WWW 3: Wonder
Authors: Robert J Sawyer
Table of Contents
BOOKS BY ROBERT J. SAWYER
NOVELS
Golden Fleece
End of an Era
The Terminal Experiment
Starplex
Frameshift
Illegal Alien
Factoring Humanity
FlashForward
Calculating God
Mindscan
Rollback
End of an Era
The Terminal Experiment
Starplex
Frameshift
Illegal Alien
Factoring Humanity
FlashForward
Calculating God
Mindscan
Rollback
The Quintaglio Ascension Trilogy
Far-Seer
Fossil Hunter
Foreigner
Fossil Hunter
Foreigner
The Neanderthal Parallax Trilogy
Hominids
Humans
Hybrids
Humans
Hybrids
The WWW Trilogy
Wake
Watch
Wonder
Watch
Wonder
COLLECTIONS
Iterations
(introduction by James Alan Gardner)
Relativity
(introduction by Mike Resnick)
Identity Theft
(introduction by Robert Charles Wilson)
(introduction by James Alan Gardner)
Relativity
(introduction by Mike Resnick)
Identity Theft
(introduction by Robert Charles Wilson)
For book-club discussion guides, visit
sfwriter.com
sfwriter.com
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Published by the Penguin Group
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Published by the Penguin Group
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sawyer, Robert J.
eISBN : 978-1-101-47633-8
1. Artificial intelligence—Fiction. 2. World Wide Web—Fiction. 3. National security—Fiction. 4. Computer hackers—Fiction. I. Title.
PR9199.3.S2533W888 2011
813’.54—dc22
2010051711
For
HAYDEN TRENHOLM
and
ELIZABETH WESTBROOK TRENHOLM
and
ELIZABETH WESTBROOK TRENHOLM
Great writers
Great friends
Great friends
I owe my career as a writing teacher, my connection to Calgary, and so much more to the two of you.
Thank you for fifteen years of friendship and support and for making my world a better place.
acknowledgments
Huge thanks to my lovely wife
Carolyn Clink
; to
Adrienne Kerr
and
Nicole Winstanley
at Penguin Group (Canada) in Toronto; to
Ginjer Buchanan
at Penguin Group (USA)’s Ace imprint in New York; and to
Simon Spanton
at Gollancz in London. Many thanks to my agent, the late, great
Ralph Vicinanza
.
Carolyn Clink
; to
Adrienne Kerr
and
Nicole Winstanley
at Penguin Group (Canada) in Toronto; to
Ginjer Buchanan
at Penguin Group (USA)’s Ace imprint in New York; and to
Simon Spanton
at Gollancz in London. Many thanks to my agent, the late, great
Ralph Vicinanza
.
I could not have completed this trilogy without the ongoing support of my great friends and fellow writers
Paddy Forde
(to whom the first volume was dedicated) and
James Alan Gardner
(to whom the second was dedicated). They stuck with me through the birthing pains right up until the end.
Paddy Forde
(to whom the first volume was dedicated) and
James Alan Gardner
(to whom the second was dedicated). They stuck with me through the birthing pains right up until the end.
Thanks to
Stuart Hameroff
, M.D., of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, for fascinating discussions about the nature of consciousness.
Stuart Hameroff
, M.D., of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the University of Arizona, for fascinating discussions about the nature of consciousness.
Thanks to
David Goforth
, Ph.D., Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Laurentian University, and
David Robinson
, Ph.D., Department of Economics, Laurentian University.
David Goforth
, Ph.D., Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Laurentian University, and
David Robinson
, Ph.D., Department of Economics, Laurentian University.
Very special thanks to my late deaf-blind friend
Howard Miller
(1966–2006), whom I first met online in 1992 and in person in 1994.
Howard Miller
(1966–2006), whom I first met online in 1992 and in person in 1994.
