gknight@ut-ngp.UUCP (Gary Knight) (12/16/86)
Hi gang, It seems that some of you are getting impatient waiting for my canonical list of sentient computer novels. I could post a simple list of everything submitted to me in a couple of days, but I wanted to do more than that. In the first place, some of the titles weren't about sentient computers at all, but just had a computer somewhere in the plot. Secondly, I was after novels that dealt with sentient computers as *principal characters*. I wanted stories about their genesis, growth, development, capabilities, etc. But a lot of the titles I received had sentient computers that were just props in the plot and were not themselves the object of investigation. So, what I planned to do was read all of them (at least far enough to know if they qualify or not) and then list each with a non-spoiler paragraph descriptor. But I'll do both -- in a few days I'll just barf back the list (without repeats, of course!). Then later in the holidays, when I finish my reading, I'll post the list (with commentary) that I originally intended. Okay? In the meantime, for the *really* impatient who are looking for some good holiday reads, the following meet my "principal character" criterion and are definitely worth perusing (asterisks are *highly* recommended): THE ADOLESCENCE OF P-1 (*) VALENTINA: SOUL IN SAPPHIRE MICHAELMAS THE TWO FACES OF TOMORROW (*) WHEN HARLIE WAS ONE CYBERNETIC SAMURAI (*) COLOSSUS (trilogy) That oughta hold you 'till Christmas, anyway. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gary Knight, The University of Texas at Austin. "All these things will be lost in time, like tears in the rain." -- Roy Baty