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James P. Hogan

The Two Faces Of Tomorrow Paperback – September 26, 2006

by James P. Hogan (Author), Yukinobu Hoshino (Illustrator)

4.4 30 ratings

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Midway through the 21st century, an integrated global computer network manages much of the world's affairs. A proposed major software upgrade - an artificial intelligence - will give the system an unprecedented degree of independent decision-making, but serious questions are raised in regard to how much control can safely be given to a non-human intelligence. In order to more fully assess the system, a new space-station habitat - a world in miniature - is developed for deployment of the fully operational system, named Spartacus. This mini-world can then be "attacked" in a series of escalating tests to assess the system's responses and capabilities. If Spartacus gets out of hand, the system can be shut down and the station destroyed... unless Spartacus decides to take matters into its own hands and take the fight to Earth.

Print length

576 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Dark Horse
Publication date

September 26, 2006
Dimensions

6.15 x 1.2 x 10.15 inches
ISBN-10

1593075634
ISBN-13

978-1593075637
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dark Horse (September 26, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1593075634
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1593075637
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.55 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.15 x 1.2 x 10.15 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,637,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,979 in Dark Horse Comics & Graphic Novels
- #7,809 in Science Fiction Manga (Books)
- #350,428 in Science Fiction & Fantasy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 30 ratings

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4.4 out of 5

30 global ratings

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WRJohnson

Glad it was available

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 3, 2021

Verified Purchase

Birthday gift. In old condition but still appreciated

Helpful

William Rawls

One of the best books I ever read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 10, 2010

Verified Purchase

I honestly think this should be made into a movie. This book came out before the internet but would be an incredible story in this day of the web. No doubt a deal is already in place, but come on holiwood, let's see an original story make it's way to the big screen... Oh yeah, and for you reading this? Get it and read it. A great story.

3 people found this helpful

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Ray Lynn

Comic Book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 2, 2008

Verified Purchase

I was disappointed in that I did not realize it is a comic book, and a heavy one at that. I had read the original back around 1980 and was looking forward to a novel like the original. I evidently didn't research it enough although I read the reviews at this site. I did wonder what Yukinobu Hoshino had to do with the book - I thought maybe the book cover or an illustration or two.

One person found this helpful

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Attn4d

Great story

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 17, 2015

Verified Purchase

Great story fun to re-read, has implications about Artificial Computer intelligence that apply today

One person found this helpful

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Charles Prael

I've owned this since long before Amazon

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2022

And it's been one of my touchstones for certain issues. It's a well written story that also examines chaotic impacts of smart systems and AIs doing unexpected things for unexpected reasons. Anyway, awesome read, get a copy if you don't have one.

Helpful

Steven Woodcock

An Excellent Novel About What Might Happen

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 7, 2017

An excellent book, this is one of the early James P. Hogan novels.

This novel explores the impact of an artificial intelligence and whether or not it can be "trusted" (for lack of a better word). In the prologue an automated computer system is told to do something "as quick as possible" and so it decides to blast out a ridge of a mountain with a mass driver. Needless to say this rather disturbed everybody involved, and so after some consideration they decided to outfit a space station under construction and then attack it to see what it does. The hope is that the AI would of course evolve peacefully.

Of course it didn't work out that way, and as the story unfolds the AI (Spartacus) learns more and more about its environment and how to respond to destruction of its circuits and such. And of course an AI that is shaped by conflict rather than questioning responds in a similar way, and the battle gets into stranger and stranger levels. The AI researchers have to decide if they can still keep it together, or if the time comes to evacuate everybody and use the last ditch option of a nuclear weapon...

An excellent work, mostly not particularly dated since it was first written. The action is well written and the story moves along briskly, and there's a sense that everybody is caught up in the battle without enough time to actually THINK about what they're doing.

I liked this book--not his best, but VERY good. Recommended for any fan of good science fiction and a fan of anybody interested in the possibilities of the evolution of AI.

