Wake

Starred review from February 23, 2009
The wildly thought-provoking first installment of Sawyer's WWW trilogy, serialized in Analog
in 2008 and 2009, explores the origins and emergence of consciousness. Blind teen Caitlin Decter gets an experimental signal-processing implant that inexplicably opens up her vision to the wondrous infrastructure of the World Wide Web. Inside the Web is a newborn “webmind,” a globe-spanning self-contained consciousness that is just becoming aware of the outside world. Secondary plot threads about a highly intelligent hybrid primate and Chinese bloggers battling a repressive government extend the motif of expanding awareness. The thematic diversity—and profundity—makes this one of Sawyer's strongest works to date. Numerous dangling plot threads are an unnecessary pointer to the forthcoming books; readers will keep coming back for the ideas.

April 15, 2009
Although only 15 years old and blind, Caitlin Decter surfs the Internet by "seeing" its paths in her mind, aided by a signal-processing implant. When she discovers a hidden "webmind," she strives to discover whether it has a secretand perhaps malevolentagenda. Sf veteran Sawyer ("Hominids") continues to push the boundaries with his stories of the future made credible. His erudition, eclecticism, and masterfly storytelling make this trilogy opener a choice selection.

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2009
Caitlin was born blind, and when, newly arrived in tenth grade, she is offered a chance at an experimental procedure to give her sight, she leaps at it, despite previous disappointments. When she returns from the Tokyo hospital in which she underwent the procedure, it seems a failure. Soon enough, though, she discovers that, instead of reality, she is perceiving the Web. Whats particularly interesting is the background noise. Something strange is floating around behind the nodes of normal Webspace; a closer look reveals that, whatever it is, its not just meaningless noise. Caitlins story alternates with those of Hobo, a chimp whose claim to fame is being one of the first two apes to video-chat online; an entity of mysterious provenance; and a Chinese dissident blogger who is quite curious about why everything from outside China is blocked. Sawyers take on theories about the origin of consciousness, generated within the framework of an engaging story, is fascinating, and his approach to machine consciousness and the Internet is surprisingly fresh.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)