Demon Seed (1973)

The version of the book you will find today is likely a revised version of a story originally released in 1973.

Today it is the story of a computer that takes control of a house. In the house lives a woman who is dealing with her demons - principally a divorce from a controlling, abusive husband.

The 1997 revisions to this story mention Microsoft and features of computers that may have been unthought of in 1973. I've not read the 1973 version so I'm not certain how it read. In any case, this is relatively quick read and does not feel too dated - a fact that surprised me.

Overall I would say that it is worth a read, but probably not a book I would look to read again.

In 1977 this was made into a movie starring Julie Christie - one I've never seen. It is still available in-store. ( )

I've read a good number of Kootz's books thru the years - I started reading his stuff at 15 or so. I dropped the horror genre for a while, him and King both. I spotted this on the bookshelf and was in the bood for something different, so I figured I'd give it a shot. This was NOT the Koontz I used to love reading. i felt myself tripping over sentences, and having to re-read things to keep following. It seemed choppy and thrown together, not the way I remember his writing. I did catch the notes the book was re-written/revamped for current times, since the original was published in 1973. Maybe that re-write/update is what made it so choppy - not sure. But certianly not what I expected of one of my favorite authors from the past. ( )

A very good no brainer quick read from Mr. Koontz. Doesn't get too in depth either plot wise or character wise but moves very quickly and to the point. I enjoyed reading this in 2011 after 14 years since he re-wrote it and seeing how close artificial intelligence and computers in general are coming to something like this being maybe not possible but at least plausable. ( )

Not one of my favorite Koontz novels, but scary none the less. It's spooky in the same way that Hal from Space Odyssey makes you want to rip out all of your electronic devices. It's a quick read that, oddly enough, raises some essential questions about society, the role of gender, and what constitutes a living being. ( )

Having never read the original, I have to disagree with most reviews on here and express that this is an excellent book. Ignoring themes that it may only scrape the surface of, taken at face value, it is a chilling tale, dripping with black humour.
It provides dark, paranoia-inducing sci-fi elements with the occasional moment of true, disturbing horror.
I'm not a fan of Koontz's more recent material, but for it's short length, this is an excellent and totally worthwhile read. ( )