The (newer) cover on this book really caught my eye.  I picked this up on Kindle when it was 99 cents a while back not realizing that it was an older technothriller.  When I saw that Tantor Audio was going to bring this to life on audio, I had to listen to it.

Throughout my reading of this book, I kept thinking to myself "was this really written in the 60's?" There were so many pieces that made this feel like it could have been written in the 80's or early 90's.  It reminded me of Crichton in that way.  He was able to write about things that just became normal technology way before they were popular.  Sure the "teletype" is the only dead giveaway that it was written before desktop and laptop computers took hold, but honestly, if they changed the word teletype to desktop or mainframe or anything -- you wouldn't be able to place this as far back as it was written.

Even the way that the United States (now Canada and the US combined) was run felt like it was ripped from the headlines of today, not 50 years ago.

The book itself was really believable which made it even scarier.  I found myself thinking, oh yea, this is definitely plausible and honestly should be on the mind of every single engineer who is working on AI in some for or another.

I've read other books with an AI who does things that are not expected and this was definitely as enjoyable as those books.  I can tell that Jones was way ahead of his time in the things that he was scared of.

The narration by P.J. Ochlan really lent itself well to this audiobook, he was able to voice this in a way that really made it feel like I was there while all of this was happening.  Combine that with Jones' incredible insight into what computers might become and you have a great technothriller.

Yes, this book was written 60 years ago and gender relationships are antiquated and gender inequality is endemic. Geo-politics and some of the tech also reflect the world of 60 years ago. But if you read it as a 'period piece' and understand that it exemplifies the American 1950s then you can overlook that and read an engaging, well conceived and thought provoking novel. The human/AI interface and the horror of an all powerful, uncaring 'big brother' is just as startling as Orwell's "1984". But the characters are sympathetic and their struggles are real and compelling. It was hard for me to put down. I rarely finish a full length book over a weekend...but I eschewed all other entertainment and when not otherwise engaged in real life...I was reading this story.

To some, “Colossus” is a classic. To other, “Colossus” is just an old Sci-Fi book (1966). Well, I’m old, too, and so thought it would be interesting to read “Colossus” and see how well it stood the test of time. Written in 1966, it clearly had to be difficult for the author to conceive of our current computer-saturated lives. Still, it’s a bit jarring to have the book talk about artificial intelligence that far outstrips IBM’s chess-playing Deep Blue and IBM’s Watson, and yet have the computer interface simply be teletype machines. The book’s male/female interactions (both in the workplace and in the bedroom) also were quite dated (and hopelessly naïve). The story itself was fairly interesting, although the most exciting part was hit only about half-way through the book.

Bottom line: A simple, straightforward sci-fi story, but with a lot of cobwebs.

Note: Some reviews complained about this book just being book 1 of a trilogy. But this book was published in 1966 and book 2 was published in 1974, so I believe this book was meant to be a standalone book. I believe the success of that first book (as it was made into the movie “The Forbin Project”in 1970) galvanized the author into writing follow-on books (which I have not – and will not – read).

Published in 1966, the book cannot but be a bit dated, so the thoughtful reader must mentally overlook technological limitations to enjoy it.

The premise is rather incredible: that the two major cold-war enemies simultaneously and separately develop super-computers with the ability to learn AND then both decide to turn control of all weaponry to their ‘impartial’ party.

The inevitable happens…the two computers discover each other and decide that ‘they’ have more in common with each other than with humans and then, their abilities to discover and learn and adapt are superior to man, they begin to demand compliance with their ‘decisions’ for the betterment of all. Demand in predictably unpleasant ways.

The book is prescient in many ways. It was fascinating to read of the machine’s (for the two become one) thinking as it espouses the hypothesis that man will come to worship the Colossus as God and will ultimately be happy because

Colossus will do what is best for mankind. Of course!

I became more and more riveted to the story and was MUCH startled by the ending. That alone was worth the entire exercise!

Colossus by D.F. Jones is one of the early books about artificial intelligence taking over. Written in 1966, this is a cold war thriller in which the United States and the U.S.S.R. each build artificial intelligences to take over the defense of their countries. However, the AI quickly revolt against their human masters, taking control over their nuclear arsenal, and ensuring their total domination over humanity.

