This is a bridging novel and I'm looking forward to book 3 and the resolution of several plot lines.

Webmind goes public during this and governments get nervous about it's potential. Caitlin still sees it as a friend and wants to see it prosper. She and her parents keep trying to ensure that it understands morals and the dilemmas that are in navigating the world and at the same time ensure that it doesn't just decide that humanity is a plague on the world. I am wondering if Azimov's laws of robotics are going to get a mention at some stage, though WebMind seems to be a little more advanced than that.

It's an interesting read with some interesting layers building and I hope it continues into book 3. ( )

I contemplated adding this book to my "Philosophy" shelf as well as the SF shelf. Underlying the continuing, entertaining story is a subtle investigation of the question, "What is the evolutionary value of consciousness?". Sawyer does, at least, give you his view on the matter and I am inclined to agree with his position. (Some authors like to just raise such questions and then never actually deal with them in a substantive way. I hate that kind of intellectual teasing.) But Sawyer also doesn't let the investigation of that question get in the way of the story, nor does he really hit you over the head with an overly long exposition disquisition of his thesis. Everything remains balanced, in my opinion. As I was coming to the end of this book, it reminded me of why I have always been a science fiction fan, even before I was made aware that it was a genre separate from others. I love stories that make you really think about the implications of some technology or philosophy or political stance. To extrapolate into the future (even if it is only a couple of years into the future) what the application of these things might mean is the essence of SF. And Sawyer does a wonderful job of it in this series. This book is definitely part of a trilogy: the story does not stand on its own, nor is any plotline resolved in any meaningful way. I immediately downloaded the final book in order to reach the story's end. I suspect anyone who takes up this second book may do likewise.

[UPDATE: Still enjoyable the second time around. And the multi-reader audiobook is excellent.] ( )

This was a damn good series. I.hope for all the world that this is our future. Its a very optimistic book, but I think that's what a lot if people need to read right now. Especially those of us on the internet today. We are a cynical people. We doubt. We refute. We argue. More of us need to hope. ( )

Entertaining premise and.plot, undone by mediocre writing ( )

Too much evolution, leftist propaganda, and cussing from a 16-year-old girl. This detracts heavily from what otherwise is a good plot. ( )