Wonder is the final book in the trilogy about Webmind, the internet-spawned consciousness that emerges in the first years of the twenty first century. The previous books showed us Webmind came to life and rapidly grew into a being of global proportions, seemingly everywhere at once, helping mankind in every way possible. Of course, there were those who doubted the benevolence of an omniscient being such as Webmind, and sought to curtail its powers. Aided by the precocious Caitlin Decter, the entity known as Webmind was able to reach out to humanity and connect with six billion souls.
This book primarily focuses on the American government and their attempts to kill Webmind. All the plot elements are there: a rogue colonel, a band of talented hackers, a lone blind girl fighting the establishment while keeping her romance alive and an intelligent AI trying to stay alive. And therein lies the rub, while previous books such as the Quintaglio Ascension or the Hominids trilogy gave us something to enjoy and think about, this book is entirely too predictable. This is a bit of a disappointment from someone of Sawyer’s calibre. Let’s hope the next books he pens return to the former heights he so easily reached.
ISBN: 978-0-670-06743-5
