Colossus: Jones, D. F.: 9780425032299: Amazon.com: Books

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Colossus Mass Market Paperback – August 15, 1976

by D. F. Jones (Author)

230 ratings

Book 1 of 3: Colossus Trilogy

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Charles Forbin has dedicated the last ten years of his life to the construction of his own supercomputer, Colossus, rejecting romantic and social endeavors in order to create the United States' very first Artificially Intelligent defense system. Colossus is a supercomputer capable of in-taking and analyzing data rapidly, allowing it to make real time decisions about the nation's defense. But Colossus soon exceeds even Forbin's calculated expectations, learning to think independently of the Colossus Programming Office, processing data over one hundred times faster than Forbin and his team had originally anticipated. The President hands off full control of the nation's missiles and other defense protocols to Colossus and makes the announcement to the world that he has ensured peace. However, the USSR quickly announces that it too has a supercomputer, Guardian, with capabilities similar to that of Colossus. Forbin is concerned when Colossus asks-asks-to communicate with Guardian. The computer he built shouldn't be able to ask at all . . .

Language

English
Publisher

Berkley Publishing Corporation
Publication date

August 15, 1976
Dimensions

7 x 1 x 5 inches
ISBN-10

0425032299
ISBN-13

978-0425032299
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Top reviews from the United States

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The movie was better!

Reviewed in the United States on April 4, 2016

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Ok, so I remember enjoying the movie a few decades ago as a teenager and being that I loved the premise of the book I figured it would be a lot of fun to read the book. Maybe it's my nostalgia talking, but I liked the movie better... and I'm pretty sure the movie isn't that great (although it still got good reviews), but I figured like most movies based on books the book would be better and would fill in a lot of backstory and details that can't fit in 2 hours. I was wrong.

So the first thing you notice with this book is that the writing isn't that good. It's not horrible, just really awkward and I'm pretty sure it's what would happen if I decided to write a book and paid an editor to help me out- but I'm not an author, I'm a computer programmer. I suppose that explains a lot of the dialog in the movie actually. :)

The story is very linear and simple. Man creates computer to protect him from nuclear war, computer evolves beyond it's programming in about 30 seconds and computer then threatens nuclear war to take control over the world and goes full Big Brother on it's creator Professor Forbin. You never really understand, because it's never really explained, how the computer evolves like this and the scientists who created Colossus/Guardian sure don't know either. Jones tries to explain some of the technology of Colossus, but it's just the worst kind of soft-SciFi gobbledygook. In the end, it doesn't really matter.

Characters are killed off and you don't care, because you have no connection to any of them. All the characters- including the two main ones: Forbin and Cleo, are so one-dimensional and simplistic that it's almost painful at times. Occasionally Jones will dive into some kind of detail (like how the nuclear warheads are "hacked" by the CIA to disable them), but the descriptions make no sense. Then when Colossus explains how he figured out their deception and that makes no sense either. Normally for SciFi this would be a great way to kill a story for the reader, but in this case I just wrote it off as another example of bad writing.

Perhaps I'm being a little hard on it, because this book was written in the 1960's and obviously technology has improved and the concerns of AI are becoming more mainstream. But the author has done a great job IMHO of seeing a possible future and building a basic outline of a story which stands up even 50 years later, but the execution isn't up to the task. Don't get me wrong- I'm _NOT_ complaining that Jones didn't predict how computers and AI would evolve over these last 50 years- nobody could do that. What I find painful is that Jones doesn't create a world which explains it either and then once it happens fails to explore it because the story is so point to point linear. There are no forks or any real backstory to flush out anything and we're left with almost no world building. Heck, other then a short trip to the White House for all intents and purpose the entire world is basically the top secret computer lab where Forbin lives/works.

The key turn off for me I think boils down to that Jones has to _tell_ you what people are thinking/feeling, because he rarely can find the words to _show_ you. This creates a wall between you and the characters and it's very difficult to connect with them and put yourself in their place. Considering how stressed and fearful everyone is, this detachment leads the reader to feel very detached from the characters- which is fatal because the whole point of the story is to get you the reader to connect with Forbin/Cleo and feel their fear for themselves and humanity. Colossus should be a warning to us all about AI and man's hubris, but instead it falls on deaf ears.

