WWW: Wonder

By: Robert J. Sawyer

Narrated by: Jessica Almasy, Marc Vietor, Oliver Wyman, Anthony Haden Salerno, Robert J. Sawyer - introduction

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

"A writer of boundless confidence and bold scientific extrapolation" (New York Times) concludes his mindbending trilogy.

Webmind - the vast consciousness that spontaneously emerged from the infrastructure of the World Wide Web - has proven its worth to humanity by aiding in everything from curing cancer to easing international tensions. But the brass at the Pentagon see Webmind as a threat that needs to be eliminated. Caitlin Decter - the once-blind 16-year-old math genius who discovered, and bonded with, Webmind - wants desperately to protect her friend. And if she doesn't act, everything - Webmind included - may come crashing down.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an exclusive introduction written and read by author Robert J. Sawyer.

Listen to the rest of the WWW Trilogy.

©2011 Robert J. Sawyer (P)2011 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Sawyer shows mastery in his ability to move between complex scientific concepts and genuine and realistic characters....Wonder...is fast-paced and immediately engaging." (The Globe and Mail)

"The shining star of this near-perfect production is Jessica Almasy as the sweet teenager who introduces WebMind to the world. Her equal is Marc Vietor, the voice selected by the machine because of his brilliant work reading audiobooks. (Good inside joke there.) This story, the audiobook equivalent of a page-turner, challenges the listener to pick a side: human or machine. The answer is surprising." (Audiofile)

must listen

completely loved these books. you won't regret the time. truly orginal take on the near future

Enjoyable

The voice performance here is the standard by which other audiobooks should be held. Really good.

The story is enjoyable but ultimately a little anticlimactic.

Neuromancer for 8th-Graders

Having a series on television has definitely had an effect on Sawyer's writing style. This book, though mildly entertaining and well-read by the narrators, was still a dumbed-down take on William Gibson's Neuromancer. At least he gave Gibson a few hat-tips in the book. It should probably be in the young adult category, not grown-up sci-fi.

Weakest of this series of three.

I am a huge fan of Robert J. Sawyer or at least I was till I read this book. I have met him several times and he signed my complete set of the Neanderthal Parallax. However, I was very disappointed with his effort here. While Flashforward was one of his best stories to date, I was sorry to see that it's success and industry's weak effort to make it a TV show caused Hollywood's liberal elite to have a negative effect on him. By the time WebMind makes his acceptance speak late in the story I had become tired of the liberal, secular diatribe that was continuously being trodden out. A majority of it had nothing to the story and just became annoying by the time you reached the end. In the past he has kept these issues at the ???food for thought??? level. There are several examples of this in Calculating God and the aforementioned Neanderthal Parallax where I would stop reading to sit and think about a point that had been made, but it here it crossed the line to just plain preaching/bashing.

I realize as an author it is his prerogative to write as he see's fit and I still look forward to his next story, but if this trend continues, I am sorry to it will be the last I read.

More plot holes than plot

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

This book is aimed at someone with low technical knowledge. It is full of technical errors starting in the preface with a misunderstanding of Moore's law up to fundamental flaws that spoil the story. The writer simply doesn't do his research. The plot itself has more holes than plot; I'll avoid the big things which would involve spoilers, but even when the hackers go missing, their leave their families thinking they're dead just because nobody thinks to tell them they got jobs for webmind. It's full of examples where if you think about what's going on it drives you nuts.

The author is also more concerned about pushing his own political agenda, and many times sacrifices the story to score a political point. This also causes many flaws in the plot.

Has WWW: Wonder turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I knew up front Sawyer is a horrible writer, but this was bad even for him.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

The narrators were perfectly cast and did an excellent job. In that respect it's actually one of the best on Audible and the performance quality is the main reason I bought the book since I expect very little of Sawyer. The only criticism is the pronunciation of

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from WWW: Wonder?

The China story line. It's just about the author spouting political babble and only weakens the rest of the story.

Any additional comments?

It's a very insightful story with some great ideas. In the hands of a competent author it could have been one of the great genre-transcending works of the 21st century. With the high quality of the narrators it could have been an excellent audio book too. As it is, it falls flat in the hands of an a lousy writer.

What a way to ruin a series

Instead of focusing and developing the story the author seems to be preaching a very disturbing agenda. He tries to build a story where his agenda is right because the result is better for humanity. In his opinion child pornography and teenage sex is morally right. His justification is "everybody does it, why should we be ashamed? While teen sex is common it shouldn't be encouraged as morally right. We shouldn't be saying sending nude pictures is morally right.

Per the story:

Atheism is best
Teenage sex is morally ok
Child pornography is ok
Hackers can be used for the good
Republicans are bigots
Liberalism is the natural result of humanity

While the series does open up interesting issues we shouldn't encourage our teens to read it.

Not tht good

I only finished this because I had invested in the previous books in the series. The author seems to have an agenda to push when it comes to human sexuality (especially teenage sexuality). It really distracts from the story. Also the rest of the story plays out in a fairly shallow way (IMHO). Not a great read, but it has its moments.

Preachy

What disappointed you about WWW: Wonder?

I felt like I was being lectured to. Even if I agree with the authors philosophy, I still felt it was in my face. I don't like being preached to! I think almost 1/2 of the last book is preaching, including one 25 min. lecture. That was torture. If it wasn't the second to last chapter, I would have stopped listening then.

What was most disappointing about Robert J. Sawyer???s story?

The story was good, but I think he forgot to finish hobo's part. The humans never even realized that he had web sight too, and was painting it. I waited for that the whole trilogy.

What character would you cut from WWW: Wonder?

non, I think I would have liked to see some of the characters developed more.

Any additional comments?

The readers were fantastic, one of the best I have heard yet.

Way way too political.

great idea but this author should learn to keep his politics to a minimum. I'll be returning this book.

Children's book

What disappointed you about WWW: Wonder?

This book was so politically biased and predictable I could not help but think it should be marketed to the tween audience. I have no interest in reading the other two previous books by this author.