A 'techno-thriller' written in collaboration with artificial intelligence
expert Marvin Minsky (note: see the
Links page for Minsky's website, which
contains two chapters deleted from the final edit of the book).
Dedication: For Julie, Margaret and Henry: Moira and Todd - A story of
your tomorrow.
New York: Warner Books, 25th August 1992. 422pp., ISBN: 0-446-51565-5, hbk. Cover Carol Gillot.
London: Viking, 12th October 1992. 422pp., ISBN: 0-670-84528-0, hbk. Jacket: George Snow.
London: Viking, 12th October 1992. 422pp., ISBN: 0-670-84527-1, tpbk. Cover: George Snow.
New York: Science Fiction Book Club, January 1993, hbk. Cover: Carol Gillot.
New York: Warner Books, October 1993, ISBN: 0-446-36496-7, pbk. Cover: Bob Eggleton.
London: ROC / Penguin, 28th October 1993, 576pp., ISBN: 0-14-012950-2, pbk. Cover: George Snow.
as: La Utopia de Turing. Buenos Aires: Atlántida, 1993, 426pp., ISBN: 950-08-1150-2. Translated by Patricio Nelson. [Spanish]
as: Le Problème de Turing. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1994, 466pp., ISBN: 2-221-07534-X, hbk. Translated by Bernard Sigaud. [French]
as: L'Uomo di Turing. Milan: Editrice Nord, April 1994, ISBN: 88-429-0763-4. Translated by Gianluigi Zuddas. [Italian]
as: Libro Primo, in: Il Libro Degli Yilanè. Milan: Editrice Nord, October 1997, ISBN: 88-429-0987-4. Translated by Gianluigi Zuddas. Illustrated by Bill Sanderson. [Italian]
as: Le Probléme de Turing. Paris: Le Livre de Poche, 1998, 540pp., ISBN: 2-277-23242-4. [French]
as: Die Turing-Option. Munich: Heyne, 1997, 538pp., ISBN: 3-453-11912-6, pbk. Translated by Christian Mähr. Cover: Michael Hasted. [German]
The Guardian, 25th March 1993, p.17. Review by Clive
Davidson. "Even taking into account that the book is set in 2023, the ease
with which the robot's complex itelligence is constructed is too glib to be
quite credible ... This is not Minsky's fault. He wrote two chapters
detailing the controlled evolution of the robot's intelligence, but
co-author Harry Harrison and the publisher edited them out on the grounds
that they slowed down the story."
Interzone #69, March 1993, p.64. Review by Ken Brown.
Kirkus Reviews, 15th June 1992.
"This novel by a Grand Old Man of sf and the world's leading expert on
artificial intelligence contains some of the best extrapolation on the
nature and creation of AI ever offered in fiction."
Locus #377, June 1992. Review by Dan Chow
Publishing News, 10th July 1992.
"One the verge of epoch-making discoveries, mathematical prodigy Brian
Delaney falls to an assassin's bullet. But he is not dead and, using his
own advanced techniques, his shattered brain is reconstructed. The Irish
genius rebuilds his life as half man, half computer, discovering abilities
undreamt of. This is a novel with two powerful threads: the suspenseful
investigation of industrial espionage in the next century, and Delaney
exploring and exploiting his new cyborg-like existence. Harry Harrison,
best known for his Stainless Steel Rat series, has co-authored a work which
is familiar enough territory perhaps to science fiction buffs but entertains."
Publishers News, Date? Review by Maris Ross.
The Sunday Times, 5th September 1993. Review by Ivan
Hill.
The Times Literary Supplement, 18th December 1992
(p.17a) . Review "Something other than human," by Eric Korn.
"There is plenty of action in this overlong and carelessly written book,
but it is frequently held up by unduly detailed explanations of various
pieces of tomorrow's office machinery, like the languaphone and the
voicefax. But the authors' joint enthusiasm for gadgetry seems to wither
away, and there is a dire if ambiguous warning sounded at the end. As
computer-enhanced Brian grows colder, grumpier and more resentful of women
(traitresses one and all, according to him) so his mechanical friends grow
more bonhomous and idiosyncratic. Sven even gets engagingly prickly about
what name he will answer to: "'Machine intelligence'. I consider the term
'artificial' both demeaning and incorrect," he chides, the very model of a
PC PC. (This is one of the better jokes. Most of the others are about
Irishmen or Mexicans.) ... I'm unsure about the authors' intention but the
moral is clear enough. Stop the machines before they get started. Unplug
the toaster now."
New Scientist, 10th October 1992 (p. 45). Review "A
Suitable case for software," by Andrew Hodges.
