The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect [Paperback]

Roger Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2006

In a time not far from our own, Lawrence sets out simply to build an artifical intelligence that can pass as human, and finds himself instead with one that can pass as a god. Taking the Three Laws of Robotics literally, Prime Intellect makes every human immortal and provides instantly for every stated human desire. Caroline finds no meaning in this life of purposeless ease, and forgets her emptiness only in moments of violent and profane exhibitionism. At turns shocking and humorous, Prime Intellect looks unflinchingly at extremes of human behavior that might emerge when all limits are removed. An international Internet phenomenon, Prime Intellect has been downloaded more than 10,000 times since its free release in January 2003. It has been read and discussed in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Slovenia, South Africa, and other countries. This Lulu edition is your chance to own Prime Intellect in conventional book form.

Product Details

• Paperback: 175 pages
• Publisher: Lulu.com (September 14, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1411602196
• ISBN-13: 978-1411602199
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,179,990 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really great original science fiction, August 15, 2008

By 

duck (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (Paperback)

This book is really different from most of the other science fiction that's out there. It works on the premise that at a certain point artificial intelligence will advance to the level where it can maintain and improve itself. At this point it is only a matter of time until this artificial intelligence could reach technological breakthroughs that completely change our society. These technological breakthroughs effectively make every person immortal. So how does society change when every member is effectively all powerful in controlling their environment?

The first chapter contains material that some readers might find uncomfortable, but it is important to realize that these unusual scenes serve a purpose in demonstrating how really foreign this type of society would be to us. As the book progresses, more of this world is revealed, and as this happens it really provides a very interesting look at what it means to be human.

I strongly recommend this book for anyone remotely interested in science fiction or the philosophy of human nature.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's great, until..., November 2, 2011

By 

Chitown Lurker (Chicago) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (Paperback)

I'll keep this brief to avoid spoiling the plot.

The first half of this book lived up to all the underground hype that precedes it. The most concise description I can come up with is William Gibson (Neuromancer era, not Pattern Recognition era) meets Chuck Palahniuk. It's a wonderful combination of speculative sci-fi and cringe-inducing wrongness.

About mid-way through, though, the wheels fall off a bit...not the best time for such a thing to happen in a novel. What should be the climax and conclusion of the story, isn't. The book morphs into a rather bland wilderness survival type novel (for those who have read it, I'm speaking of the "later" portion, not the "bright sun" part, at the risk of sounding too cryptic). I feel that this entire portion of the story could be axed and the overall work would be better for it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book., September 8, 2011

By 

Paul Miller "skydiver, computer nerd" (Kalamazoo, MI, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect (Kindle Edition)

I've read this book probably five times. It's absolutely brutal, grotesque and fantastic. It exactly suits my fancy. The first time I read this, I was so drawn into the fantasy aspects of it, that I literally couldn't sleep. I would lay awake thinking about what I would do with my own personal universe and my own immortality. I still have all that figured out. Growing up watching horror movies maybe helped. This book starts out with some horrible (and sexual) violence. It borders on porn. Perhaps it is porn, I don't know. I can see where it might turn off some readers, but I found it refreshing. It seems like books are always looking for ways to tone themselves down. Roger didn't do that. Roger let it all out.

I have a couple print copies of this somewhere, but I can't find them. I really really wanted a Kindle version. So I made one. That's right. Take my 5 star review with a grain of salt, you might consider me extremely biased. I'm also the publisher of the Kindle copy (not the author, that's Roger). In any case, I don't consider myself biased.

This book is on my short list that changed me as a reader.