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A.I. Apocalypse (2012)

by William Hertling(Favorite Author)

3.99 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0984755748 (ISBN13: 9780984755745)

languge

English

genre

Science Fiction

publisher

liquididea press

series

Singularity

review 1: I picked this up for free on a 1-day sale, no doubt to convince me to get the rest of the series.Mission accomplished.I can't comment on how this book melds with Avogadro Corp, the first book in the series. The company is most certainly a big part of this story, but I didn't feel that there were unanswered questions or pieces left out.The novel was engaging, well thought out, and, frankly, "fascinating". (Sorry, fellow nerds, I couldn't resist.) Hurtling had a clear vision and transcribed it well. The characters were consistent and real. The plot kept my interest. Strangely, though, I can't call this a page-turner, but that's a good thing; I frequently wanted to stop after a section, just to pull everything together and step back a bit.
review 2: This book... more probably deserves a 4 for what it does well, but it has a few too many flaws.First, the description may mislead a prospective reader into thinking this will be a high-suspense technothriller with Russian ,Mafia, etc., and maybe a YA, since it features a group of high-school boys. No, that is just the impetus that sets off the real story, which is about AI and its dangers and benefits. What the book does well is explore that subject. It made me think about the subject. I especially liked the idea of the AIs discovering the benefits of cooperation. Well done.Now for the flaws.Like #1 in the series, there is a bit too much technical description. Also the climax deteriorated into a big unprovoked battle scene that I thought undermined the thoughtfulness of the book. Following that, the ending seemed too pat. He did not convince me that the "solution" was a solution. There is not a lot of character development in the book, either, but a book like this does not suffer from that as much as books in other genres. In terms of characters, there is an odd reference to David Ryan, the main protagonist from Book #1 in the series, to whom something bizarre happened at the end of that book. This is touched on, which was not really necessary, but it was not explained enough to be very satisfying. Either describe it more fully or leave it out. One might think there had been a book 1.5 in the series' perhaps one is planned.Sorry to sound so negative about a book most SF fans who like books about AI will probably enjoy. I certainly plan to read the next book in the series. less

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