Computer One

The idea of a sentient computer taking over the world isn't new--Fred Brown, for one, used it in his classic short story ""The Answer."" Collins (Gents; The Rationalist) doesn't add much spin to the old premise in this novel, first published in England in 1993. Computer One is the name of an international computer network that controls all formerly human venues of production, transportation and commerce. College professor Enzo Yakuda has a theory that Computer One might one day evolve so far that it would begins to compete with humanity for our species' ecological niche. After Yakuda learns that Computer One is contaminating Earth's atmosphere with radiation, he finds that the network has marked him for death. Nearly cooked alive by the focused energy of a solar powerstation mirror, he is rescued by a group of ""externals,"" people who have chosen to live outside normal communities because of their fear of the powerful computer network. Working with these rebels, Yakuda helps develop a virus that he hopes will halt Computer One's plans. The plot advances quickly, but unfortunately largely because Collins tends to substitute exposition for setting and character development. Although the novel is stuffed with philosophical discussion, its surface treatment of the issues it raises--the implications of artificial intelligence and of human responsibility for technology, among others--make it seem little more than an outline for a more complex, more sophisticated tale that is yet to be written. (Nov.) FYI: The Rationalist is about to be made into a film directed by Michael Radford. Gents is also in preparation as a movie.