WWW: Wake (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: simplex mode, Miss Caitlin, World Wide Web, Helen Keller (more...)

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

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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 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #583,941 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sawyers Best, September 28, 2009

By	Robert Ehrlich "bob" (Salt Lake City, UT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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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

3 of 3 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 (Pembroke, NH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

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

By	Saul Good "IndyBookFan" (Indianapolis) - See all my reviews

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!