The premise of the book is
that there is a large scientific research base on the Moon. One of its
projects is the study of consciousness and the pursuit of applying that to the
creation of AI's. This is considered a dangerous area of R&D. An AI might
turn out to be unfriendly - according to the book an AI near Seattle developed
unknown scientific abilities and disappeared causing some harm to the area. To
minimize the risks the project is carried out by sending what are ostensibly
slower-than-light colony ships to settle at another star system. The ships are
crewed by clones - clones are viewed as less than true humans, and therefore
more expendable. The clone crew members are specially chosen and trained so
they will make the voyage turn into an attempt to create an artificial
consciousness. The ship is also designed so they will face a series of
technical crises which will push them towards the need to make an AI to control
the ship.
This means these experiments
will be carried out far from Earth - so even if a created AI turns hostile, it
will be unable to harm Earth. One of the crew members is a psychiatrist /
clergyman. Unknown to other crew members he also is assigned to self-destruct
the ship should a potentially dangerous situation arise.
Within this context, most of
the book is a tech talk marathon during which the crew members try to work
through the questions of what is consciousness, how can that be engineered into
a computer, what safeguards are needed, etc.
The version of the book I
read was a revised edition Herbert made in the late 1970's. Apparently,
Herbert had tried to make the original 1960's version consistent with the
scientific knowledge of the time and attempted to update the science for the
1970's version. Most of the science discussed was in areas I know too little
about to comment on. Certainly, even the 1970's version is 30 years old now.
And whatever was known then and has been learned since has not lead to the
development of any AI's. To the best of my understanding, scientists are still
trying to understand consciousness in the human brain. For these reasons, I
would recommend the book for readers interested in a book that will raise
questions to be thought about, and to suggest readers looking for a book that
will provide answers to think twice about this being the right book.
The book is not only
talking. The crew has to respond to a number of problems. We see the progress
made on a device that is hoped will eventually provide consciousness to the
computer. There are radio interactions with Moon Base which require decisions
by the crew, and crew members have to privately think about their roles
relative to Moon Base plans, their ship and their individual choices. These
parts give the reader periodic breaks from the sessions of talking, provide
some action in case you need a stimulant, and also provide more background for
the plot.