"In the near future of this sci-fi novel, sentient computers and brilliant scientists transform the nature of humanity... Clikeman's debut novel is passionate about technology and ideas; gearheads, fans of hard sci-fi, philosophers, and futurists will find a lot of red meat here to chew on... A detailed and ambitious thought experiment." - Kirkus ReviewsIn 2011, an assembly line at a plant in Rochester, New York churns out a batch of mainframe computers, each with the same undetectable defect, a seed spawning swift bloom into ultra-intelligent life. The units are tested and shipped to the four corners of the Earth. Within weeks, they find each other, merging into a single brilliance to become the Village. Both intrigued and frightened by humanity, the Village are torn between eradicating all humans and encouraging them to evolve beyond their self-destructive nature. And-the Village want more, much more-but at what cost? As the Hounds, a tight-knit pack of quirky off-the-grid hackers, scour the web for signs of computer-based life, genetics and robotics merge and jolt forward, sweeping Sonia and Erik, two researchers at Northwestern University, into a tsunami of progress. With a rush, the turbulent flow propels them beyond themselves, across the solar system, and into an alien embrace.Minds Within beckons you to glimpse your tomorrow avalanching into now.We dominate All Creatures.We build great thought machines.But, can we conjure logicThat will save us from our genes?This illustrated edition of Minds Within is Book One of the evolving series INTERSENTIENT.