WWW: Wake (WWW Trilogy) [Hardcover]

Robert J. Sawyer (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 7, 2009 | Series: WWW Trilogy

Caitlin Decter is young, pretty, feisty, a genius at math - and blind. Still, she can surf the net with the best of them, following its complex paths clearly in her mind. When a Japanese researcher develops a new signal-processing implant that might give her sight, she jumps at the chance, flying to Tokyo for the operation. But Caitlin's brain long ago co-opted her primary visual cortex to help her navigate online. Once the implant is activated, instead of seeing reality, the landscape of the World Wide Web explodes into her consciousness, spreading out all around her in a riot of colors and shapes. While exploring this amazing realm, she discovers something - some other - lurking in the background. And it's getting more and more intelligent with each passing day.

--This text refers to the MP3 CD edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. The wildly thought-provoking first installment of Sawyer's WWW trilogy, serialized in Analog in 2008 and 2009, explores the origins and emergence of consciousness. Blind teen Caitlin Decter gets an experimental signal-processing implant that inexplicably opens up her vision to the wondrous infrastructure of the World Wide Web. Inside the Web is a newborn webmind, a globe-spanning self-contained consciousness that is just becoming aware of the outside world. Secondary plot threads about a highly intelligent hybrid primate and Chinese bloggers battling a repressive government extend the motif of expanding awareness. The thematic diversity—and profundity—makes this one of Sawyer's strongest works to date. Numerous dangling plot threads are an unnecessary pointer to the forthcoming books; readers will keep coming back for the ideas. (Apr.)
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From Booklist

Caitlin was born blind, and when, newly arrived in tenth grade, she is offered a chance at an experimental procedure to give her sight, she leaps at it, despite previous disappointments. When she returns from the Tokyo hospital in which she underwent the procedure, it seems a failure. Soon enough, though, she discovers that, instead of reality, she is perceiving the Web. What’s particularly interesting is the background noise. Something strange is floating around behind the nodes of normal Webspace; a closer look reveals that, whatever it is, it’s not just meaningless noise. Caitlin’s story alternates with those of Hobo, a chimp whose claim to fame is being one of the first two apes to video-chat online; an entity of mysterious provenance; and a Chinese dissident blogger who is quite curious about why everything from outside China is blocked. Sawyer’s take on theories about the origin of consciousness, generated within the framework of an engaging story, is fascinating, and his approach to machine consciousness and the Internet is surprisingly fresh. --Regina Schroeder

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ace Hardcover; 1 edition (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0441016790
• ISBN-13: 978-0441016792
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (93 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #862,095 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert J. Sawyer -- called "the dean of Canadian science fiction" by the OTTAWA CITIZEN and "just about the best science-fiction writer out there" by the Denver ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS -- is one of eight authors in history to win all three of the science-fiction field's highest honors for best novel of the year: the Hugo Award (which he won for HOMINIDS), the Nebula Award (which he won for THE TERMINAL EXPERIMENT); and the John W. Campbell Memorial Award (which he won for MINDSCAN).

Rob has won Japan's Seiun Award for best foreign novel three times (for END OF AN ERA, FRAMESHIFT, and ILLEGAL ALIEN), and he's also won the world's largest cash-prize for SF writing -- the Polytechnic University of Catalonia's 6,000-euro Premio UPC de Ciencia Ficcion -- an unprecedented three times.

In 2007, he received China's Galaxy Award for most favorite foreign author. He's also won twelve Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Awards ("Auroras"), an Arthur Ellis Award from the Crime Writers of Canada, ANALOG magazine's Analytical Laboratory Award for Best Short Story of the Year, and the SCIENCE FICTION CHRONICLE Reader Award for Best Short Story of the Year.

Rob's novels have been top-ten national mainstream bestsellers in Canada, appearing on the GLOBE AND MAIL and MACLEAN'S bestsellers' lists, and they've hit number one on the bestsellers' list published by LOCUS, the U.S. trade journal of the SF field.

Rob is a frequent keynote speaker at conferences, teaches SF writing occasionally, and edits his own line of Canadian science-fiction novels for Red Deer Press.

His novel FLASHFORWARD (Tor Books) was the basis for the ABC TV series of the same name. He enjoyed spending time on the set and wrote the script for episode 19 "Course Correction."

His WWW trilogy, WAKE, WATCH, and WONDER (Ace Books), is all about the World Wide Web gaining consciousness.

Next up is TRIGGERS, April 2012. Set in Washington D.C., TRIGGERS is a science fiction political thriller about the nature of memory.

For more information about Rob and his award-winning books, check out his web page: http://sfwriter.com

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Only the beginning and more wonders to come July 12, 2009

By Jeffrey J. Lyons

Format:Hardcover

Robert J. Sawyer's "www.Wake" opens up a few cans of worms and leaves us with a cliffhanger at the end so we can all speculate on what happens next. Without giving too much away, a brilliant but blind teenage girl is enlisted by a Japanese scientist for experimental eye surgery and when it is all done, a lot of interesting things occur. Meanwhile on the other side of the country there is a gorilla painting pictures of its caretaker and in China there is a suspicous avian flu outbreak that results in the Chinese government covering up some drastic action it took to deal with it. I expect Book Two will deal with these secondary issues in a bit more detail and find a way to link them to the main story.

