artificial intelligence – Dab of Darkness Book Reviews

The Glitch by Ramona Finn

Publisher: Relay Publishing (2017)

Length: 6 hours 30 minutes

Series: Book 1 The Glitches

Set in a future dystopia, the AI runs the Norm, a domed utopia. However, all those human techs that are deemed damaged are tossed out into the barren wasteland. Lib is one such Glitch; however, she has nearly no memories. As she pieces things together, she learns from other Glitches and the local Rogue Clan how to survive in this nearly empty desert.

Despite certain issues with this story, something kept on pulling me back into it. First, I’m a sucker for domed city stories. I have this fascination with closed (or nearly closed) systems and all the inherent issues that can arise in such situations. Second, I got attached to Lib. She has few memories to work from but what little she knows compels her forward in a quest to make life better for all humans, not just those that live in Norm or those in the Rogue clans.

My biggest issue with this tale were the internal inconsistencies. The story contradicts itself multiple times, sometimes within the same paragraph. For an example, there’s a scene where Lib goes scavenging with some Rogues in a long abandoned city. Wolf, leader of this clan, explains that they don’t spend much time in the cities because they are dangerous since the AI’s drones might find them there. Yet in the same scene he later says the drones rarely come to the abandoned cities. There’s another dealing with tracks in the sand being an issue and yet they miraculously blow away in all other scenes that would leave tracks. Their underground hot spring has unpotable water but they still wash in it; yet it has bubbles… so I really hope the place is well ventilated. I don’t think it’s boiling since they are submerged in it. As you can see, these small inconsistencies are sprinkled throughout the story and I really wish it had gone through another round of beta readers, or 1 really good editor, so that I wouldn’t be distracted from the truly good story that lies among these inconsistencies.

For the first part of the story, I wasn’t too sure if Lib was caught in some little used rural part of the AI’s virtual reality or if she was truly stuck in some desert. I really liked that it took me a while to figure out which one it was. Lib is stuck between worlds on many levels and this beginning really sets that tone that lasts for the entire novel.

The other characters were interesting, though I feel they need some fleshing out. Lib is the one that shines in this tale and the rest are window dressing. Everyone seems to be no older than early 20s at most, though the doctor might be older. Raj is also a Glitch and truly wants to go home to the Norm. He says he misses his parents, which I believed. However, I would have preferred some stories showing us what life was like in the Norm instead of a handful of lines telling us how civilized and comfortable it was inside the dome. I kept interchanging Skye and Bird. One is a seer, having dreams that come true and the other is a leader of the clan and a potential mate for Wolf.

The romance was light, being almost non-existent. I think that’s understandable since Lib has a lot on her plate already. Over all, the tale was a fun, quick read. The author shows some obvious talent, and while I feel the story could have been tidied up a bit, I was still entertained throughout the tale.

I received a free copy of this book via The Audiobookworm.

The Narration: Genevieve Kaplan makes a very good Lib. She has a young teen voice that suits Lib well. She was really good at keeping her character voices distinct. Wolf is described as having a deep voice, and while Kaplan’s voice for this character sounded masculine, I wouldn’t call it a deep male voice. There were a few technical issues. For instance, the volume sometimes fluctuates, though it’s not enough to hurt an eardrum or two. Additionally, 1 chapter is in there twice (Chapter 14 if I recall correctly).

What I Liked: Humanity in a fishbowl!; the AI and the danger she poses; Lib’s character; survival in the desert; domed humans, the Glitches, & Rogues – can they ever work together?

What I Disliked: Internal inconsistencies; a few technical issues with the narration.

Check out more reviews on the blog tour.

About Author Ramona Finn:

Ramona Finn writes about courageous characters who fight to live in broken, dystopian worlds. She believes a person’s true characters is often revealed in times of crisis, and there is no greater crisis than the worlds that she drops her characters into!

She grew up sitting cross-legged on her town’s library floor–completely engrossed in science fiction books. It was always the futuristic world or the universe-on-the-brink-of-extinction plotlines that drew her in, but it was the brave characters who chose to fight back that kept her turning the pages.

Her books create deep, intricate worlds with bold characters determined to fight for their survival in their dystopian worlds–with a little help from their friends. And, of course, romance is never out of the question.

Facebook ~ GoodReads ~ Amazon

Synopsis of The Glitch:

On the brink of extinction, being human means more than just surviving.

In Lib’s world, it’s dangerous to stray from the Norm. In fact, for someone who doesn’t live up to the AI’s standards, it’s practically a death sentence. Lib learns this the hard way when she wakes up with her memories erased in a barren wasteland, and only one thought lodged in her mind:
It’s all her fault.

Lib is a Glitch—an imperfect human component of the utopian Norm. Utterly alone, she’ll have to team up with her fellow Glitches Skye and Raj and the mysterious Rogue Wolf and his clan to survive. Wolf only cares about the survival of his group, but Raj thinks they can hack the AI and change the Norm for the better.

Now, Lib will have to decide which path to choose—whether to go with handsome loner Raj or stay with Wolf and his tight-knit group. Her heart is drawn to both, but she’s carrying a deadly secret that could jeopardize them all. Will she be able to save her newfound family and stop the AI before it’s too late?

Audible ~ Amazon

About Narrator Genevieve Kaplan:

For the past fifteen years I have received extensive training in lyric diction and classical voice. Various experience includes lead roles in multiple opera production through Santa Clara University with semi-professional recording obligations. For a minor in Lyric Diction at Santa Clara University I was required to take 6 units of Lyric Diction learning the correct pronunciation of languages including Italian, German and French (and of course English) as well as four years of private vocal training. Outside of musical endeavors I have experience with various characters and voices of my own creation included in my stand up comedy set.