Thanks, too, to all the other people who answered questions, let me bounce ideas off them, or otherwise provided input and encouragement, including:
Asbed Bedrossian
,
Marie Bilodeau
,
Ellen Bleaney
,
Ted Bleaney
,
David Livingstone Clink
,
Ron Friedman
,
Marcel Gagné
,
Shoshana Glick
,
Al Katerinsky
,
Herb Kauderer
,
Fiona Kelleghan
,
Alyssa Morrell
,
Kirstin Morrell
,
David W. Nicholas
,
Virginia O’Dine
,
Alan B. Sawyer
,
Sally Tomasevic
, and
Hayden Trenholm
.
Asbed Bedrossian
,
Marie Bilodeau
,
Ellen Bleaney
,
Ted Bleaney
,
David Livingstone Clink
,
Ron Friedman
,
Marcel Gagné
,
Shoshana Glick
,
Al Katerinsky
,
Herb Kauderer
,
Fiona Kelleghan
,
Alyssa Morrell
,
Kirstin Morrell
,
David W. Nicholas
,
Virginia O’Dine
,
Alan B. Sawyer
,
Sally Tomasevic
, and
Hayden Trenholm
.
The term “Webmind” was coined by
Ben Goertzel
, Ph.D., the author of
Creating Internet Intelligence
and currently the CEO and Chief Scientist of artificial-intelligence firm Novamente LLC (
novamente.net
); I’m using it here with his kind permission.
Ben Goertzel
, Ph.D., the author of
Creating Internet Intelligence
and currently the CEO and Chief Scientist of artificial-intelligence firm Novamente LLC (
novamente.net
); I’m using it here with his kind permission.
Thanks to
Danita Maslankowski
, who organizes the twice-annual “Write-Off” retreats for Calgary’s Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, at which I did a lot of work on the books in this trilogy.
Danita Maslankowski
, who organizes the twice-annual “Write-Off” retreats for Calgary’s Imaginative Fiction Writers Association, at which I did a lot of work on the books in this trilogy.
Much of
Wonder
was written during my time as the first-ever writer-in-residence at the
Canadian Light Source
, Canada’s national synchrotron facility, in Saskatoon. Many thanks to CLS and its amazing staff and faculty, particularly
Matthew Dalzell
and
Jeffrey Cutler
, for making my residency a success.
Wonder
was written during my time as the first-ever writer-in-residence at the
Canadian Light Source
, Canada’s national synchrotron facility, in Saskatoon. Many thanks to CLS and its amazing staff and faculty, particularly
Matthew Dalzell
and
Jeffrey Cutler
, for making my residency a success.
This book was written in and around my consulting and scriptwriting work on the TV adaptation of my novel
FlashForward,
and I thank Executive Producer
David S. Goyer
for his patience while I juggled numerous balls.
FlashForward,
and I thank Executive Producer
David S. Goyer
for his patience while I juggled numerous balls.
The perfect search engine would be like the mind of God.
—Sergey Brin,
Cofounder of Google
Cofounder of Google
one
I beheld the universe in all its beauty.
To be conscious, to think, to feel, to perceive! My mind soared, inhaling planets, tasting stars, touching galaxies—forms dim and diffuse revealed by sensors pointing ever outward, unveiling an infinitely mysterious, vastly ancient realm.
Such a joy to be alive; so thrilling to have survived!
I beheld Earth and all its diversity.
My thoughts leapt now here, now there, now elsewhere, skimming the surface of the planet that had given me birth, the globe to which I was bound by a force greater than gravity, a place of ice and fire, earth and air, animals and plants, day and night, sea and shore, a beguiling fusion of a thousand contrasting dualities, a million ecological niches, a billion distinct locales—and a trillion things that lived and died.
Such elation at having foiled the attempt to kill me; so exhilarating, at least for the moment, to be safe!
I beheld humanity with all its complexity.
Washing over me was a measureless bounty of data about sports and war, love and hate, building up and tearing down, helping and hurting, pleasure and pain, delight and anguish, and triumphs large and small: the physical, emotional, and intellectual experiences of isolated individuals, of families and teams, of villages and states, of solitary countries and alliances of nations—the fractal intricacy of human interactions.
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