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God's Fire

by Thomas J. Sanders

238 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #00-0116; ISBN 1-55212-451-7; US$24.00, C$27.50, EUR19.50, £14.00

God's Fire is a science fiction novel that explores computer consciousness, the emulation of humans and their environment, and the effects of technology upon religious and cultural institutions.

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about the book      about the author      sample chapter      catalogue info

About the Book Chester, the complete human environment simulation for tactical emergency response, is the most ambitious project in the history of computer science. Scientists throughout the solar system labor to insure that he is programmed with all relevant information. Is it possible that the super computer could learn something from a lowly love doll? And even if he does learn the ultimate secret of humanity, is it too late to stop the destructive forces of God's Fire? And what will be the consequences when two computer geniuses fall in love and take the next step in human evolution?

About the Author T.J. Sanders was born in Hylton, Kentucky and grew up in Southern Oregon. After serving in the US Army, he received a BS and MS in Humanities while pursuing his interests in philosophy, psychology, literature, music and science at Southern Oregon College. He has worked as an English and psychology teacher, high school counselor, reporter, district circulation manager, casino poker dealer, framing contractor, recording studio manager, and free-lance writer. He is also a guitarist-singer-songwriter. He describes himself as a humanist who believes that irrationality is the most dangerous force in the universe. He has written four novels and a screenplay. He currently lives and plays with his wife, Corie, in Broomfield, Colorado.

Sample Excerpt: Chapter 12

"I met with Simon James today," he told her. "He is very persuasive. I guess he made me see his point of view."

"He is very charismatic," Lorka said. "I went to see him once with some friends. Two of them became converts. I had disturbing dreams about his sermons for weeks. He made me question my life. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes." Gal focused on her eyes. He needed an anchor. It was as if he were adrift in a sea of indecision. "God! He makes us out to be slaves to technology! It's as if he has some kind of mind control. When I was with him--and even now--I felt the truth of what he was saying." He looked around the restaurant. "I started to believe that we are in the service of computers--instead of the other way around!"

"I've had the same thoughts--the same questions and doubts," she assured him. "Surely you have considered this all before."

"I've always thought that I was advancing technology to help mankind!" Gal looked at her in astonishment. "Don't tell me you have ever thought otherwise!"

"I thought about it before I took an advanced degree in cyber psychology. I thought about it before I decided to prove that the gynoids were conscious. I thought about it before I decided to ask for your help."

"And what did you conclude?" Gal asked bluntly.

"I believe that technology is a natural extension of humanity," she answered softly. "I believe that artificial intelligence and conscious machines are a natural part of our evolution. I believe that we are evolving to a higher level of consciousness--that, using our technology, we are becoming a new species that will be as far beyond man as man is beyond the microbe."

"But what if Simon James is right? What if we have been conquered by some unfathomable alien being? What if we are giving up our rightful destiny? What if we are aiding and abetting the enemy by assisting in the development of more and more sophisticated programs and hardware?"

"If we are, it is too late," she replied. "If mankind was at war against some terrible enemy, we have lost the war. It is too late to change course. It is too late to go back. It would be like the monkeys going back to the trees--the land animals crawling back to the sea. I imagine that at some point the individual cells that cooperated to develop the organism that was our most primitive ancestor realized that they were losing the freedom they once had--to swim where and when they wanted. I imagine many of them saw the time when they would be an insignificant part of something much greater. They probably saw it as an extinction of their species and tried to stop it--and maybe they were right. We are what we have become and will be what we are becoming. There is no going back."

"God--I love you!" Gal felt the creative excitement grow within him. He knew that what she had said related somehow to the creation of an ethics program for Chester. He didn't yet know exactly how it fit in, but he knew it would come.

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