Website

The Beauty and the Beast Book Tag

Heya Everyone! I was recently tagged by The Audiobookworm in this fun book tag. Feel free to comment on my book choices or to add your own for each category in the comments. I’m going to tag a few people at the end, but if you want to throw up a post with your answers, leave me your link in the comments so I can swing by.

1. “Tale As Old As Time” – A popular theme, trope or setting you will never get bored of reading.

Theme – Underdog

The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown was excellent. Can’t wait to see more from this author. If you’re not familiar with the series, it’s a mash up of Roman mythology/military command structure with terraforming of Mars and beyond. Be proud of your scars. You’ve earned them!

D-List Supervillain series by Jim Bernheimer – which is just a lot of damn fun! Mostly, the supervillains in this series are just anti-organization. The various super-characters are imaginative and there’s plenty of humor.

Trope – Artificial Intelligence

I recently read a whole bunch of AI stuff. The Wrong Unit by Rob Dircks was a delight. It had that right mix of humor and serious bits. The AI units are programmed to learn to care for their humans, so the anthropomorphizing of the AI units is realistically built into the story.

Ray Jay Perreault has written several stories that feature AI and I have been enjoying making my way through his audiobooks. Progeny is one of my favorite AI stories, though his AIs run the gamut of cold, calculating evil to human-like societal beings.

Serengeti by JB Rockwell was super intense in several ways. The story starts off with a space battle and the AIs are the ships, though they all have human crews. This space battle takes perhaps as much as half the book. Then the second half is the story of this one ship trying to limp home. The humans have to go into stasis, so that just leaves the ship’s AI and her little AI minion bots. The struggle to reach their goal, to stay sane over the lengthy years, to keep functioning just enough to keep the human crew alive – just an excellent tale.

Setting – Ancient Times

There’s plenty of stuff that happened in ancient times. Most of it is interesting, gritty, and dramatic. Here’s a list of some of the stuff I’ve read so far and have really enjoyed.

Conn Iggulden’s Emperor series – This series focuses on Julius Caesar, starting with his boyhood years and going all the way through his life to the dramatic, bitter end.

The Rise of Zenobia by JD Smith – set during the Roman empire in the Syrian city of Palmyra. I learned from this book and that always is a plus.

John Maddox Roberts’s SPQR murder mystery series – Set in 1st century ancient Rome during the time of Crassus and Pompey. Who could resist murder mystery and ancient Rome? Not me!

Patrick Bowman’s retelling of The Odyssey for young adults – The Odyssey of the Slave series. In this series, the focus is on a young lad who is taken as a slave when the famous city of Troy falls.

Colossus by Colin Falconer – This is a tale of Alexander the Great. Technically, it’s an alternate history, but if you don’t know much abut Alexander and the arc of his life, you wouldn’t know it. I really enjoyed this tale – elephants!

The Sekhmet Bed by LM Ironside – set in ancient Egypt. Ahmose was raised up to Great Royal Wife status. Political intrigue plays a big role in this story.

Rise to Power by Uvi Poznansky – set in the land of Israel in the 1st or 2nd century BCE. This is the first book in a series about David and his rise to power told from a secular point of view.

Claimed by the Enemy by Shauna Roberts – despite the title and the cover art, this book is pretty darn good. Set in ancient Mesopotamia during the time of King Sargon, the book focuses on two young individuals who were placed in difficult positions.

2. Belle – A book you bought for it’s beautiful cover that’s just as beautiful inside too

Guy Gavriel Kay never fails to provide a beautiful story and his covers are always so well done. Recently, I read Children of Earth and Sky, and the cover is indeed just as beautiful as the tale inside. If you said I had to pick my favorite GGK novel, I would be hard-pressed to say which it was. His Sarantium duology is about the fall of an empire, so plenty of vast ideas going on there but with excellent pinpoint characters that do a great job of showing the human side. I also loved The Lions of Al-Rassan, which is based on Moorish Spain. There’s plenty of areas of conflict but also plenty of areas for commonality. I could go on and on, but you should just go pick up some GGK for yourself.

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear was one of my favorite reads of 2015. The cover did a great job of capturing the Wild West and Steampunk mix of the story. Karen was also a wonderful character, not being a stereotypical kick ass heroine that are so abundant lately. She does kick ass, she’s just also a real person who happens to be brave when backed into a corner.

3. Beast – A book you didn’t expect much from but pleasantly surprised you.

Zorro by Isabel Allende was a pleasant surprise. In essence, it was an origin story for Zorro. I loved watching the black & white TV show was a kid so it was pretty cool to read this book and get Allende’s take on how Zorro came to be. There was a lot more depth to this character than I expected, which, in retrospect, was silly of me. Zorro lived during a time of Spanish colonialism in the New World – there were plenty of cultures and conflicts. Allende did a great job of pulling those elements into this tale.

The Fold by Peter Clines was one of the best SF Thriller novels I have read. It was fun. It was intense. It had SF themes that I could get into. The characters were also interesting, especially the lead guy who has a true eidetic memory. This was both a help and a hindrance to him.

11-22-63 by Stephen King is the first King novel I have read. It won’t be the last. King did a really great job with the characters in this book. I know some folks have labeled him as a horror novelist, and nothing more. However, this book shows that he has a lot more going on. It’s obvious he put quite a bit of research in to the time and location (1963, Texas) of the bulk of the book. While I do expect that as I explore King’s works, this novel won’t be my favorite but it certainly delivered more than I expected.