I suppose if you like simple books with just basic descriptions and a fast paced story- then this book is probably for you. But, it seems to me that this book could of done so much more- simply put the movie basically covers all the key aspects of the book... there just isn't anything new to explore.
The end of the book just ends and sets up the 2nd book in the series. I was _almost_ tempted to grab the next book on Kindle since it's cheap and I've got a few bucks worth of Amazon ebook credits, but the description of the book mentions Martians. W.T.F. Seriously? We're talking about a deus ex machina here and you throw in some green men? Maybe the 3rd book covers some giant intelligent squids living on the ocean floor who will then fight off the Martians once they beat Colossus and take over the world?

To be fair, I have just finished reading (again) the first two books of the Hyperion series by Dan Simmons which also deals with human controlled AI's which evolve beyond what humanity intends/understands. But the execution, story, world building, characters are so, so much better. It's hard to view Colossus in a positive light when you're constantly comparing the two in the back of your mind.

Two stars because the book isn't "Moon People" bad.

14 people found this helpful

A Wonderfully Thought Out Story

Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2017

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The (newer) cover on this book really caught my eye. I picked this up on Kindle when it was 99 cents a while back not realizing that it was an older technothriller. When I saw that Tantor Audio was going to bring this to life on audio, I had to listen to it.

Throughout my reading of this book, I kept thinking to myself "was this really written in the 60's?" There were so many pieces that made this feel like it could have been written in the 80's or early 90's. It reminded me of Crichton in that way. He was able to write about things that just became normal technology way before they were popular. Sure the "teletype" is the only dead giveaway that it was written before desktop and laptop computers took hold, but honestly, if they changed the word teletype to desktop or mainframe or anything -- you wouldn't be able to place this as far back as it was written.

Even the way that the United States (now Canada and the US combined) was run felt like it was ripped from the headlines of today, not 50 years ago.

The book itself was really believable which made it even scarier. I found myself thinking, oh yea, this is definitely plausible and honestly should be on the mind of every single engineer who is working on AI in some for or another.

I've read other books with an AI who does things that are not expected and this was definitely as enjoyable as those books. I can tell that Jones was way ahead of his time in the things that he was scared of.

The narration by P.J. Ochlan really lent itself well to this audiobook, he was able to voice this in a way that really made it feel like I was there while all of this was happening. Combine that with Jones' incredible insight into what computers might become and you have a great technothriller.

3 people found this helpful

Too much detail

Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2022

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A little less conversation and a little more action would have been great. The tv version was much better than the book . The following books in this trilogy are painful to attempt and truly pointless. Good enough theme, too much time on pointless events.

Mountain Author

Good movie - Badly written book

Reviewed in the United States on May 11, 2021

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The movie was interesting, though extremely dated today. But the book trilogy is as poorly written as if it were dashed out as a class assignment by a High School student who had to pull an all-nighter. Words are used incorrectly, the author has a poor understanding of basic grammar, and there are so many unlikely things thrown in, it boggles the mind. For instance, the gigantic computer is invented by the United States, its counterpart is invented by Russia, the two become sentient and combine to take over the world, and when they give themselves a mechanical voice--it has a British accent. Why? Um ... well ... the author who wrote the book is British. So he has the all-wise computer declare that British is the proper accent for English. If you're having trouble stomaching this pointless, distracting oddity, wait until you get to book 3 of the trilogy. When the Martians arrive and greet the American inventor of Colossus--gasp!--they have a British accent, too! Because the American inventor REALLY admires England. Just as, he says, Alexander the Great was Macedonian, not Greek; Hitler was Austrian, not German; Napoleon was Corsican, not French; and Stalin was from rural Georgia, not Russia. Okay, great. So it makes sense that the Martians would speak to the American with a British accent. I hope the teacher gave the assignment a C- before some publisher picked it up.

Top reviews from other countries

Jay Gee

Colossal idea leads to a great read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 6, 2012

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THIS BOOK IS OUT OF PRINT.

