I've never read anything by this author before, but I'm on the lookout now. It's rare to find a good story that also includes a credible computer component. Mother of God is a story about [b:artificial intelligence|27543|Artificial Intelligence A Modern Approach (2nd Edition)|Stuart J. Russell|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167881696s/27543.jpg|1362], neural networks and a serial killer. He pulls it all together and takes the reader along for a fine ride. (reviewed in 1996) ( )

Getting to the bottom of the pile from my Dad. An older book - I think from 1996 or something like that. My curiosity about where this story was going kept me reading, but the writing was a bit dry and he couldn't seem to figure out how, exactly, he wanted to narrate the story. Then the story took a really interesting twist and I was kind of excited about the end, which then really, really disappointed me. It's too bad, he could have made this story much better. I'd steer clear if I were you. ( )

Het thema van de machine die zich tegen de mens keert, is het oudste van het SF-genre. SF begon met het bekendste werk rond dit thema: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. De moderne variant is de computer die zich tegen zijn schepper keert, zoals HAL uit de film 2001: A Space Odyssey en in het boek Demon Seed van Dean Koontz. Deze roman van de Engelse auteur David Ambrose (eerder verscheen van hem Geestkracht) verhaalt over een superintelligente computer die via het Internet in contact komt met een massamoordenaar en een moordzucht ontwikkelt. Het verhaal speelt zich af in het hedendaagse Oxford. Alhoewel de hoofdrolspeelster een computerdeskundige is, wordt het vakjargon grotendeels vermeden. Door de wat stroeve stijl -die er in de vertaling niet beter op is geworden- en het wat grote lettertype leest het boek niet prettig. Het plot stelt geen grote eisen aan de lezer en bereikt een consequente conclusie. Komisch is dat de Engelse titel is 'vertaald' met een andere Engelse term.

This book is a scary glimpse of what could happen if AI ever becoming mainstream. The ability to learn implies the ability to make choices; and the ability to make choices implies the ability to make the wrong choices. I believe AI will be like humanity - most people are inherently good and make inherently good choices, but there are a few bad apples. Unfortunately, our ability to deal with a renegade AI could be limited at best, as demonstrated by this book. Having said that, the book itself is, in my opinion, not well written, though there were a couple of twists I didn't see coming. My overall view is that this book is worth reading, but not good enough for a re-reading. ( )

Another thrilling read, I have yet to read one of David Ambrose's books and be disappointed. A page turner until the very end. Fabulous.. ( )