Colossus cover art

Colossus

Colossus Trilogy Series, Book 1

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Colossus

By: D. F. Jones
Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
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About this listen

Charles Forbin has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to the construction of his own supercomputer, Colossus, rejecting romantic and social endeavors in order to create the United States' very first Artificially Intelligent defense system.

Colossus is a supercomputer capable of taking in and analyzing data rapidly, allowing it to make real-time decisions about the nation's defense.

But Colossus soon exceeds even Forbin's calculated expectations, learning to think independently of the Colossus Programming Office, processing data over 100 times faster than Forbin and his team had originally anticipated.

The President hands off full control of the nation's missiles and other defense protocols to Colossus and makes the announcement to the world that he has ensured peace.

However, the USSR quickly announces that it too has a supercomputer, Guardian, with capabilities similar to that of Colossus.

Forbin is concerned when Colossus asks - asks - to communicate with Guardian.

The computer he built shouldn't be able to ask at all.

©1966 D. F. Jones (P)2017 Tantor Adventure Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Technology

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All stars
Most relevant
And interesting listen that shows it's age. Not only have computers made much greater leaps in some areas (and less in others) than are imagined here, the most stunning thing for me was the way women were treated and depicted, something which mercifully has changed a great deal (although some might say not enough) over the intervening decades.

Still worth a listen. I'd love to know if this Frankenstein prediction of the two machines controlling humanity and linking up was the first, in which case it has inspired many a variant, all the way up to Skynet and the Terminator.

How things change (thankfully)

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Probably best to stick with the movie for this first episode. Narrator a bit robotic, but it's ok though.

Felt better in reading, narrator value bit flat.

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As the title of my review says, it takes some time to get into the story. Once you do it is well worth it.

Takes a while to get into but worth it

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Very enjoyable and engaging. A few tiny plot holes, but nothing that couldn’t be patched with a healthy suspension of disbelief. Ochlan is a great narrator—he brings the characters to life subtly, without showboating. Can’t believe I waited all my life to read this. Classic sci-fi with tension, brains, and just the right dose of “oh shit.

Written 60 years ago - and here we are.

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Forbin is the classic engineer who has been promoted to a manager but has no management skills. Constantly snapping at people when his ideas don't work. Blaming everyone else rather than himself. I also noticed he didn't do any work at all. He would barely turn up to the office except for a few hours, but then expected his staff to work on 24 hour rotas and demanded they use drugs to stay alert. And the ludicrous thing is, he effectively got promoted for his bad behaviour. The working environment actually rewards incompetence.

I enjoyed the story though. But im sure there are some easy ways to stop colossus. For example, just drive heavy dumper trucks over the missile blast doors or chain them closed at night time. Or even just dig into colossus' mountain and use a nuke to damage the computer

Forbin is a really bad manager

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