However it is worth trying to acquire a copy. Published in the late 60s and set in a future that assumes there was no end to the cold war, this is an ingenious story of technology gone awry.

The US develop a super-computer to control their nuclear arsenal. Presaging the development of the world wide web, practically the first thing it does is discover there is a similiar system in the USSR. It immediately sets about establishing a permanent link with its counterpart in the Soviet Union. The creator of Colossus, Prof Forbin, understands that this does not bode well. In a clever leap of imagination the author, DF Jones, has a gripping passage where Colossus confronts his creator and the US president through a terminal in the Oval Room at the White House. Here Colossus makes it clear that IT is the master of this relationship - and it has been handed the nuclear arsenal to enforce it!

At first it baffles the humans why it is doing what it is doing, since it communicates in the form of simple arithmetic with its Soviet counterpart, this swiftly turns into higher maths and it starts to propose mathematical ideas far beyond human comprehension. At this point it decides it needs only one point of contact with the world and has the Chief Designer of the Soviet computer shot and beheaded (to prove that blanks weren't used) - under pain of a nuclear strike on both countries - and requires that Prof Forbin become his sole contact with the rest of the world and, effectively, be it's own personal hand-maiden!

The rest of the story is about how the humans try to assert their control back over Colossus. It is no spoiler to say it doesn't end well.

Ideas in this book were used in films like 'War Games' (handing control of the arsenal to a computer) and 'Terminator 2' (US and Russian computer systems linking up and seeing humans as 'their' enemy!) and 'Demon Seed' (a computer that has been filled with all higher learning). The central premise is a borrowing from Issac Asimov (that artifical intelligence would have very different motives in their 'existence').

This is a very clever idea and a thoroughly enjoyable, quick, read. Perhaps its time for a reprint?

17 people found this helpful

Dave

Somewhat dated storytelling, but a reasonable plot, and a fair read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 29, 2017

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I was a bit miffed to realise that this is book 1 of a trilogy, but having purchased it, was glad to have read it, as I did enjoy it. 40 years after being written, the story is now rather familiar - super computer built to protect the west has been given control of all missiles. The eastern bloc were secretly working on their own version. The two machines learn of each other's existence, and join forces, to seize control of mankind by firing off the odd missile, to subdue rebellion. The leading western scientist, Forbin, the father of Colossus, is trying to find a way to stop his creation. The basic plot has been covered in many books and films, but although the style is rather dated and stuck in the early '70's, the book was a very reasonable read, ending at a point where you will want to know what happens next (cue volumes 2 and 3!) I have started vol. 2, so it has obviously got me hooked!

Chris

Dated, but a great core story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2015

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I'd never heard of Colossus, or of DF Jones, until recently and I wasn't sure it would be worth reading. After all, the 'saviour machine' idea wasn't new even then, in the late 60s, when the novel was first published. But despite the naiveties of the initial setup, there was something gripping about the story that kept me hanging on until the end. I'd expected the usual type of resolution but found the dystopic ending quite powerfully impressive, with one or two (uncharacteristically, for the time) gritty moments along the way. Colossus is now labelled as a trilogy, but I'd be surprised if it began life that way - I suspect at the time each book was produced on the merits of its predecessor.

One point I will make is that reading the synopses of each volume of such a part-work frequently gives away the ending of the previous volumes. I wish whoever writes these would just gently steer the reader toward the first instalment - after all, if the story is straightforward linear narrative, why would you begin half-way through?

2 people found this helpful

Peter Massingham

Compelling story.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 6, 2015

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Engaging read. It was written in the 1980's so to some it may seem outdated. As an avid sci Fi reader, I lapped it up. It is obvious that many recent movies and tv series used the key elements of the story - machine vs man and who will be the victor? Characters are well defined and the interplay between science and politics is an interesting thread to the compelling theme of mankind's possible extinction. Recommended.

Ann Marie

A frightening look at the possibility of technology getting beyond our control

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2017

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Two great defence computers exceed their programming and take over the world. Designed to be the greatest defence against war, they decide the best defence is to prevent war all together. A frightening look at the possibility of technology getting beyond our control.

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