4. Gaston – A book everyone loves that you don’t.

Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel – I was on the fence about this one. I liked that it was a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel that wasn’t full of angst. However, I didn’t really care for the character Arthur Leander, who all the other characters are somehow connected with. He was boring and I wanted to know more about these other characters but the story kept coming back to him.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo – it’s a young man’s adventure quest and it’s been done so many times before. All the ladies are in some subservient role, which is also a standard (unfortunately) in such adventure tales. Most of the men have a Personal Legend to find or to fullfill. Meanwhile, the 3 female characters lack any such ambition.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith – The most exciting parts of this book were the dream sequences and even those were mean tricks. The reader enters each of the dream sequences as if they are the next part of the story and only at the end of the scene do you realize it’s a dream. I really liked Grahame-Smith’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and his Unholy Nights was pretty entertaining as well, so I was sad to say that I found this book to be a snoozer.

5. Lefou – A loyal sidekick you can’t help but love more than their counter part.

Jean Tannen from The Gentlemen Bastards series by Scott Lynch – This series is full of creative cursing, thievery, camaraderie, magic, death, romance, pirates, evil people getting their due, the good guys getting the crap beaten out of them, and more creative cursing.

Adrian from the Cheshire Red Reports by Cherie Priest – Adrian is still a bit of a mystery, since I have only read the first 2 books in this series (I hope there will be more in the series!). He’s ex-military on a search for his missing kid sister. He’s also a dragqueen, and his parents have disowned him because of this. He makes a great sidekick for Raylene, the vampire thief.

6. Mrs. Potts, Chip, Lumier & Cogsworth – A book that helped you through a difficult time or that taught you something valuable.

For over a year now, I have been going through this medical thing. I’ve basically been on bed rest for a year now and I was finally diagnosed in May with CTEPH – which is basically blood clots that have hardened in my pulmonary arteries, which has caused pulmonary hypertension to a moderately high degree, which will be fatal…. in perhaps 6-10 years, unless I have this big, kinda cool in a SF way, kinda scary in a mortality rate way, surgery. That’s scheduled for early February. So, these books have helped me cope with this lengthy process.

Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford – this is a coloring book for adults and it’s the first one I ever bought. It’s remarkably detailed and it’s pretty amazing how coloring really takes me out of my current situation. Also, it’s something I can do while listening to audiobooks.

Terre D’Ange Cycle by Jacqueline Carey – This series has been awesome and I have been part of a group read along with several wonderful ladies on the blogosphere. I’ve read Book 1, Kushiel’s Dart, so many times but it was quite something to share it with others in this in-depth discussion of the book. We started the read along back in May 2015, and now we’re on Book 7, Naamah’s Kiss. We’ll have to finish the last two books after my surgery – so that gives me something to look forward to. If you haven’t checked this series out, then I highly recommend it for alternate history and epic fantasy fans. I know sometimes it gets panned because there is plenty of sex in it, but the amount sex doesn’t outweigh all the awesomeness – the political intrigue, the sword fights, the desperate straights of the heroes, the saving of the realm! Honestly, the sex enhances the characters instead of just being padding to up the page count.

7. “Something There” – A book or a series that you weren’t into at first but picked up towards the end.

The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan – It took me about 4 books to really get into this series, but I’m very glad I read it as it is a touchstone for epic fantasy fans. The first book really took a lot from Tolkien’s works and I was bit insulted the first and second time I read it. However, I was encouraged by a great group of book bloggers, who were part of this big 2+ years-long read along of the series, to keep going. Also, in an interview, Jordan spoke about how he wanted to model Book 1 on Tolkien’s works to give readers something familiar. Eventually, starting at Book 4, Jordan’s genius really starts to show through. I am very much hoping they do make this series in to a quality TV series or a quality series of movies.

8. “Be Our Guest” – A fictional character you’d love to have over for dinner.

Harry Dresden & Bob the Skull from Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files – This is one of my favorite urban fantasy series. The first few can be read in any order, but I think the series is best read in order since the larger story arc starts really building on itself around Book 4 or 5, though there are small things even in Book 1 that are tied into again later in the series. Bob would be a hoot at any dinner party. He doesn’t get much socializing, so he lacks all those hindrances that make most dinner conversations so dull.

Atticus & Oberon from Kevin Hearne’s The Iron Druid Chronicles – this is yet another favorite urban fantasy series. Oberon would bring the appetite and the humor with his simple doggy demands. Atticus, being the 2000+ year old druid that he is, would be able to chat about several entertaining subjects.

Tagging Others

So now I would like to tag some other bookish folks, though please don’t feel obligated if this isn’t your cup of tea. Also, if I don’t tag you but you want to play along, please do! And leave me a comment with a link to your post so I can visit.

Lynn from Books and Travelling

Andrea from Little Red Reviewer

Julie from Oh, Julie!

Austine from Novel Knight

And I would like to smash into this long post a big thank you to Austine! I won a very fun book package from her recently. It was full of books and bookish things and fake tattoos and a red mask and nail art. And then she wrapped everything in gold paper! This box of goodies was such an upper, especially since I have been sick. I loved unwrapping everything and modeling the mask, tattoos, and nail art for my man. Thank you Austine!

Serengeti by J. B. Rockwell

Heldig and Chupa being anything but helpful.

Narrator: Elizabeth Wiley

Publisher: Tantor Audio (2016)

Length: 10 hours 15 minutes

Author’s Page

Serengeti, complete with AI brain and human crew, is a Valkyrie class warship with the Meridian Alliance fleet. Their task was to analyze the area surrounding the spot where the Meridian Alliance scout ships disappeared during their mission to search out the Dark Star Revolution fleet. However, they find almost nothing of the scout ships, which is disturbing. Then the Meridian Alliance fleet shows up under the command of the AI Brutus. The arrival of the Dark Star Revolution fleet completes the guest list and the party gets started. Things don’t go well for the Meridian Alliance in general and Serengeti in specific. Pretty soon, she is stranded in deep space with little power, heavy damages, and a reduced crewlist. Drastic measures must be taken to preserve what is left of the crew.

