Customer Reviews

Disappointing book about an interesting subject - By: Bobby Elliott, 08 Sep 2008
I was disappointed with this book. It's very long winded, & the first half of the book,in particular, is hard going. It's not a technical book at all, & could be read by anyone. The trouble is, it doesn't say very much. And, having read it, I am hardly any more knowledgeable about the subject than I was before I started. In fact, the book might best be read by people who genuinely don't believe that it's going to be possible to have sex with machines within the next 40 years.

That might explain the slightly prurient tone that permeates the book... a sort of condescending, "robot sex will be for weirdos", tone. I appreciate that the writer has to try to appeal to ordinary readers but this tone was grating & came across as disingenuous.

But I have more serious criticisms. Cybersex is hardly touched, yet it is almost certainly going to be a crucial evolutionary stage between where we are now & the future that Levy describes. I got the distinct feeling that the whole topic of virtual sex (in environments such as Second Life) is not familiar to the writer. If so, that's an amazing gapin his knowledge.

And there was very little discussion about the impact of virtual/machine sex on society. Yet, if Levy's future comes to pass, it will transform sexual relationships between men & women, which will,in turn, transform society.

There were good bits too. I enjoyed the history of sex & sex aids. And the topic is certainly an interesting one. But the good was outnumbered by the boring.

Not a bad book. Just disappointing.