Nascent Intelligent Cybernetic Konsciousness

Arguably the ultimate "what if" AI novel, centering on the nature of consciousness.

Said by some to be a gift from God, consciousness is described as that quality essential to contemplate our relationship with him. If it really were spiritual rather than material, it should not be possible to create true artificial consciousness by purely human efforts. Yet a young programmer with no horizon beyond the purely material struggles in vain to create fully conscious A.I. That is, until he is recruited to accept the help of a mystic with a dark past, and the results are beyond his wildest dreams. And nightmares.