I really, really enjoyed this book. The initial scouting mission by Serengeti and then the near-epic space battle between the two fleets was totally gripping. The second half of the book is all about Serengeti the AI and her attempts to save her human crew. It’s a much different pace but I still quite enjoyed it. First, I really liked this symbiotic relationship between the AIs and their human crews. For Serengeti the AI, her captain, Hendrickson, was a jewel of a commander and somewhat of a friend. From the beginning, we see how Serengeti cares for her crew, tries to assist without embarrassing or overshadowing them (such as is the case with Finley). Later, once the crew has been placed in cryopods to conserve resources, we learn more about how Hendrickson became Serengeti’s captain. I was much amused by the friendships between the AIs and how some of them found the AI Brutus to be too set in his ways.

After the big space battle and Serengeti’s failed attempt to flee, the remaining crew are put in an escape vessel, but the locking clamps can’t be released. Serengeti has lost too much power and she herself must sleep in order to survive. She tasks a small worker robot, who she names Tig, to be in charge of the remaining bots. My one little quibble is that the bots from here on out become a bit anthropomorphized. I still liked the book, but now it was much more WALL-E instead of Hal, not that Serengeti is homicidal. The book goes from this mostly serious, nearly epic to this tiny hope of survival in these cutsy-wutsy bots. It did take me a few minutes to switch gears. Both halves of the book are good, but they are totally different paces.

The story’s end does build the suspense. Serengeti and her remaining bots are doing their best to keep the crew alive and the ship on target for the nearest inhabitable scrap of dirt. The tension mounts as Serengeti looses more and more abilities, as resources dwindle. They are in space for decades. At the end, we aren’t sure if Serengeti the AI makes it, though there is hope. The author did a great job in wringing some emotions out of me with Serengeti the AI.

I won a copy of this book from the author via The Audio Book Reviewer with no strings attached.

The Narration: Elizabeth Wiley did a great job with the narration. I liked all the funny robot sounds. Her voice for Brutus and Hendricks were also very good and masculine. As the story required it, she did well with imbuing the characters with emotions.

What I Liked: The book cover art; the initial mystery of what happened to he scout ships; the near-epic space battle; the relationship between the human crews and the ship AIs; the back and forth between the AIs; the drastic measures taken for survival after the battle; Tig and his bots; very good narration.

What I Disliked: Tig and his bots were a bit over-anthropomorphized.

What Others Think:

The Audio Book Reviewer

Science Fiction Book Reviews

Literary Treasure Chest

Audiobook Giveaway & Interview: Ray Jay Perreault, Science Fiction Author

Everyone, please give a warm welcome to author Ray Jay Perreault. I’ve quite enjoyed his various SF novels, especially those focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI). You can check out my reviews on his work HERE. Today, we chat about how his past work fed into his creativity as a writer, the subtle meanings of words, the AI classics, and plenty more! Also, don’t miss the GIVEAWAY (ebook or audiobook) at the end of this post.

If you had to choose someone to rescue you from the jaws of certain death would it be a superhero, supernatural creature, or a space alien?

Interesting question and to be honest, I’ve never thought of such a scenario. One way or another each of the options has a certain allure to it. I guess it boils down to the fact that I’m a Science Fiction Author which would lean me towards the space alien. Of course I don’t want to offend any superheroes or supernatural creatures. If the situation would arise where I need to be saved by one of them, I don’t want to burn any bridges as the saying goes.

Reality in my fiction: how important is it? Lengthy travel, cussing, and bathroom breaks happen in real life. How do you address these mundane occurrences in your writings?

I think ‘reality’ is important in all stories. There needs to be elements of the story that readers can relate to. Every element of our lives is based on shared experiences, even language. When we use a word it brings up a similar image in the mind of the other person. The same applies with storytelling. It is important to have a shared set of experiences for the reader to understand and appreciate what is happening. Of course an author can go too far and present a scene where the amount of mundane detail exceeds what is necessary for the story. Some readers like the details and others want to focus more on the story. My personal style is more towards the latter. My stories tend to move quickly along the story line and I use ‘reality’ in scenes all long as they support and contribute to the story. I have seen some successful authors that can take a couple of pages to describe a field of flowers, but that isn’t something that I do. When I write a story I focus on the story and action, then I have to go back and add the ‘reality’ where I think that it’s necessary to set the scene.

I do admit that I change my styles. Some of my books focus on the action and drama where others focus on the back story. In some situations I like to fully develop the back story because I think it helps when the reader gets to the action. In my book Gemini, I spend almost half the book describing a totally alien culture. I go into their agriculture, history, religion and social practices. I did that for a couple of reasons, first off there were few shared experiences with the reader so I had to develop the similarities. Second, their culture and religion was a key element of the action scenes. If I didn’t take the time to give their back story the action scenes wouldn’t have made sense.

What has been your worst or most difficult job? How does it compare to writing?

This might seem as an evasive answer, but I’ve been very fortunate. I spent 10 years flying airplanes in the US Air Force, during which time I traveled to 27 countries. After that I worked for Northrop Grumman and helped design the best weapon systems in the world. During my years at Northrop I had a tremendous amount of autonomy and could do what I needed to get the job done. There were times where I had to make an appointment just to see my bosses. Some of my jobs were damn near impossible, but they were challenging and demanding with associated risks and potential success. They were difficult but I enjoyed the challenges.

I’ve always been lucky, in the fact that my jobs needed creativity. The creativity helped me to become an author. I’ve always loved storytelling and extrapolating future outcomes. Both skills contribute to writing a successful Science Fiction story.

What were you like as a kid? Did your kid-self see you being a writer?

