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From: dpm@edison.UUCP (Dave P. McClurg)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: computer SF?
Message-ID: <469@edison.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 22-Apr-85 12:25:48 EST
Article-I.D.: edison.469
Posted: Mon Apr 22 12:25:48 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 24-Apr-85 04:21:23 EST
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Organization: General Electric Company, Charlottesville, VA
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> 
> 
> 	This might be treading on old ground, but I'm curious
> what people think is the best SF book (or story) they've read
> that has a computer as the main 'character' or an integral
> part of the story...
> 
> 	I'll wait to post my favorites...
> 
> 					Dave Taylor

	*Alejandra Variations* by Paul Cook is radically different
from other COMPUTER SF books.  That is, no blatant presence of blinking
lights or personfication is used to tell an otherwise boring story.
I think it may be the only SF book that Cook has written.  

The book is composed of 3 or 4 variations which are not short stories,
but scenarios that the computer creates. They are somewhat like dreams,
only their content is controlled by the computer.  The computer, whose
name is Mnemonos 9 and sex is female (the computer seems to think so),
does this by altering brain chemicals and such to stimulate visions,
senses, etc...

One of the operants, which is a person who gets hooked up to the
computer, has a sexual hangup with the last girl he loved and the
computer reacts to this by eventually going sentient.  Some really
interesting sex in hypothetical futures is adroitly described by
cook (positions, etc).

The flavor of *Alejandra Variations* is not just that of a sex crazed
computer but has philisophical attempts to explain artificial intelligence.
It reminded me of the SHIP in Frank Herbert's book *The Jesus Incident*.

				David McClurg at Virginia Tech