Cybernia

by Lou Cameron

1st edition Coronet 1973 paperback, vg++ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Horror

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

Reviews

[CrowCaller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of a blast but sadly let down overall. It's very short and very tongue and cheek, a premise basically of 'what if someone with extensive computer knowledge was called to a town apparently being haunted by a rogue AI' and goes through his investigations into the matter. It's from the 70s, so much of the mystery to the lead is the fact AI is purely impossible- it's about impossible to conceive of a computer being smaller than a room at this point, so one able to make evil decisions is simply... well, not possible via punchcards.

It really would make a great B movie, as the lead attempts to dodge murder attempts while solving how this supposed supercomputer functions and why. I know nothing of electricity or engineering, but it's fun to see say, a hero get locked in a room by an evil AI... only to just dismantle the door and leave that way. A lot of obvious addressing of tropes from the time.

While the plot is mostly just a smart guy getting the girl on the side as he puzzles out a computer, it's a lot of fun. There's a bit of a sense of humor to it all and it'd get a higher rating if not for the, sigh, era typical racism. It's what happens when you read pulp. The lead and author seem to have a few reactionary ideas to social movements of the time, and there's a weird fixation on the ethnic background of the local Dutch population, who ultimately serve no purpose but to fascinate the lead on if they're white or native or black or what. Contributes little to book, nothing to plot, makes me roll my eyes and not be able to freely recommend this book like I might have otherwise.

[Arwen56 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Questo romanzo è davvero gradevole da leggere e molto plausibile. Non si parla di un futuro lontano, né di invenzioni che richiedano conoscenze non in nostro possesso, bensì di una situazione che potrebbe essere realtà ai giorni nostri, ossia una città in cui tutte le funzioni di utilità sono regolate e controllate da un computer: l’accensione delle luci, l’annaffiatura dei prati, i pagamenti delle bollette, gli antifurti delle case, l’erogazione della corrente, i servizi di manutenzione, l’apertura e la chiusura delle porte e così via. Il che pone anche una domanda assai attuale, benché il libro sia vecchiotto, e cioè se ci rendiamo conto quanta parte delle nostre azioni quotidiane dipenda ormai esclusivamente dai computer. Ma il “cervellone” in questione inizia a dare i numeri, a fare cose strane ed, infine, anche ad uccidere delle persone. Non aggiungo altro, per non togliervi il piacere di sapere come finisce nel caso vi capiti di leggerlo.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really a 3.5.

It's a fun book, not quite what I expected from the tagline but a fun mystery story nonetheless.
From my perspective as a programmer, I found a lot of the main character's quips funny, but I could see the amount of technical speak getting annoying to somebody with a different career/background.

Also be warned, misogyny and racism/classism are rife throughout the book, but I guess it's not unexpected from a book released in 1972. It doesn't detract from the story imo but I had lots of eyeroll moments haha

[Charles Jr. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this borderline-SF/pulps mystery a long time ago, probably only a handful of years after its publication date in the pre-desktop PC era. My memory is it had a trending paranoid premise at the time, back when "computers" were often dark magic in the media. Somewhere in the USA there is this Utopian town in which a newfangled computer regulates everything to run "perfectly." But deaths have been taking place, so has the HAL-9000 type electronic brain gone mad and is murdering any humans it dislikes? Some imaginative killings via 70s-level electronics & power grids that will appeal to "cyberpunk" folks of the early years, with long memories of using the Oscar Meyer weiner whistle to get free touch-tone long-distance service. Rest of you may find it really out of date, and with a denouement right out of Scooby Doo (if Fred had hot sex with Daphne every so often). Author Lou Cameron (who I for some reason confuse with paperback cover artist Lou Peck; maybe I have corrupted by a rogue AI) wrote loads of books & keeps stuff moving efficiently for the spinner-rack browsers. Enjoy as a curio and remember that when this hit the drug-store book shelves - though I am sure I bought it at a library used-book sale - the notion of the internet in your phone was probably beyond comprehension of most.

[Jada Covington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a clever book, the end made me lol

[Sam Quasar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Environmentalism, 70s Ai, sex, random conversations that have no value to the plot, racism, what doesn't this book have!!

[Minimal-too · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Passable pulp novel until the ending 'explains' things, which is just a joke for anyone with a knowledge of electronics. Pity, as even 15 minutes with someone who knows their stuff could have had the ending actually work (in terms of physics and logic).

[Chris Conway · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light but readable one-off with some amusing dialogue. Has a bit of the 60s Twilight Zone feel...

[Steve Clark]

Edition: paperback / softback