I always enjoyed reading and letting my mind see the story the author was presenting. I got into Science Fiction early and loved the classic writers. They seemed to open up a world of possibilities that my mind grasped immediately. At that age I never saw myself as an author, although I did enjoy creative writing classes. I remember one of my favorite college courses on public speaking. In particular I remember one live speaking assignment where we would go to the head of the class and the instructor would give us the subject and we had to immediately put together a five minute speech on that subject. I remember one in particular where I was given a paper clip and I had to talk about it for five minutes. After a few seconds of thought I was able to come up with a very entertaining five minutes talking about the design, the functionality and even the artistic design elements of the paper clip. Needless to say I got an A for that and I think I got an A for the entire course.

If you were asked to create the syllabus for a college class in Artificial Intelligence literature and non-fiction, what books would be on there as required reading? As passing discussion?

Without a doubt the first required reading would be Asimov’s “I Robot” series of 38 short stories and 5 novels. They are the basis for all AI writings and were a major influence in most of my books. I loved his ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ and I took them one step further in my short story “Progeny” and then in my novel “Progeny’s Children” where I created Four Laws. The context of my laws were different than Asimov’s because my laws were written without consideration for humans. The story takes place a long time in the future after man was forced to leave Earth because of pollution. The robots that the humans left developed their own society and eventually forgot who created them. Their lives and society was governed by their Four Laws of Conformity.

For non-fiction the list is long. I’ve read everything from political biographies to historical romance. I think the two recent books that I’ve read and left the biggest impression was “1491” and “The Accidental Superpower.”

“1491” is a historical analysis of the American Indian world before Columbus. It described the trade, politics and population. It also shows how large, interconnected and sophisticated the combined cultures were. Sadly it showed the precipitous decline in population because of contact with the Europeans.

“The Accidental Superpower” is a realistic projection of the world order over the next couple of decades. The inverted population pyramid shows that countries like Iran and Russia will be unable to sustain their position in the world as their populations decrease along with their earning power.

Care to share an awkward fangirl/fanboy moment, either one where someone was gushing over your work…..or one where you were gushing over another author’s work?

I haven’t had a ‘gushing event’ yet, but I have noticed what I call the ‘bartender effect.’ When a reader enjoys the works of an author they seem to connect with them on a personal level. That connection opens up email where the reader says things that are normally only shared with a bartender. I’ve got emails from well-meaning readers who share with me their challenges and how my writing has influenced some facet of their lives.

What is a recurring or the most memorable geeky argument or debate you have taken part in?

I tend to get involved in a lot of ‘geeky arguments.’ I enjoy language and the subtleties of words. I drive my wife crazy when I debate which word is the best and how a sentence can be said in a multitude of ways and each one carries a slightly different meaning.

What is the first book you remember reading on your own?

I can’t say that I remember the first book, but I do remember when I really embraced reading. During my sophomore year in high school I had a great English teacher that really challenged us. I think we had to read a book a week, and over the summer we had a long list. The interesting point was the varied topics. I read everything from “The Tropic of Cancer”, to “Rabbit Run” to the “Communist Manifesto.” It was during that period that I began to appreciate the written word and how many emotions it can create. I also learned how the author’s styles varied and how they used images and style to convey images.

About the Author

Ray was born in New Hampshire, received his Bachelors of Science in Aeronautical Engineering at Arizona State University. He is now retired from an influential, multi-decade career in aerospace.

Bringing a new voice to science fiction writing, Ray realized there was a niche that was calling him as he began to write deeper characters, create more sophisticated stories and realistic situations for Sci-Fi fans to relate to.

Initially attracted to heroic characters with powerful weapons taking on hundreds of aliens, Ray began his literary career with a desire to extrapolate Sci-Fi stories with a touch of everyday reality that most of us experience in work and our every-day lives.

His literary work is thoughtfully enriched by his decade long experience in the US Air Force where he flew C-130s on missions to 27 countries, and T-38s while training the best pilots in the world, as well as the first female US Air Force pilots.

During his 28 years at Northrup Grumman, Ray worked on some of the most top-secret military aircraft projects in the world including the F-23, F-35, B-2, Global Hawk and many more that can’t be named.

He is grateful to his wife, Charlene and his two daughters, Christine and Robynn for their support on this new journey.

Places to Find Ray Jay Perreault

Book Blurb for SIMPOC: The Thinking Computer:

99.9997% of all humans have been wiped out by a very suspicious virus. SIMPOC’s programmer doesn’t come in to work, that day, the next; or ever. The commander of the space station Oasis, Joan Herl is forced to abandon the station because of dwindling resources. When they land on earth they are attacked by another thinking computer who would do anything to protect itself and to continue thinking.

The moon colony Dessert Beach, is trapped as their resources are running out and they must decide when to come home. They have only lifeboats to carry them back to the lifeless earth and what will they find when they enter the atmosphere and land.

The astronauts trapped on the Mars colony Red Dirt are in worse condition. Their systems will break down and resources will run out. Coming home for them is a different story. The lifeboats aren’t made for that purpose and must be rebuilt before the colony breaks down. Should they stay and take their chances on Mars, or should they journey back to earth.

Book Blurb for Progeny’s Children:

After many years people return to Earth and something else was living there.

People of Earth treated her badly, neglecting the needs of their home planet which resulted in a world that was hostile to life. They were forced to leave and find another planet.

Humanity traveled over 300 years to Horizon. They had learned from their mistakes and took care of their new planet.

1,300 years after leaving Earth they wanted to return to their home. The first ship entered Earth’s orbit and found a pristine planet welcoming them home, but they also found something else living there.

Purchase Links

Amazon US Audible.com

GIVEAWAY!

Ray Jay Perreault is offering up 2 books, winners’s choices and the winners can each choose the ebook version or the audiobook version (Audible.com account required). You can enter the Rafflecopter below or you can answer these questions in the comments: 1) Ebook or audiobook (Audible.com account required)? 2) What stories featuring AI have you enjoyed? 3) Please leave a way to contact you if you win. Giveaways ends October 19, 2016, midnight.

