I've now finished 'When HARLIE was One' by David Gerrold. This novel was nominated for both the 1972 Hugo award and the 1973 Nebula award, but lost out on both nominations to Isaac Asimov's 'The Gods Themselves.' I think both those nomination periods should be best know as the years Robert Silverberg had TWO novels nominated for both awards, it seems like not a year went by in over two decades when Silverberg didn't have a novel nominated for some award, but this year he had two up there, and both of them pretty good. I'm looking forward to writing a review of 'The Book of Skulls,' but 'The Masks of Time' is one of the earliest science fiction novels I ever read (though really you shouldn't give that book to your kids).
I've also included a list of how far I am in my goal to read all the Hugo and Nebula nominees. On top of the reviews I've written is a tab for 'my progress' that will take you to the entire list of nominees and the ones I've completed. As you can see I've got quite a ways to go, but I'm making progress.
I've posted a review of HARLIE on the side as well, I liked this book a lot. Though probably not for the reasons Gerrold was imagining, he was really able to keep me in suspense about the love story in the book, and about the ending as well. I'd recommend HARLIE to someone who hasn't read anything else by Gerrold, it's a little more accepting than 'The Man who Folded Himself' or the 'Star Wolf' series. The first can put people off by the sex in it, and the second can put people off because it's basically Star Trek. Though I really love Gerrold, and I give him a lifetime pass for Folded, so I might not be the most objective person to review HARLIE.
HARLIE falls in to that sub-genre about computers that come to life, it came not long after '2001' and 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,' so it was a heady time for this sort of novel. So much of this stuff has become a cliche by now that someone would really have to pull out all the stops to even get a novel like this published anymore. You can't have a computer go crazy in space anymore, you can't have a computer help you fight a rebellion anymore, I think HARLIE neatly lock up the "you can't have a computer help you fall in love" cliche. Gerrold really does a good job of avoiding the pitfalls of the sub-genre, and tackles some subject matter that keep this novel pretty fresh today, despite some of the more glaring anachronisms, like smoking indoors.
I haven't picked a book to read next, and I still haven't found my copy of 'Farthing,' but once I decide on my next book I'll post it up here. I'll write another review tomorrow for a book I've already finished, I'm thinking 'Dark Universe' by Daniel F. Galouye.
I've also included a list of how far I am in my goal to read all the Hugo and Nebula nominees. On top of the reviews I've written is a tab for 'my progress' that will take you to the entire list of nominees and the ones I've completed. As you can see I've got quite a ways to go, but I'm making progress.
I've posted a review of HARLIE on the side as well, I liked this book a lot. Though probably not for the reasons Gerrold was imagining, he was really able to keep me in suspense about the love story in the book, and about the ending as well. I'd recommend HARLIE to someone who hasn't read anything else by Gerrold, it's a little more accepting than 'The Man who Folded Himself' or the 'Star Wolf' series. The first can put people off by the sex in it, and the second can put people off because it's basically Star Trek. Though I really love Gerrold, and I give him a lifetime pass for Folded, so I might not be the most objective person to review HARLIE.
HARLIE falls in to that sub-genre about computers that come to life, it came not long after '2001' and 'The Moon is a Harsh Mistress,' so it was a heady time for this sort of novel. So much of this stuff has become a cliche by now that someone would really have to pull out all the stops to even get a novel like this published anymore. You can't have a computer go crazy in space anymore, you can't have a computer help you fight a rebellion anymore, I think HARLIE neatly lock up the "you can't have a computer help you fall in love" cliche. Gerrold really does a good job of avoiding the pitfalls of the sub-genre, and tackles some subject matter that keep this novel pretty fresh today, despite some of the more glaring anachronisms, like smoking indoors.
I haven't picked a book to read next, and I still haven't found my copy of 'Farthing,' but once I decide on my next book I'll post it up here. I'll write another review tomorrow for a book I've already finished, I'm thinking 'Dark Universe' by Daniel F. Galouye.
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