I find myself impressed with this story. I was initially put off by the stylistic choice to do away with quotation marks, finding it pendantic at bestI find myself impressed with this story. I was initially put off by the stylistic choice to do away with quotation marks, finding it pendantic at best. But once I caught a grasp of the story, the lack of notation made this entire book flow subtly forward in ways a marked one cannot.
I'm starting to really appreciate stories told from more than a dozen points of view. This one also skips forward in time nearly 100 years from start to finish. It plays with themes of mortality and the evolution of human society/culture.
Every single character introduced in The Settlers has a backstory, a motivation, a purpose in their life. They're all fascinating. Except Micah. I found his history overwrought but thankfully it is a small section of an otherwise excellent arc.
Countless small pieces of this book make me want to expand them into a full story. A scant few pages are dedicated to a criminal locked in a cell with no light, no sound, no gravity, nothing to touch, and no people as he slowly looses his mind. I want an entire book about this man! I want to know ever detail about Tasneem's role in the revolution on Station Argus. I want to read Tasneem's dissertation on human evolution after living through it for another hundred years.
Get this book. I'll be picking up the 2nd. ...more
The first impression I got from Artificial Evil is that Gerry is an ass. I didn't like him, I started leaning toward actively disliking him, and then The first impression I got from Artificial Evil is that Gerry is an ass. I didn't like him, I started leaning toward actively disliking him, and then by chapter three I reluctantly stopped hoping he wouldn't be the main character.
Gerry is not a sympathetic character. I wouldn't go so far as to say he's unlikeable, but I wasn't rooting for him the whole way through.
Petal, on the other hand, is a small miracle of hope in this otherwise very odd scifi and she kept me reading along.
So critique: writing was easy. Not complex, fairly smooth, few typos (one their/there confusion at the end bugged me). The writing doesn't get in the way of the story, but it doesn't make it come alive either.
Plot: Very curious! I love the idea of complex AIs that can evolve by themselves. I liked the visuals of data and the constant questioning of what is human. Or what does being human mean.
However, I never felt like I completely understood why this major attack was happening in the first place. The primary antagonist is off-screen and not a focus of the story until the last third of the book. Without any screentime or attention we didn't get much of a chance to see his character with more complexity.
Characters: Generally good! I like Mags, Petal, and Old Grey. Seca was interesting but fell a little flat without a chance to understand his motives. The protag and antag were just... meh. But the strength of the supporting cast continued to keep the book interesting.
Setting: Not bad, not great. The setting could definitely have become a major character and I think a lot of potential was lost there. The characters run around their world without directly interacting with much of it.
In short, not a waste of time, but I won't be picking up book two....more
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