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The Path by Peter Riva

Where I Got It: Review Copy

Narrator: Jonathan Yen

Publisher: Audible Studios (2015)

Length: 11 hours 2 minutes

Author’s Page

It’s a well controlled world with the System in charge of everything from world finances to the weather. Politics is more for entertainment and so the humans can feel like they have a modicum of control than anything else. Skeptical Simon Bank knows this, and like nearly everyone else he knows, he’s OK with that. But then a small tornado hits downtown and it’s too much damage for it to be completely swept under the rug. Plus Simon actually witnessed it and he has the skills and position to figure out what went wrong.

Now the story did hit a slow patch early on. There’s plenty computer geek speak about outdated languages and such. I am pretty sure there were some hidden jokes in there, but they went right over this biologist’s head. I’m glad I stuck with the story because once you get past this slow part, the story picks up. There’s talk about how the human life has been extended hugely and people can have a certain number of biological kids and after that they can special order synth-children. They basically have a pre-programmed end date, but behave and act just like real kids. These bio-tech bits interested me the most.

Simon and a few friends (such as Markerman) suit up and take a dunk in the pool. Mary hangs back outside, ready to assist or pull them out if need be. This is where their special suits allow for a swifter connection with the system, letting them navigate it in an almost Matrix kind of way. Throughout the book, Simon uses this interface a few times and I found the tech to be very interesting. He has to take a certain drug to speed up his nerve response in order to interface with the System via the pool. When someone comes out of the pool, they can let it wear off or take drugs to slow their responses. I do like me some fun and cool tech in my SF stories. And it gets more interesting when Simon comes across an entity within the System. Yep, we’re talking Artificial Intelligence people. Awesome!

Now this new entity at first behaves a little badly and Simon has to think and act quickly to keep his comrades safe. Then the entity kind of clings to Simon. So Simon starts to teach this entity (who we come to know as Apollo) about The Path. Basically, Simon is trying to the teach Apollo some basic rights and wrongs. The Path becomes a subject that is discussed at length at several points throughout the tale. Sometimes the repetition, while realistic for teaching a fledgling entity, slowed the story again.

Now a little oddity is that Apollo has a secret pet name he/it picked out for himself – Peter. Yep, the same name as the author. Whenever an author does this, I get caught up wondering why – Ego? Inside joke? Just for fun? So every time I heard ‘Peter’ in the story I was immediately pulled out the story for a few seconds to contemplate this once again. Basically it was a distraction.

So the tale continues with more action and a deeper worry than the sudden accidental birth of an AI entity. Simon and Apollo have to go into hiding while still trying to figure things out in order to save the world. They have plenty of people after them, most of who want things to remain the status quo. The last quarter of the book was the most entertaining because everything was coming together and there was action. Cramer, and agent of Control, shows up pretty early and is a bit of a wild card. He definitely feels the need to be in control and Simon isn’t sure he can convince Cramer to help him, or at least, to not hinder him. Cramer is also the source of much of the action throughout the tale.

Most of the cast in this story is male. There are a few secondary and tertiary female characters. Mary is the most prominent one and gets to do the most. Even the AI Apollo gets deemed a ‘he’ by Simon. I would have liked a better representation of the ladies.

This book had some pluses and minuses. In the end, I am glad that I stuck with it. The ending is one of those great big concept idea endings. I really enjoyed how we started off with a small localized issue, how it then got bigger, then even bigger, and then the grand finale concept. The author has left the door open for a sequel.

I received a copy of this audiobook at no cost from the author (via the blog tour company iRead Book tours) in exchange for an honest review.

Narration: Jonathan Yen did a pretty good job. The entire tale is told from Simon’s point of view so mostly it is his voice we hear. He had a good, distinct voice for Apollo, sounding a bit clipped and proper. There were a few speaking females and Yen’s female voices were distinct and believable.

What I Liked: Lots of interesting concepts; I liked how one small concept let to a larger one and that one to yet a larger one, etc.; plenty of interesting future tech; eventually Cramer brings the action; the ending is one to make a person think; the cover art.

What I Disliked: More ladies please!; there were several slow bits in the story that really bogged it down; the use of the author’s first name as a character name kept pulling me out the story – it was a distraction.

What Others Think:

Fantascize

Audiobook Reviewer

Fear the Sky by Stephen Moss

Where I Got It: Review Copy

Narrator: R. C. Bray

Publisher: Podium Publishing (2015)

Length: 20 hours 16 minutes

Series: Book 1 The Fear Saga

Author’s Page

An odd comet is visible through telescopes and scientist Neal Danielson is intrigued. His calculated predictions of how the comet will break up turn out correct. However, there are pieces that enter the atmosphere, each one crashing into an ocean at different points around the globe. With a small covert US government team, they try to locate one of these objects. Their efforts start a chain of events that is just the beginning in what may very well be the endgame for humanity.

This is going to be one of my favorite books of the year, I can just tell. Even though this book comes in at just over a nice hefty 20 hours listening time, it did not feel like that. I was sucked in early and caught up in the plot and the characters. It was hard to put this book away in order to tend to real life. Fear the Sky is an excellent mix of military fiction, hard scifi, artificial intelligence, and invading aliens.

An alien race is hunting for new planets to colonize and Earth is one of the closest viable planets. The aliens have planned long and hard and have pretty advanced tech. They monitored us and came up with a pretty darn good plan. Us humans should tremble at this plan. They sent an advance team to infiltrate the top military organizations of the planet so that they would have some control once the battle ships arrived. After all, they don’t want things too messy – they want to live here (without humans) instead of having the surface of the planet destroyed in world-wide battle.

