This was a futuristic book where a computer was used to control everything including the weather. Several attempts were made to destroy it. The heros learned the one that had been attacked was for show. The real computer was underground. Anyone know this book?
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2More detail might confirm it, but this sounds a little like the combined plots of the Colossus trilogy, compressed to a single paragraph with some bits missing...– Zeiss IkonCommented Jan 29, 2018 at 18:29
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2 Answers
Could it be "Make Us Happy" by Arthur Herzog?
This is what they have to say about it at goodreads:
A 1000 years in the future, society is run by computers, with not a gesture or activity unnoticed by their all-seeing detectors. Spacescrapers--three miles high, 1000 stories, 1000 people per floor--house 1,000,000 people. The divorce rate having climbed to 100%, the computers have made marriage almost illegal but adultery compulsory, with a resultant zero divorce rate. In this setting, Bil & Alce meet, marry, &, their sense of history whetted by a few old books & photos, decide to rebel. They set out to find the central computer bank & pull the plug.
It was published in 1978 so you could have read it in the early '80s.
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Thank you for your answer. I looked it up and it's not the one I'm looking for. I'll keep trying.– LindaCommented Jan 31, 2018 at 12:53
Possibly This Perfect Day (1970), by Ira Levin? This story has already been asked about and answered here, with other seekers mentioning that the protagonist has different-colored eyes (heterochromia).
It does feature a world under total control of a master computer, which is located underground, has a decoy for show, and also controls the weather.
Per the question linked above:
When he became an adult he joined a group of free thinking rebels that planned to destroy the computer, but were foiled when they bombed the fake computer that was set up as a display/decoy.
Per the Wikipedia plot summary:
The book ends with Chip riding a helicopter toward Majorca where his wife, son, financial sponsors, and friends are hopefully waiting for him. For the first time in his life, he sees raindrops in daytime—nature’s affirmation that the era of slavery and total control is finally over.
You may remember this distinctive fictional children's rhyme that is the basis of the book's title:
Christ, Marx, Wood and Wei,
Led us to this perfect day.
Marx, Wood, Wei and Christ,
All but Wei were sacrificed.
Wood, Wei, Christ and Marx,
Gave us lovely schools and parks.
Wei, Christ, Marx and Wood,
Made us humble, made us good.
