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telerit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
powellmer's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Really liked the premise, the ending was a let down. Wish I could give a 3.5 on Goodreads. Solid cozy
elizafiedler's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cheryl6of8's review
4.0
I put off reading this one for quite some time, because the main character is an AIP and I am not by an stretch of the imagination a computer whiz. I was worried I wouldn't be able to follow the story. I was wrong.
The mystery story was quite compelling, with the interweaving of assumed identities, murder, and pieces that don't make sense. I found myself very fond of Turing, despite the fact that she is a sentient computer program; I liked the other main characters as well. The involvement of an on-line RPG and the sinister possibilities of that world were fascinating and explained in simple enough terms that I could follow along. It just occurred to me that I wasn't even sorry that this book was not funny, like most in the authors' other series, which means I liked this book more than I thought or expected to. I will definitely need to track down the others in this series and read them.
The mystery story was quite compelling, with the interweaving of assumed identities, murder, and pieces that don't make sense. I found myself very fond of Turing, despite the fact that she is a sentient computer program; I liked the other main characters as well. The involvement of an on-line RPG and the sinister possibilities of that world were fascinating and explained in simple enough terms that I could follow along. It just occurred to me that I wasn't even sorry that this book was not funny, like most in the authors' other series, which means I liked this book more than I thought or expected to. I will definitely need to track down the others in this series and read them.
screamingphoenix405's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
alesia_charles's review
3.0
I was bemusedly amused by this book, which was published in 2003 and is therefore woefully out of date as far as computer technology is concerned. It is, to my surprise, a science fiction novel written for mystery readers - one of the main characters is a sentient computer program named Turing Hopper. As a result, it doesn't "sound" like an SF novel to an SF reader.
The plot is somewhat convoluted and relies partly on events that happened in the previous volume of the series. Basically, a character known to Turing and her friends is murdered. The story follows their collective efforts to find out why he was murdered, which leads them into exploring things like online games of dubious cultural value (which no regular SF reader would have to have explained in detail), live-action role-playing games (ditto), and paintball (which maybe did need explanation in 2003?). It's complicated.
In a way, both the datedness of the tech (aside from the sentient program thing) and the non-SF assumptions of the story make it come off, to me, as if it was a historical mystery written at some point in the future when artificial intelligences are common, and the author is using the story as a vehicle to explore and explain the social issues revolving around computers back at the beginning of things. As a technophile I appreciate the author's care in having two characters point out that whatever people get up to online is not much different from what they'd get up to if they didn't have computers - that is, it's not the technology's fault that some people are thieves, or pedophiles, or socially disaffected.
Anyway, it was interesting to read. I'm not sure if I'll seek out the other book or books, though.
The plot is somewhat convoluted and relies partly on events that happened in the previous volume of the series. Basically, a character known to Turing and her friends is murdered. The story follows their collective efforts to find out why he was murdered, which leads them into exploring things like online games of dubious cultural value (which no regular SF reader would have to have explained in detail), live-action role-playing games (ditto), and paintball (which maybe did need explanation in 2003?). It's complicated.
In a way, both the datedness of the tech (aside from the sentient program thing) and the non-SF assumptions of the story make it come off, to me, as if it was a historical mystery written at some point in the future when artificial intelligences are common, and the author is using the story as a vehicle to explore and explain the social issues revolving around computers back at the beginning of things. As a technophile I appreciate the author's care in having two characters point out that whatever people get up to online is not much different from what they'd get up to if they didn't have computers - that is, it's not the technology's fault that some people are thieves, or pedophiles, or socially disaffected.
Anyway, it was interesting to read. I'm not sure if I'll seek out the other book or books, though.
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