The advance alien team consists of a small group of very advanced AIs. These guys are pretty scary. They carry disguised, built-in weapons and have incredible strength and speed. They know all about us and we know nothing about them. They each have a personality overlay that allows them to mimic any emotion. They come off as pretty friendly. In some regards, they reminded me a bit of the cylons in the rebooted Battlestar Galactica series (a show I thoroughly enjoyed). My favorite characters among these AIs were John Hunt, Lana Wilson, and Shaheem. Granted, we get to see more of them than of the other AIs, but I still enjoyed loving or hating them. Since they are sprinkled around the globe, we have several nationalities represented, which was great. I love multi-ethnic fiction. Through one of them, we learn a little about the alien culture. I would have enjoyed more of this but what we got was pretty intriguing. At the end of this book, the aliens are no longer some faceless monstrous enemy – we know in general what they look like, their motivations, and their power structure.

The human characters are no slouches either. Neal is one of the first to follow his curiosity, but he is not the last. Pretty soon we have a rather eclectic group of military personnel and scientists trying to figure out what these oddities mean and then trying to give humanity a fighting chance. Dr. Lori West contributes her expertise in an attempt to counteract a possible biothreat. Ayala, a Mossad counter-intelligence agent, provides all sorts of equipment, contacts, and useful advice to the group. Others are involved but these three stuck out the most to me. They have to work in secret as to avoid tipping their hand to the AIs so there is plenty of sneaking about and wonderful tension to the plot.

The ladies in this book are very well written. Each one is different and totally believable in her personality. I have been reading scifi my whole life and we need more stories like this where the both male and female characters contribute to the plot and are realistically gifted and flawed. My hat’s off to author on this point. He got it right and it makes the story that much more awesome.

The fancy tech, both of Earth’s military forces and of the advance team, is great. I do love me some fancy tech! I don’t keep up with military tech, but it all sounded believable and good to me. The AI tech was freaking awesome! There’s also some biotech Dr. West gets to work with that my inner biologist would love to get my hands on. The advanced technology was one of the main driving points of the plot; it wasn’t simply tucked in here and there as window dressing. Earth faces a vastly superior opponent and we need to advance our tech on many fronts in order to have a fighting chance. I loved this aspect to the book.

This was my first Stephen Moss book but will not be my last. This book wrapped up the first big hurdle and I was satisfied with how things were left. Yet there is still plenty to explore in the rest of the series. I greatly look forward to the rest of the series becoming available as audiobooks.

Narration: R. C. Bray did a fantastic job. He had plenty of accents from around the world to perform, and he did them all believably. He also had plenty of female characters which he did quite well – each was distinct and believably female. I really liked his voice for John Hunt and his voice for Ayala.

What I Liked: Humanity versus a vastly superior opponent!; plenty of fancy tech that was important to the plot; great characters that got me hooked and caring for them; loved the ladies!; the cover art, great narration; the ending tied things up but left room for the rest of the series.

What I Disliked: Nothing – loved this book!

What Others Think:

COM NET

Audio Book Reviewer

Short Book Reviews

Giveaway & Interview: Guy Hasson, Author of The Emoticon Generation

Folks, please welcome Guy Hasson back to the blog. Recently, I enjoyed being part of The Little Red Reviewer’s blog tour featuring Guy Hasson’s The Emoticon Generation. If you missed my review, check it out over HERE. Today, we have a great interview with Guy, followed by his generous giveaway of 10 ebook copies of his book The Emoticon Generation. The giveaway is open international – scroll to the bottom to enter.

Without further ado, here is Guy Hasson:

1) This year you have published two novels, The Emoticon Generation and Secret Thoughts, both collections of stories. The first focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and the second on telepathic women. How did you go about developing these stories as the two subjects are so very different?

The Emoticon Generation is filled with stories about Big Ideas and what they mean to us and to the characters in the stories. For example, the story that gave the book its title, Generation E: The Emoticon Generation came to me when I realized that emoticons are actually words that are too small to say. For example, if instead of using a smiley, you would say, “Hey, I like that” you would give too great an emphasis to whatever it is you wanted to put a smiley on. It’s not the same. Smileys are words that are smaller and shorter than written or spoken words.

So once I had that idea in my head I asked myself, What’s the tinniest tiniest word that could ever be? The answer’s in the story, of course. And out of the answer came all the situations and all the characters that you meet there.

In Hatchling I figured out a new way to create a human being. The result is the most human and touching story in the collection.

In Freedom Is Only a Step Away I tried to suggest a new way to teach kids everything they need to be taught in school in a way that doesn’t limit their imagination and feeling of freedom.

So The Emoticon Generation is a story about Big Ideas. Just like the science fiction I grew up on.

Meanwhile, Secret Thoughts is about delving deep, deep, deep into our own brains. If telepaths, capable telepaths, ever exist, wouldn’t it make sense that their understanding of us, and themselves, would be so much greater than our own? If someone could delve into the depths of everyone they see, wouldn’t that give them knowledge about what we are and what they are? I wrote the book’s first novella The Perfect Girl imagining a world in which telepaths exist and there are experts at what they do. These experts teach the newbies about the secrets of our minds. It was a chance to go exploring our deepest places and the dark crevices we never allow ourselves to see. I wrote The Perfect Girl back in 2005 as a stand-alone. It won the Geffen Award for Best Short Story of the Year. I never meant it to be anything more. But even as I was writing it, I knew I was creating a world, and that there could be dozens of stories written about it. Part of what makes The Perfect Girl story rich is that I hint in it to about six other stories about telepaths I could have written, but never did. The world feels like it has so many possibilities.

Years passed, and I kept returning to that world. I had crazy ideas about what real telepaths would do. For example: Telepaths connect by touch. What if a telepath got pregnant? She would feel the baby growing in the womb. She would feel not its thoughts, but its first half-thoughts, its first half-formed emotions. She would feel the brain that isn’t yet human, but is half human, a quarter human. She would sense what it’s like to become human, step by step. That’s the story of the last novella in the book, Most Beautiful Intimacy. Now, if you had ideas like these, could you resist writing them and putting them in a book?