4 people found this helpful

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T. D. Welsh

Superb ideas, but comes alive only in action sequences

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 17, 2007

Jim Hogan is one of the most underrated SF writers that I know of, although I suspect that many people have read and enjoyed his books. His vision of tomorrow's technology and where it might take us is second to none, making some famous authors like Arthur Clarke and Isaac Asimov seem foolishly optimistic in some of their predictions. One reason for this is that Hogan is a qualified engineer with very wide knowledge of the computer industry, which he extrapolates very convincingly. (I think more SF writers fail in their expectations of future computing than in almost any other department - Heinlein, for instance, has recognizably 1950-1970 computers in many of his stories set centuries in the future). Some of Hogan's other books contain similar ideas - notably "Code of the Lifemaker" - and several of his later novels deal with virtual reality.

The core idea of "Two Faces of Tomorrow" is one of the fundamental dilemmas facing humanity today and in the coming years. Namely, if a computer system is not more intelligent than we are, it cannot (in principle) achieve anything we can't. But, if it is more intelligent than we are, how can we trust its recommendations? Let alone its actions if we equip it to control machinery directly? In this book, a team of scientists, with military backup, are charged with running a full-scale experiment to find out whether an executive AI could resist all efforts to shut it down, and if so how. The outcome is very surprising, in both positive and negative ways.

As other reviewers have noted, Hogan does not put much effort into characterization, preferring to linger over engineering details. That's a stylistic choice, however, and a writer cannot do everything in the scope of a normal-length novel. This book should definitely be on your reading list if you're an SF devotee, and I think that all politicians and decision-makers should be aware of its core ideas. One day we are going to have to do something similar, although it may not be quite as dramatic as Hogan's story.

10 people found this helpful

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patp

For fan of Yukinobu Hoshino's art

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on February 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

While not as great as 2001 nights from the same artist I found the story good if not predictable. The drawing are what brought me to buy this book in the first place and I was not disappointed. This story of a futuristic conflict between man and machines was well depicted with good ideas and interesting concepts. Story wise the character development was weak and not up to what I was expecting. It might be because Yukinobu Hoshino was not the writer. I recommend this book if you are a fan of Hoshino`s art but if you have read 2001 night you might find it lacking some originality and substance.

Harmonica Summer

贅沢コラボによる本格SF漫画

Reviewed in Japan 🇯🇵 on April 7, 2010

Verified Purchase

非常に進化した人工知能に、人類は未来を託せるか？

スペースコロニーを舞台に、本能を植えつけられたコンピュータと
人類との壮大な実験が始まった・・・
傑作ハードSF漫画『未来の二つの顔』の英語版。

○　とにかく面白い。第一級のエンタテイメント。

○　スペースコロニー内部の精緻でリアルな描写も素晴らしい。

○　サイズがあまりにも大きくて重く、読みづらい。電話帳のよう。

予想を遥かに上回るスピードで進化し始めた人工知能スパルタカス
と、追い詰められていく登場人物たちとの息詰まる対決。
そして『実験』は『戦争』の様相を呈していき、やがて圧巻の
クライマックスへ・・・

J.P.ホーガン原作のハードSF小説を名匠・星野之宣によって漫画化
したこの作品は、傑作揃いの星野漫画の中でも屈指の面白さです。
物言わぬスパルタカスと人間達とのスリリングな攻防に釘付けになる
こと間違いなし。夢中になってページをめくりながら、楽しく英語に
親しんでいって下さい。

ちなみにこの漫画、日本語版と英語版とでは意訳の域を超えてセリフ
の内容が違う箇所が多く見られます。
また版型が大きいせいもあるのでしょうが、英語版の方が文字による
情報量が遥かに多くなっているので、日本語版を参考書がわりに使おう
としても役に立たない箇所が多いでしょうね。

2 people found this helpful

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The Two Faces Of Tomorrow Paperback – September 26, 2006

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