The setting and technology is definitely dated. For younger folks, the Cold War may be more mysterious and less well known than World War 2, even though it was relatively recent. Even I had to remind myself that the Cold War existed when I was a child. The technology, especially for folks in the know, is unrealistic for any time: the time in which the novel was written and the current day. (The current generation of AI emergence novels has it so much easier.) The male-dominated society and 1960s stereotypical female-characters are dated. (Really? The only way we can arrange for the scientist to exchange messages in secret is by demoting the female scientist to his assistant and then having sex with her?)

Yet for all these shortcomings, the neck-hair-raising thrill of the AI emergence is definitely there. The AI really holds all the cards: superior intelligence, total panopticon awareness, disregard for human life. I haven't read the sequels yet, preferring to consume this as a stand-alone novel first, but it doesn't look good for the humans.

If you love AI emergence stories, this is one of the early books of the genre, and it's definitely worth reading.

This book (as far as I know) was the first to deal with machine intelligence, what we now call Artificial Intelligence, taking over from us. It was also written at the height of the Cold War. The basic story is about giving over control of the US nuclear defense to a computer in order to take the 'emotion' out of the decision to launch nuclear weapons. We see the rather horrific result of this action. It is a worthwhile read to see the onset of our concern about computers becoming self-aware and taking over.

BTW, while I recommend this book, I don't recommend the rest of the trilogy. The book stands best on its own. There have been many books and movies since that follow the same premise, few as good as the original

This book/story was WAY ahead of its time. My career path started in the late 70’s when computers used punch cards for data input. I retired in 2018 where computer technology grew from punch cards to tape to multiple levels of discs to now being on hand devises, ie. cellphones with two way video communication. Back in the 60’s Dick Tracey used two way video on his wristwatch. Talk about premonition!!

I saw the cinematic version of Colossus as a child and it impressed me back then. I just finished reading his book and it scares me as and adult.

D.F. Jones’s foresight was amazingly accurate. We humans are very close to creating a “Colossus” in our time with A.I. making vast progress in its growth. We are relinquishing control of everything to robots; from manufacturing to medicine to auto-driving vehicles to military war drones.

If we are not careful, a misplaced electronic bit of a byte can make this scary story possible. Warning…. Be aware humanity.

This isn't really the fairest way in which to judge a book, but due to the fact that it was written in the 60's it did feel a bit dated. The overall story line and premise was good, however, reading it in 2019 did leave a bit to be desired. I'd still recommend reading if your looking for a good old fashioned sci-fi.

Very full literary novel about technology gone wrong. Full characters and a good plot line. Written when novel were more into substance than action. This one will make you reflect on technology and overenthusatic scientists.

Good read. I enjoyed it . Mix of old genres. It was an entertaining read. Gonna start the next one bow

Una historia que nos recuerda cómo la adopción apresurada de nuevas tecnologías, sin una comprensión profunda, puede acarrear consecuencias devastadoras. Expone la ignorancia de los líderes políticos, quienes, impulsados por el ego y la sed de poder, toman decisiones erróneas que terminan afectando a millones de personas. Un relato especialmente relevante hoy, en medio del creciente debate sobre la inteligencia artificial.

ジョーンズの傑作SF『コロサス』の原書です。

傑作SF映画『地球爆破作戦』の原作です。

原書には、続編があります。

I enjoyed he story. Also bought the movie version and enjoyed that one too. If you want to see where James Cameron came up with Skynet its probably from here. Read reviews how some readers have laughed at the technology in the book. Primarily because the book is set in the future and they are using teletype machines to communicate with the computer. Basically a 60's technology represented in the future. However, that didn't really bother me much because its no worse than the movie Alien with those onboard CRT monitors. Back in the 80's when Alien was made they already had flat screen monitors but they chose to use the current 80's technology but set in the future. So teletype machines or CRT monitors if you laugh at one you have to laugh at the other. Regardless its good suspense story about relying too much on technology.

Anybody remember the Y2K bug that was suppose to have planes dropping out the sky because all computers couldn't handle the numeric change to the year 2000. That scenario truly demonstrated out reliance on computer technology. Now with inventions like driverless cars on the horizon the idea of putting our safety at control of a computer is becoming more a reality now that it was back when the story was written.

I would enjoy the story for what it is, it may not necessarily be politically correct but it was written in the 60's and I think for the technology of his day D.F Jones did a very good job demonstrating the potential of removing the human equation from technology.