Sawyer's writing style is approachable even for those who are not big Sci-Fi readers. Certainly the science is there (and accurate) but his books tend to deal more with the culture of the day and the way the characters respond to that while the science flutters by in the background. This was an enjoyable start, a fairly quick read, and I am looking forward to the next one.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Sawyers Best September 28, 2009

By Robert Ehrlich

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Wake is thought provoking,a good read and an introduction to modern thought on human perception / pattern recognition. The side-play concerning the heroine and her father is not well done and raises more questions (such as why did her mother marry this bozo?)--however the concept of growing up with contrasting affecting by ones parents is a valid one.

The plot is pure science fiction and points to a plausible future maybe 30 years from now. The reader should pause now and again to think abut the issues Sawyer brings up on modern thought / science.

Wake held my interest to the end and is a kind of "feel-good" book. I can recommend it with out reservation

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Novel Take On the Web May 29, 2009

By Gary Shea

Format:Hardcover

WAKE is clearly identified in the beginning of the volume (in the list of "Books by Robert J, Sawyer") as the first in the WWW trilogy, with WATCH coming in 2010 and WONDER in 2011. It is good for a reader to know this going in. Although there are multiple plot lines in Wake, it is not a complicated novel. Several plots are resolved and some surely will see resolution later.

Interestingly no date is mentioned in the book. I'm guessing the story takes place right about now (2009) or in 2010 or 2011.

As it is the start of the "WWW" trilogy, is knowledge of the World Wide Web a prerequisite? I would say yes absolutely. Given who the average Sci Fi book reader is this should not be a problem.

There is diversity in the characters, that is, culturally, ethnically, linguistically, and in terms of health and intelligence. This makes for some humorous moments. On the other hand - financially - this is a middle class world, one where money matters affect how characters act.

That there is no direct or graphic violence is perhaps a Canadian aspect of the book. The stresses that keep the reader engaged are psychological and physiological. There are specific Canadian details sprinkled throughout. These enhance the story and ensure that author Sawyer dutifully promotes his homeland.

WAKE is a fun and thoughtful book. It is expertly paced. It superbly draws on a historical parallel between its main characters and the lives of Helen Keller and her teacher Ann Sullivan.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Sawyer plays to his strengths May 24, 2009

By Saul Good

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

WWW: Wake has all the hallmarks of a great Sawyer novel: intriguing premise, educational bits of knowledge spread throughout, making you feel like you are reading a great Chricton novel or a very engaging textbook, loads of Canadian trivia, and, most importantly, three-dimensional characters that live in the mind's eye and are people you care about.

Unlike most of his novels, where the main character is a middle-aged male Canadian intellectual with some sort of marital conflict, the star here is a 15-year old American math whiz who just happens to be blind and female. Another favorite Saywer novel, Factoring Humanity, also featured a female lead and the same sense of wonder and emotional depth is present here as well. Only one minor character comes off as a bit cliche during a conflict with Caitlin. I'll let you guess which one that is.

There are at least three plotlines that intersect here and, while this initial volume is fairly benign, with one big exception, there are hints at some sinister goings-on for parts two and three.

I never read his dinosaur trilogy, but this is at least as good as his Neanderthal triology, even though it has more of a leisurely pace, and there is not as much world-building going on. I am looking forward to the next volume. I just hope the story doesn't come true by then!

33 of 45 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Artless but inoffensive SF novel of ideas April 14, 2009

By C. Claiborn

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Sawyer has things to tell you, and nothing will stop him. Characters know things they don't need to know:

"Sho was aware that there had been a much earlier version by Simon and Garfunkel,but she only knew their names because of the chimp at Yerkes known as Simian Garfinkle."

Or sometimes they know things that they don't know:

"'Le'azazel!' exclaimed Anna; it sounded like a curse word to Caitlin."

And then suddenly a teenager in a high-school mathematics curriculum becomes a working expert on information theory and cellular automata.

When Sawyer can't plausibly have his teenaged protagonist discover all of computational linguistics, he hands off the exposition to a handful of interchangeable scientists. But there isn't a grain of characterization that doesn't feel obligatory; we feel the author straining to get back to the good stuff: summarizing papers and putting them between quotation marks.

The book isn't self-contained. Things happen, but no conclusions are reached. The Internet becomes self-aware, an ape paints a picture, a blind teenager's sight is restored. This might set us up for hijinks in the coming books, but it's not a satisfying read. We aren't even left with any urgent sense of events in motion; the book just ends.

The writing is engaging, once you stop trying to figure out why the narrators of the individual chapters all sound the same, and once you realize that it's okay to skim the chapters in which the Internet ponderously considers its own condition. But really, why waste your time?