Silver Screen

by Justina Robson

Book Overview

Silver Screen presents an enjoyably different, subversive slant on the science fiction themes of AI and cyberspace. Insecure and overweight heroine Anjuli O'Connell is one of a group of friends who... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330375660
• ISBN13: 9780330375665
• Release Date: March 2000
• Publisher: Pan Books Ltd
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.2" x 4.4"

Customer Reviews

Not Free SF Reader

Smart kid AI defense. Or smart young adults, really. In the beginning this book has a 'school for the gifted' in a future setting, but nowhere near as extreme as the X-Men, or the Battle School, or even the institution in Shiras' Children of the Atom. This one is more of a corporate competition type of place. The book focuses on one of these children, there largely because she has perfect memory, being able to recall anything from her past. This makes lots of exams etc. rather easy. The other important characters and a brother and sister, the former becoming a brilliant if unconventional and unstable AI researcher, and the other bailing. The last is the latest generation of the AI owned by the company they work for, known as 901, or Nine for short. A slow starting book builds to a rather more surprising conclusion with a trial for the rights of an Artificial Intelligence these people work for, and the latter part of the book is certainly worth waiting for. It has biodroid power armour, too. A class novel. Get it.

Silver Screen - my opinion

I am not much of a review writer. I will say I picked this book up several years ago and did not get very far before putting it down. This time it was more interesting at the beginning and ever more interesting as the story developed. The end was a surprise to me although some of you may see it coming. I found myself wanting to email the author and ask her if I got it right. If you have read her most recent series you will find this book slower moving. Nonetheless I think it is worth the time to read it.

Not Free SF Reader

Smart kid AI defense. Or smart young adults, really. In the beginning this book has a 'school for the gifted' in a future setting, but nowhere near as extreme as the X-Men, or the Battle School, or even the institution in Shiras' Children of the Atom. This one is more of a corporate competition type of place. The book focuses on one of these children, there largely because she has perfect memory, being able to recall anything from her past. This makes lots of exams etc. rather easy. The other important characters and a brother and sister, the former becoming a brilliant if unconventional and unstable AI researcher, and the other bailing. The last is the latest generation of the AI owned by the company they work for, known as 901, or Nine for short. A slow starting book builds to a rather more surprising conclusion with a trial for the rights of an Artificial Intelligence these people work for, and the latter part of the book is certainly worth waiting for. It has biodroid power armour, too.

An appealing new SF writer

Justina Robson probes the possibilities of artificial intelligences emerging as life forms, in a compelling series of new novels. I read "Natural History" first, then "Silver Screen" (twice), and now I am in the midst of her latest, "Living Next Door to the God of Love." I came to this author having been a big fan of William Gibson, Neal Stephenson, and Bruce Sterling. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found plenty of fresh new ideas in Robson's work. She even works in the 11 dimension constructs from the latest in nuclear physics theories. I recommend this book and Robson's other work to anyone who is in the market for some challenging science fiction.

What it means to be human in a mechanized world.

Justina Robson's SILVER SCREEN has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and tells of one Anjuli, who has a number of problems: a too-good memory, a boyfriend whose job is turning him into a cyborg, and struggles with machine intelligence. All her problems seem to center around a basic question: in a world where computer and man are becoming closer, what does it mean to be human? Strong characterization keeps this first-person futuristic story fast-paced and compelling.