Code of the Lifemaker [School & Library Binding]

James Patrick Hogan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2002

Once, long ago, a robot factory-ship flew too near a star unexpectedly gone nova. After suffering extensive damage, it continued blindly for millennia.

A million years passed...

Then, in the twenty-first century, a colony ship destined for Mars was surreptitiously rerouted to Titan...and only the leaders of the military industrial complex knew why.

In addition to its flight crew, the interplanetary transport carried parapsycholoy researchers, linguists, psychologists, representatives of industry, an ambassador...and elite military units from several Western nations. Clearly something was up.
But no one was talking!

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hogan skillfully draws the reader into a fascinating philosophical and theological debate, without ever forgetting he's supposed to entertain and tell a good story." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher

This is hard sf with wry humor by the author of the Giants series (INHERIT THE STARS, etc.). In the 21st century, a colony ship destined for Mars ends up on Titan. Its crew--including linguists, psychologists, parapsychology researchers, and a whole passel of soldiers-- encounters a strange race of beings: accidentally-evolved "robots," the offspring of an alien factory ship whose computers were addled by radiation a million years before. Newsday said, and I quote them because this is exactly what I like about Hogan's books, "Hogan skillfully draws the reader into a fascinating philosophical and theological debate, without ever forgetting he's supposed to entertain and tell a good story." (Don't ask me the difference between "entertain" and "tell a good story"; I'm not their editor! I thought journalists were supposed to not mince words...)

                                --Ellen Key Harris, Editor, Del Rey Books --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• School & Library Binding
• Publisher: Topeka Bindery (March 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417617977
• ISBN-13: 978-1417617975
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #11,160,631 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The evolution of machine is interesting, April 28, 2002

By 

david lykens "mx998" (port matilda, pa USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Code of the Lifemaker (Mass Market Paperback)

Unlike a lot of other reviews, I found the first 30 pages a little boring, and the rest of the story great. The beginning of the book is excellent, then the character development of the humans occurs, and I found it hard to get through. Then once the robots are in the picture, I found it very exciting to the last page. I have read this general story line of the evolution of machines before, just not in this way. I found it very good. I liked the robot dialogue. I found myself enjoying the robot characters, and the primitive culture they had. The feelings of robots evolving over millions of years is neat, as is the origin of the robots on Titan. There seemed to be a lot of negative reviews of this book, with the beginning being all they liked. I liked the very beginning too, but most of the rest of the book did not let me down. It gets trivial at times, and the rescue of certain characters at the last minute occurs. All in all though, I did not find it a waste of time to read at all. In fact, I think it may be one of the most enjoyable reads I ever had.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for computer science and AI enthusiasts, April 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Code of the Lifemaker (Mass Market Paperback)

Reading the prologue was like witnessing the birth
of the human race. This book takes the question
of Darwinism versus Creationism and through a unique perspective -- that of a race of robots on Titan -- gives both sides something to think about. And even if you're not into not into the heavier issues, the evident renaissance metaphor is extremely effective (and the source of amusement when humans arrive on the scene).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best science fiction novels ever., January 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Code of the Lifemaker (Mass Market Paperback)

As someone with a background in biology and computer science (my degree was in cellular biology, but I work in computer software), I found Hogan's Code of the Lifemaker awesome. The world he creates, where machine intelligences evolve self-awareness, is unlike anything you've ever imagined. Yet his understanding of evolution makes it completely plausible.