The Path, by Peter Riva

When you give a computer system god-like powers, is it surprising that it evolves into a god-like being?  In Peter Riva's The Path, America is idyllic, with power, food, weather, virtually all aspects of daily life controlled by the System.  The System has eliminated scarcity.  People only do the work they wish to do, all their needs are taken care of.  Of course, this state of wealth has come at a cost, both to America and the rest of the world, which doesn't share its wealth.  When programmer Simon Bank inadvertently begins a chain of events that exposes long-held, dangerous secrets about the System, America, the rest of the world, and the very concept of sentience and humanity will be radically changed.

Peter Riva explores some interesting ideas in The Path, and forecasts a technological future that is believable in many ways.  Much of the first half of The Path occurs inside the system, with Simon wired in, interacting with the programming.  In a way, this was reminiscent of Tron or The Matrix, but, like those movies, it required a pretty big stretch to imagine the landscape and types of interaction that would take place within a computer system and between humans and computer-based entities.  Still, Riva handles it fairly well.

The second half takes place mostly in the physical world.  Riva transforms Simon into a sort of action hero, evading capture, running to safety, saving the world.  The action sequences tend to fall a little flat.  And the shifting alliances and revelations of who was who and who could trust whom, while unexpected, were not well-enough developed that I cared about the outcome or the characters.

The Path evolves from a cyber-mystery, to a conspiracy/suspense thriller, to a philosophical/ontological exploration.  It does so with a rough-cut, unfinished feel.  Lots of good material is here, but the finished product just seems a little wobbly and not too attractive.  The strongest element of The Path is Riva's extension of today's technology and computer programming into the near future, and imagining the possibilities of using integrated computing power to coordinate daily functions.  When this type of scenario is explored in much sci-fi, the powerful computer turns out to be a malevolent force.  In The Path, Riva offers the possibility of shaping the ethical mind of an emerging sentience.


Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!