Computer genius Carl Lewis has invented the "Cyberbook," an electronic device that instantly and inexpensively brings the written word to the masses. But not everyone warms to Carl's ideas. Add corporate spies, authors threatening to strike, and a wave of mysterious murders, and you have Ben Bova at his best.
Cyberbooks (1989) 283 pages by Ben Bova.
The premise of the story is the creation of a device to read books electronically. Not too much of a stretch from reality. What is a stretch is how his world reacts to the reader, and the assumptions of what it would do. Somehow the invention would immediately replace what exists, causing massive unemployment.
Carl Lewis, a professor in Boston, invents the electronic book reader and comes to a New York publishing firm to sell his device. He knows an editor, Lori, a former classmate, and has gotten an interview with Bunker Books. Along the way Bova mentions many things that have not [yet] come to pass, more sophisticated robots and software, pheromones, portable x-ray devices, etc. The device sounds great, but then the sales people at Bunker rebel at the idea and a debate ensues. Webb publishing is also interested in getting the device, and isn't beyond industrial espionage. Add in some personal story lines and the novel gets more interesting.
Other than the logical flow of events bothering me, it was a good romp of a book. There was some humor, and the story flowed well, the characters were likable. There are a lot of other books by Bova, the Orion series, Voyager, etc., that I would recommend over this one.
