In the third (and hopefully final) book in his WWW trilogy, Robert Sawyer brings us the tale of an artificial intelligence who is now out in the open and recovering from an attack. With WWW: Wonder, Sawyer has created an interesting story about a new frontier. The possibilities are endless for this type of story, but Sawyer has taken up some interesting ideas of what the intelligence will do, but unfortunately left open some huge plot holes. So, let’s go back and visit Webmind and Caitlin to see where they are now.

When we last left our friends at the end of WWW: Watch, Webmind had been under attack by the US Government until he (it?) was able to successfully defend itself. Now that Webmind is out in the open, it decides to go all out in talking to people. It somewhat reminded me of the email scene from Bruce Almighty with a bunch of people contacting Webmind to find answers to life’s questions both big and small.

While Webmind is playing God (as much as he can) for the world, a US security consultant is worried about losing control of the world to Webmind and goes off the grid to hire a hacker who can kill Webmind. But he slowly finds that it is more difficult than he thought. We also bring Hobo, the half bonobo, half chimp, back for a last hurrah which goes by so quickly and strangely that I’m sure the trilogy would have been better had Hobo never been introduced. Sawyer also brings in some teen sex (and sex-ed) to the story.

Now, for the bad, there are holes in the plot large enough to drive a fleet of trucks through. If you don’t want it spoiled, then skip the next section.

SPOILER ALERT

The security consultant in a fit of paranoia goes online and gives out the secret of how to identify Webmind’s communications. With this information anyone (well anyone competent) can go and start killing off Webmind piece by piece. So, at the end of the book, when Webmind is freeing up China, I couldn’t figure out why the government didn’t just use that information.

The other big plot hole is about China. When an artificial intelligence goes in and “frees” China, I doubt that it would be a popular idea with other governments. Having an electronic Dear Abby is one thing, but when it causes revolutions, then action can (and will) be taken. And since the government (all governments) know the secret to killing Webmind, it would be done fairly quickly.

SPOILER ALERT OVER

Overall it’s a decent ending to a decent series. It was a quick read and was entertaining. But a lot of the issues were glossed over and the plot holes didn’t help. If you’re looking for quick and entertaining, then you will like the book. But, if you are looking for a little more thought with a better plot, then move on past. Mildly recommended.