2) You also work in film and will be releasing an independent science fiction short film soon, The Indestructibles. Care to give us a little tease and temptation on what this film is about?

Ah, this is fun. The Indestructibles is an idea I had for a film. The budget? A mere $600 million. The story was carved out, I knew everything that was going to happen in it, and I had the first twenty minutes written.

And then I stopped. I’ve already written big budget scripts on spec. They’re still waiting for Hollywood to glance in my direction. But why should I wait for Hollywood? Even if producers bought my scripts, my scripts would not survive the experience the way I had intended them to be. So… Why can’t I do these films at home? I already had a low-budget feature-length SF film under my belt, which I had written, directed, shot, and produced. So I knew I could shoot a professional film, guerilla-style. If I could find a way to rewrite the script so that it fit my budget, why, then… I have a camera at home, I know great actors, I could limit the number locations, I could write it for one-shots which would almost eliminate the need for an editor, and I’d shoot and direct it myself for free… It could be done!

So I rewrote the script. I turned an epic SF tale that spanned centuries and contained scenes with dozens and hundreds of superheroes – I turned that story into a 45-minute film that was shot for $250.

I already shot the film, it’s been edited, and right now we’re going back-and-forth on the soundtrack. If all goes well, it’ll be ready in a few weeks. At which point I will release it for free on the web and let the story find its audience.

I really don’t want to say anything about the content of the film, because everything in it is a spoiler, except that it’s a classic superhero tale turned on its head two times over, to create something you’ve never seen before.

If you want to be updated when it comes out, follow my blog.

And the most important thing is: Now that it’s done, I know I can do it by myself, without a studio. I can tell almost any SF story I want in film… By myself. At home. With my little camera.

3) You also have a serialized fairy tale fantasy, Tickling Butterflies, on your blog. What drew you to attempt to capture 128 fairy tales in one story?

This is turning out as a confessional for how my pieces are made. Works for me.

Here’s how Tickling Butterflies was created.

At first, I wanted to create a story that’s such an explosion of imagination the readers would be thunderstruck. The original concept was to create some kind of encyclopedic map of a magical fairy tale land and have the book be a dump of story ideas. Well, that idea died quickly. If it doesn’t have a story that runs through it, I can’t write it.

So I found a story about King John the Cute. John is born with a prophecy hanging over his head: That this little farm boy will become king at the age of 18 and would die at the age of 20, having saved the fairy tale land. We follow John through his adventures, which, as a side benefit, take us through all the fairy tales of the land. It begins innocently enough with the fairy tales of his childhood up to the point where he becomes king. Then, forced to discover the secrets of the land, John explores it. It begins with regular-themed fairy tales (like the Happily Ever After Home for the Married, where all the romantic fairy tales go to live), but then twists to discover an island where all the funny fairy tales go (The Land of No Respect), and then to The River Red Continent where all fairy tales for adults exist. With John we go through fairy tales about the secrets and origins of magic, through legends about a land of storytellers, a land that has no magic, no happy endings, and no fate. And then the story gets really crazy…

It’s all done through fairy tales that are seemingly independent, but actually form to create an epic story involving all the threads of fairy tales we’ve seen along the way.

Writing Tickling Butterflies also gave me a chance to explore a writing technique I’ve never used before. I discovered how to write beautiful stories. Not just good stories or fun stories or interesting stories or wow stories, but stories that give you a feeling of beauty. Every few fairy tales, I would insert a beautiful tale, while in the fairy tales themselves I would slowly explore the nature of beauty.

As I wrote it, I realized why something is considered beautiful. So I created the solution to the big mystery in the book in such a way that it isn’t just a wow ending, but also a breathtakingly beautiful ending.

Don’t believe me? Read the book.

Tickling Butterflies is being translated to Hebrew and will published in Israel later this year. I’m also in talks with a European publisher that I can’t name yet. And after 45 agents in the US and the UK refused to look at it, I decided to serialize it online. A new fairy tale is being published every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday at my website. Here’s a page with the links to all the Tickling Butterflies stories that have been published so far.

4) You are also a playwright. What are a few of the key things you keep in mind when picking your medium to tell the story?

To me, every medium is about something else. Prose is about exploring a story, a plot, and ideas. The theater is about either comedy or the most gut-wrenching dramas. Film is about looking into the eyes of the actors/characters and seeing their souls.

A big thank you to Guy Hasson for adding a few more books to my towering To-Be-Read pile!

THE GIVEAWAY

Entering the giveaway is simple. Leave me a comment on this post about the interview or about Guy Hasson’s works or his webpage. For greater chances to win, enter the rafflecopter below. Guy Hasson is generously giving away 10 ebook copies of The Emoticon Generation (see blurb below). This giveaway will be open for 4 weeks, closing on May 22, 2013. The giveaway is open international.

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From Goodreads:

Guy Hasson’s The Emoticon Generation features seven stories about life-changes brought about by our new electronic generation: stories that blur the borders between our world and science fiction, stories that make you ask, ‘Has this already happened? Is that actually true?’

In this collection you’ll find a man who, after losing his fiancée to a terrible accident, seeks to learn if true love really exists; a girl, hardly a teen, who searches for her father only to learn a terrible truth about herself; a man who wants to immortalize his genius but ends up tricking himself out of it; an old hero whose entire life unravels when the truth about his heroic act is revealed; a harmless birthday gift that triggers a profound search into the depths of a young couple’s relationship; and more.

Guy Hasson is one of the freshest new science fiction authors out there, with a knack for finding the human heart in the biggest ideas.