2009
My stomach is not ruled by the clock.
As a kid, this series was one of my favorites, I remember getting from the library again and again. A great series of mysteries and great stories of friendship.
As a kid, this series was one of my favorites, I remember getting from the library again and again. A great series of mysteries and great stories of friendship.
August 31, 2016
It's been over 20 years since I read this book, and probably the rest of the series, so I don't remember too much about it although it is one that I had remembered from my childhood and looked up eons ago and couldn't find. Glad that it's still remembered by others!
September 21, 2021
I loved this series as a kid, but mostly forgot about it until I saw it on Amazon with a new cover (but only for the e-book, boo). A great mystery/light sci-fi series for 4th grade and up, if you can find a copy.
May 31, 2015
This book lacked Bruce Coville's usual charm. It was written earlier in his career, perhaps before he had mastered his craft.
June 19, 2013
Another of my favorite books from when I was young. Some great characters and interesting thoughts on technology and its place. Very much a primer for loving science fiction.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews