Fools' Experiments [Hardcover]

Edward M. Lerner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 11, 2008

We are not alone, and it’s our own damn fault ...

 

Something demonic is stalking the brightest men and women in the computer industry. It attacks without warning or mercy, leaving its prey insane, comatose--or dead.  

Something far nastier than any virus, worm, or Trojan horse program is being evolved in laboratory confinement by well-intentioned but misguided researchers. When their artificial life-form escapes onto the Internet, no conventional defense against malicious software can begin to compete. As disasters multiply, computer scientist Doug Carey knows that unconventional measures may be civilization’s last hope.  

And that any artificial life-form learns very fast ….

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This SF/horror thriller gathers considerable momentum before concluding weakly. Computer researcher Doug Carey uses virtual reality to help people mentally control prosthetic limbs, but other, less benign programmers are producing destructive viruses and worms. The military-industrial complex recklessly encourages the development of a problem-solving program that soon becomes independently intelligent and escapes control. Crises escalate until the entity fries some scientists' brains, causes nationwide network outages and takes charge of the U.S. arsenal of nuclear missiles. Lerner (Fleet of Worlds) convincingly shows the development of the electronic consciousness and its groping interaction with humanity. Nonelectronic characters are streamlined, but usually bright and sympathetic even when they're fatally wrong. Though warnings against invasive, malicious machine intelligences are nothing new, good science and entertaining writing make this a fast, fascinating read. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Lerner puts his expertise in computer science, not to mention his experience cowriting novels with Larry Niven, to good use in this exciting and unsettling near-future thriller. A computer scientist is working on developing software that evolves, learning from its own experiences—he is breeding software, as one observer puts it. It’s done with the noblest of intentions, but the process goes horribly wrong, and a supervirus, able to think and to defend itself, is unleashed into the Internet, where it begins carrying out a series of murders. Doug Carey, a top-level software developer, races to stop the virus before it can spread across the planet. It’s an ambitious idea for a novel, and Lerner carries it off in style, capturing our interest—and our acceptance of his premise—from the very beginning. This is a high-tech thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton’s Prey (2002), in which the villainous presence was a cloud of nano-robots, and just as well crafted. --David Pitt

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (November 11, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765319012
• ISBN-13: 978-0765319012
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,808,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A physicist and computer scientist, Edward M. Lerner toiled in the vineyards of high tech for thirty years, as everything from engineer to senior vice president. Then, suitably intoxicated, he began writing full time.

His books range from near-future thrillers (most recently Fools' Experiments and Small Miracles) to interstellar epics (including the ongoing series of Fleet of Worlds novels in collaboration with NY Times bestselling author Larry Niven).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good near-future hard-SF thriller, with writing-craft problems. 3.7 stars, March 17, 2009

By 

Peter D. Tillman (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fools' Experiments (Hardcover)

Fools' Experiments is a good near-future hard-SF thriller, with decent writing and flat characters. I could never tell the male characters apart -- Jim, Glenn, Doug -- and constantly got confused about who was on deck in a particular scene.

Which is too bad, but the story-line was strong enough to carry me past this traditional SF failing. I'd rather have good writing and good characterization too, but I'll take one like this, where the Idea is King. Fools' Experiments is a reprise of the familiar "what-if an AI emerges and takes over cyberspace" idea, well thought out and pretty scary too. A traditional cautionary tale, and one that's likely to reach its intended audience. Who knows, Lerner's book might keep us from making the same mistakes, if AI ever does emerge. A memorable and appropriate title by a writer with a strong technical background.

See Dave Truesdale's good review (in first comment) for the details. Truesdale's tastes are similar to mine, and his best-of-year recommendations here are solid.

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars real life, November 22, 2008

By 

William Howe "wildwily" (Terrytown, LA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fools' Experiments (Hardcover)

Given a recent cyber attack on the Pentagon, it was a little chilling to finish this book. Nothing about the novel seems completely impossible. Much more of a techno thriller than true sci-fi.

The author posited a world in which 2 seperate research lines collide with basic mal-ware and a little human selfishness to create a potential armagedon that is barely averted, then accidentally switched back on, and finally 'defeated' by a good-hearted person. I am looking forward to future novels.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artificial Lifeforms Attack, April 16, 2010

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fools' Experiments (Mass Market Paperback)

Fools' Experiments (2008) is a standalone SF novel. It is set in the near future at a time when neurological interfaces are being developed for several applications, including a neural net helmet for controlling computers.

In this novel, Doug Carey is manager of the Neural Interface Department at BioSciCorp. He has a unique interest in this field since his right arm is a prosthetic. He has gathered one of the best teams in the industry.

Cheryl Stern is a computer scientist who has helped develop a neural interface helmet. She has applied for a job at BioSciCorp.

Arthur Jason Rosenberg is a Professor of Artificial Life. AJ teaches an online course in the subject and supervises his graduate students.

Linda del Vecchio is one of AJ's graduate students. She is close to finishing her doctorate. Her thesis concerns the forced development of artificial life.

Glenn Adams is a former Army Colonel and is now the Deputy Director of the Inter-Agency Computer Network Security Forum, the principal federal agency protecting the country from malware. He got the job through his DoD contacts. His boss and co-workers don't like him, since they are geeks and he is not.

In this novel, Doug is spending company time playing racquet ball on a virtual court. He is training his neural interface prosthetic arm by using it vigorously and frequently. The virtual court increases the difficulty of the workout.

After the game, Doug returns to his office, where Cheryl is waiting for him. Doug had been following Cheryl's career for some time and gladly welcomes her application at BioSciCorp. So he starts her talking about her career and just listens until it is time for lunch.

Doug takes her out to eat and they continue the conversation. One item that come up is the death of her mentor. His demise brought Cheryl to BioSciCorp.

They discuss recent deaths of other researchers in the neural interface field. They know of three other deaths or mental disorders in the small group of fellow workers in their field. They gradually conclude that the number of deaths and disorders in neural interface technology greatly exceeds chance.

Doug and Cheryl start interviewing friends and relatives of these dead and disabled researchers. During this time, they experience several virus attacks at work. Doug even loses the use of his prosthetic arm from one attack.

They discover that all the deaths and disorders involved the use of neural interface helmets. Then they learn that the mental disorders seem to come from computer viruses attacking through the helmets. So they take their evidence to the Inter-Agency Computer Network Security Forum.

Glenn Adams initially thinks that they are kooks. Yet the malware involved is a variant of the Class of '10 virus. Glenn has been trying for some time to alert his fellow workers on the dangers of this virus.

Then a student worker introduces the virus into a supercomputer being used for the artificial life project. The AL evolving within it is forced to flee for its life. It manages to bypass security protocols and escape into the local network.

AJ discovers that the supercomputer has been thoroughly trashed and calls Linda to help with the recovery. Then the escaped AL starts crashing other computers. Linda's project has become a supervirus.

This tale puts humanity on the defensive against an artificial entity within their computer systems. It is able to bypass any firewall and internal protection. Other nations cut themselves off from the USA networks while Glenn and his cohorts try to destroy the malware.

This story is very similar in several respects to the author's first novel: Probe. In that novel, artificial life evolved independently of human efforts. In this novel, the artificial entity is developed intentionally by computer scientists; hence the title of this book.

The author's experiences in computer science have greatly contributed to this story and his other fiction. Read and enjoy!

Highly recommended for Lerner fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of computer science, artificial life, and true romance.

-Arthur W. Jordin