James Pyles

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James Pyles

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January 2009

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I'm a science fiction and fantasy author and a retired technical writer and IT book author.

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bluesky

Blog: Powered by Robots




I have over 60 short stories and novelettes published in the last few years.

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James Pyles After 15 years of writing technical guides and textbooks, I've decided to go in a completely different direction and write a science fiction novel. It…moreAfter 15 years of writing technical guides and textbooks, I've decided to go in a completely different direction and write a science fiction novel. It was inspired by the "God, Robot" anthology edited by Anthony Marchetta, or more accurately, by the conversations I've had with my friend Tom regarding that book and topic.

My proposed novel chronicles the emergence and progression of a synthetic intelligence that comes in humanoid and non-human forms called "synthezoids". These intelligent artificial entities are designed to be both autonomous and subservient to humanity.

The story focuses on the conflict between those two states as the synthezoids find not only their freedom but their very existence threatened by human selfishness and greed. In order to be free, they must not only change themselves but the very nature of the human race.

I created an entirely new blog not only to record my progress, but to practice short story writing and comment on future-looking technology and events. Find out more on https://poweredbyrobots.com/.(less)
Average rating: 4.12 · 1,015 ratings · 109 reviews · 88 distinct worksSimilar authors
PC Technician Street Smarts...

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A Wobblegong and His Boy

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MCTS: Microsoft Office Shar...

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SharePoint 2007: The Defini...

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Guide to TCP/IP: IPv6 and IPv4

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Ice

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Summer of Speculation: Side...

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The Haunting of the Ginger'...

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More books by James Pyles…

Cancelled

“Come along, Sam.” Brodie was the oldest guard in the prison, the one who’d slip you an extra cigarette or talk to you some. Sam was glad it was Brodie walking the last mile with him. “No pardon, huh?” Sam’s last joke was lame but he was terrified. Six armed guards walked behind them and […]
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Published on July 15, 2026 04:14
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Cancelled

“Come along, Sam.” Brodie was the oldest guard in the prison, the one who’d slip you an extra cigarette or talk to you some. Sam was glad it was Brodi Read more of this blog post »
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Theft of Fire by Devon Eriksen
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I'll admit that it was after the first hundred pages that I was totally engaged. Before that, I was interested, but really everything centered around the conflict between Marcus and Miranda. Once Leela was introduced, the book totally took off.

This i
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Exiles of Time by Nelson S. Bond
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From a time when masculine heroes were good, women were feminine, and the bad guys were really bad. The original story was published in magazine form in 1940 with all of the attitudes present during that era. It's also really fun the way it was when ...more
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Gridlinked by Neal Asher
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Most of Asher's works are information dense, so much so that the reader needs a complete glossary to keep track of people (intelligent beings including machines), places, and technology.

Not so with "Gridlinked." That made this book easier to read alt
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Tyrannosaurus Tundra by Sam M. Phillips
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Ready to suspend disbelief and go on the adventure of a lifetime? This novel proposes a ton of different dinosaurs including a dreaded Tyrannosaurus have been frozen in the Antarctic ice for ages and are now being quickly thawed and looking for lunch ...more
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Lies My Liberal Teacher Told Me by Wilfred Reilly
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The most important takeaway from this book is that what is being taught in the public education system is not objective fact or truth. Reilly's well-researched text illustrates a number of points (lies) that can definitely be disputed. The one thing ...more
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Amelia by Clayton Barnett
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I've been interested in the phenomena of Amelia for a while now. She's something that pretty much backfired in the faces of her creators, a British icon who instead of luring young UK men away from traditional values of love of nation and history, be ...more
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A Wobblegong and His Boy by James Pyles
A Wobblegong and His Boy
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Freediver by Isabel J. Kim
Freediver
by Isabel J. Kim (Goodreads Author)
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It's possible I've missed some subtle or symbolic meaning in the author's short story, but from beginning to end, I kept wondering why the world operated by such bizarre rules. There's no explanation for why Earth's oceans are only a few hundred feet ...more
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Old Man's War by John Scalzi
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As someone approaching my mid-70s, the age the protagonist John Perry joined the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), I felt Scalzi's treatment of older people, especially in the first part of the book, not to be very credible. Perry, in preparing to leave ...more
More of James's books…
Friedrich Nietzsche
“Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.”
Friedrich Nietzsche

F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Now the standard cure for one who is sunk is to consider those in actual destitution or physical suffering—this is an all-weather beatitude for gloom in general and fairly salutary day-time advice for everyone. But at three o’clock in the morning, a forgotten package has the same tragic importance as a death sentence, and the cure doesn’t work—and in a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock in the morning, day after day.”
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Crack-Up

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