I read this book years ago and the recent competition on Jeopardy with "Watson" reminded me of it. I remember being intrigued by the idea of a computer being programmed to link with other computers to soak up as much knowledge as possible. It then runs amuk. Lots of fun. ( )

So, in 1977, personal computers hadn't hit the mainstream, a few megabytes was a LOT of storage, and the AI Winter hadn't hit. Enter P-1. The accidental brainchild of a college kid, it is now trying to take over the world and bringing it's creator and his sexy girl along with.

All on a bunch of System/360 mainframe computers over teleprocessing links.

So, if the book wasn't out of print, you could place it close to the beginning of the Cyberpunk movement. Pre-cyberpunk. No leather, no Sprawl, more sex than Neuromancer, but was P-1 really that different from Wintermute?

An awesome retro read. ( )

This is a very interesting read and (probably) one of the first books about a computer worm. Part Frankenstein story, part sci-fi, pure enjoyment. ( )