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The Cosmic Computer

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The Cosmic Computer

By: H. Beam Piper
Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer
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Conn Maxwell returns from Terra to his poverty-stricken home planet of Poictesme, “The Junkyard Planet”, with news of the possible location of Merlin, a military super-computer rumored to have been abandoned there after the last war. The inhabitants hope to find Merlin, which they think will be their ticket to wealth and prosperity. But is Merlin real or just an old rumor? And if they find it, will it save them - or tear them apart?

Public Domain (P)2011 Audible, Inc.
Adventure Hard Science Fiction Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Fiction Technology Thriller Arthurian Solar System
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Editor reviews

The Cosmic Computer, originally titled The Junkyard Planet, is one of Henry Beam Piper’s stories set in the alternate "Future History" of the 6,000 years following the year of the first nuclear chain reaction, 1942. This entry takes place in a distant, chaotic era of Piper’s detailed universe where many planets and human institutions have fallen apart. The audiobook’s protagonist, Conn Maxwell, returns to his particularly hard-hit home planet, what Maxwell refers to as a "junkyard of empire", aiming to raise hopes and funds with the promise of a legendary lost supercomputer hidden on a literal junkyard planet. Jeffrey Kaffer’s hard and tough performance enhances the sense of Maxwell as an assertive leader navigating a harsh but strikingly and exhaustingly described future.

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A lot of bla bla bla, after chapter 8 moved on to chapter 16 and skipped each after 2 min in to the last 2 min of the chapter and so on to finish the book. A shame... Could have been a good book about interacting with Merlin instead of endles dwelling on does it exist, should it be found etc etc. Yet how comparable that is to our AI discussions those days, although there is no bunker to hold it or no plug to pull on it, it's everywhere...

A lot of talking...

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