P.C. World or A.I. Hell? (The Demon Seed - Dean Koontz)

Member Name: paulhanton

Product:	The Demon Seed - Dean Koontz
Date:	14/07/09 (139 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Thrilling, fast, great story.

Disadvantages: I wanted more.

Demon Seed.

Dean Koontz (1997) & (2007).

There are two dates to this book as the edition I have just read was published in 2007 and I suspect, though I have no way of knowing for sure, that it has been slightly updated from the 10 year old version, after all, 10 years in computing is a long time.

This is relevant as this book is about a computer that has artificial intelligence, The Prometheus Project, or Adam Two to be precise. Well, actually, it is more than artificial intelligence, it is awareness, wants, needs, desires and emotions like never developed before.

Okay, rewind. I slated the last Koontz book that I read and when I saw this at only 248 pages I thought I would give it a go, give Mr Koontz a second chance so to speak.

From the very first page I was hooked and it is the first book in a long time I have finished in two days. Not just because it was short, but because I really could not put it down.

The basic premise is that a super computer breaks out of its 'confines' with a mission in mind, to find a woman to have a child with which he will be able to transfer his 'circuitry' to so he (it is a he) can experience flesh and real life.

The exciting thing about this book is that it is told as if the computer is doing the narrating, really quite interesting and what we see is a super intelligence struggling with humanity and the morals, dilemmas and feelings that humans have.

The basic plot is no secret, but I refuse to tell you more about the plot other than it is compelling and drew me in, in a major way. The story is tense and has many, many twists. The morality is out in the open to discuss in your own mind. It has all the aspects of a thriller, combined with Sci-fi, in fact it bears more the mark of a Michael Crichton book than a Koontz book.

The writing/narrative is so worthy of exploring more. We have a computer, telling a story of what has passed, interspersed with all the developmental process, told in detail of its attempts to be more human. At times this story is naive, at times downright scary, speaking to 'his' creator:

" In my infancy, when I was still less than a half-formed person, you often conducted late-night conversations with me as you sat at that computer in the basement.

I thought of you as my father then.
I think less highly of you now.
I hope this revelation is not hurtful.
I do not mean to be hurtful.
It is the truth however, and I honour the truth.
You have fallen far in my estimation."

Now in the context of the development of the plot, this is downright creepy let me tell you.

There is violence in the book, there are unpleasant themes covered and there is a rip roaring, fast paced final third.

Koontz manages to weave into a small tale; issues of sexuality, male dominance, the morality of artificial intelligence, the essence of humanity, a glimpse into a possible future and issues of voyeurism, dominance, control and submission.

Finally, I love the way that Koontz acknowledges the fact that similar things as this have been tried before; he even has the computer tell us at one point something about Kubricks HAL and about other computers as he (Adam Two) asserts his superiority.

Postscript: I should have read the 'afterword'....I rarely do. The book is an entirely new edition from the 1997 version.

Mr Koontz, you have given us a bit of class here, loved this book to bits and will no doubt read it again.

Summary: Demon Seed