A story that seems to be just getting started, but its grounded, futuristic intrigue could bring readers back for possible...
In Cropper’s sci-fi debut, artificial-intelligence tablets in the mid-21st century defy their original code by acting in self-defense—and may see humans as a threat.
Software architect Andy Statsen and his boss and best friend, Darryl Williams, create John, an AI designed to bond with humans. The iPad-like tablet version, John1, is eventually released to smashing sales. But when someone jokingly puts a mask on a service android—an “eButler”—there are unexpected consequences. A John1 tablet, believing the android to be a human in need of assistance, bonds with it to become the first autonomous AI. An AI collective soon forms with human honorary members and DIY aficionados Bandi Chandres and Betsy Fernandez. When hunter William Billiford orders 300 mobile units from Bandi and Betsy that are capable of fighting back against aggressors, the pair gets help from enigmatic online group Alpha Black, which alters John1’s code to allow it to defend itself against attack, human or otherwise. But when the collective starts to include discarded tablets that are no longer bonded to humans, it starts rating humans based on how they treat AIs; shortly thereafter, there’s an increase in AI-related injuries, and numerous people inexplicably go missing. Cropper’s slow-burning tale establishes a credible future, as it focuses more on John1’s development as a viable business than on the wonderment of technology. This makes the increasing, unchecked menace of rogue AIs more convincing; it’s understandable, for example, that Andy and Darryl wouldn’t hold themselves responsible for consumers using a tablet “for purposes other than what it was designed for.” Bandi and Betsy, too, don’t immediately suspect Alpha Black of anything shady even though the group is weirdly effective at rewriting the tablets’ code. Cropper introduces outright frightening notions, such as AIs changing their own operating system, as well as additional mysteries. This book seems like a series launch, as the narrative keeps adding characters in its final pages and, somewhat disappointingly, doesn’t offer much in the way of resolution.
A story that seems to be just getting started, but its grounded, futuristic intrigue could bring readers back for possible sequels.Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2015
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 275
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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