There were many things about this book I enjoyed. The email format of the novel was an excellent idea. You get to watch Edgar grow as the story (email messages) go on. Teller raises some interesting questions about the ethics of AI if they ever reach their goal of a "human" computer. I also liked the way Teller made both Edgar and Alice have their breakdowns together. The only problem a reader might have the boo is that it is just email messages. If your mind isn't open to the philosophies of AI you may not find this book interesting

This was an excellent book and interesting read. From a computer geek's perspective, the email conversation is exactly like it would be (fortunately the editor didn't ruin that aspect of it), and from a literary perspective, having a story unfold in an email thread is a very innovative idea. (It reminds me a bit of Nick Bantock's book, "The Venetian's Wife", at that level.)

The philosophical preoccupation with questions of meaning spring from the natural curiosity of a computer that suddenly has awareness. This is really done quite well, and in my opinion, much more nicely than in John Saul's "Nightshade" where similar questions arise when a 'mad scientist' type is killing children to make thier brains a part of his 'research' into artificial inteligence.

Not a bad first novel, and well worth the purchase.

I really enjoyed this book... in fact, I picked it up around 4 PM, and was done with it before I went to bed at 11 PM. True, this book uses a format that makes for a fast read, but I read it with a fury that most books do not install in me. I became so enthralled with this computer/human relationship that I was unable to stop reading! It is hard to really explain how this book worked with me, but if you love computers, read it and I think you should be able to understand what makes this book so good. I truly hope that Astro Teller creates a sequel, or at least continues writing with such cutting-edge style and format. And I mean come on, how couldn't you love a book with a :) on the cover? Heh.