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Argo
In the distant future, the easy paths to artificial intelligence have been outlawed. Mira McAllister, dismayed at the lack of progress the engineering community has made in recent years, determines to find the answers for herself when she comes across a strange, discarded android. Repairing her to full function, she discovers the android is unlike any she's ever dealt with before--and the answers she was searching for only lead to more questions, and more secrets.
44 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2011
15 people are currently reading
130 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 29, 2018
Can intelligence be artificial?
Hard to say much without spoilers. Mira, an engineer who works with Android intelligence and mechanics, learns more than she thought possible, but less than she hoped. Well written and not exactly reassuring.
Hard to say much without spoilers. Mira, an engineer who works with Android intelligence and mechanics, learns more than she thought possible, but less than she hoped. Well written and not exactly reassuring.
October 23, 2014
Rick Griffin, the author of the book “Argo”, informed me of this book and I knew I had to see what it was all about. “Argo” was a book that I could not stop reading. Every night before bed, I read. Every chance I got at work, I read. It was a really good read and I enjoyed it thoroughly. All the twists and turns throughout the story kept making me want to read more and more and when it got to that one final twist at the end of the story, it made me wonder about everything that has happened already. The story starts out following an android engineer named, Mira, as she was leaving an android symposium. Her personal android, Lily, begins to drive Mira back to her home in order to get back to work but winds up in a very peculiar situation on the way home.
Mira, a profound engineer for androids, lives in a small home with her android, Lily. On their way back from the symposium, a truck carrying something had its back doors break apart and something flew out at them. This object turns out to be a small android of unknown origin named, Eo. Mira spends her days now trying to figure out who exactly created Eo and what her main function is.
The setting of this story is taking place in a large city with a lot of run down areas. It’s a long ways into the future and is taking place after a recent war against the humans and androids. Mira, Lily, and Eo go about the town in some occasions trying to jog Eo’s memory on where her creator is located. She knows that her creator is within city limits.
The purpose for Rick to write this story was to probably enthuse the reader that not everything is as it seems. To find the light in the dark or to help others find their own way home or back to where they used to be.
I recommend this short story to anyone who would like something interesting to read. It has many twists and turns and it’s overall a good story. I give it a five out of five and I truly think anyone of any age could read this story. There are just a few long words but it is still an overall good book. I can’t wait to read more of Rick’s future stories after reading this one.
Mira, a profound engineer for androids, lives in a small home with her android, Lily. On their way back from the symposium, a truck carrying something had its back doors break apart and something flew out at them. This object turns out to be a small android of unknown origin named, Eo. Mira spends her days now trying to figure out who exactly created Eo and what her main function is.
The setting of this story is taking place in a large city with a lot of run down areas. It’s a long ways into the future and is taking place after a recent war against the humans and androids. Mira, Lily, and Eo go about the town in some occasions trying to jog Eo’s memory on where her creator is located. She knows that her creator is within city limits.
The purpose for Rick to write this story was to probably enthuse the reader that not everything is as it seems. To find the light in the dark or to help others find their own way home or back to where they used to be.
I recommend this short story to anyone who would like something interesting to read. It has many twists and turns and it’s overall a good story. I give it a five out of five and I truly think anyone of any age could read this story. There are just a few long words but it is still an overall good book. I can’t wait to read more of Rick’s future stories after reading this one.
March 26, 2021
A rather meaningless story that's rife with self-service and unanswered questions. The author tries to be philosophical, but fails to take any stance, seemingly in an attempt to sound wise and neutral, but comes off as indecisive and indifferent.
February 27, 2020
A great scifi story
A wounderfull dip into a fasinating scifi word in a gripping story. If you enjoy science fiction and housepets you should read this.
A wounderfull dip into a fasinating scifi word in a gripping story. If you enjoy science fiction and housepets you should read this.
September 13, 2020
Amazing
I love this story since I read it two years ago from smashwords, it's highly worth a read, Rick Griffin did an amazing job.
I love this story since I read it two years ago from smashwords, it's highly worth a read, Rick Griffin did an amazing job.
December 1, 2020
Fun read
Very much enjoyed this book. I wish it was a bit longer. This book ended way to soon! You will enjoy reading it.
Very much enjoyed this book. I wish it was a bit longer. This book ended way to soon! You will enjoy reading it.
May 19, 2024
What a fun read!
I recommend this book for programmers. Its a fast read you can finish in an hour or so. Lovely world building for such a short read
I recommend this book for programmers. Its a fast read you can finish in an hour or so. Lovely world building for such a short read
February 6, 2015
Argo by Rick Griffin is not the book behind the 2012 motion picture regarding Iran and the CIA extracting hostages. This is a novelette about an android engineer named Mira McAllister and the strangely behaving android she finds one day. As she discovers more about the android, the plot becomes more interesting.
I found the personalities of the artificial intelligence that the author gave to the androids, but I was not sold on the plausibility of them. I did find Mira to be fairly believable, but oddly reluctant when compared to the overall character. This ended up pacing the story, which I felt should have been done through more detail and/or events, rather than the main character beating around the bush.
The story posed a lot of philosophical questions. The characters did muse on them for a bit, but there was never really any answers chosen or assumed by them. This made me feel like I wasted my time reading, since there was no stance taken by the characters. At least the questions posed were food for thought. The climax of the story was definitely worth the read, but the ending was a bit of a let down afterward.
I have not yet looked into the author's other books, but this novelette would be a great introduction to an actual novel. On its own, it really does not accomplish much in my opinion. If you are interested in androids or singularity type books, this might be worth a read, depending on the price. I was recommended this book because "it has furries in it", but this turned out to not really be true. The androids are built in the shape of four foot tall anthropomorphic animals, but they are not "furries" aside from their appearance.
I found the personalities of the artificial intelligence that the author gave to the androids, but I was not sold on the plausibility of them. I did find Mira to be fairly believable, but oddly reluctant when compared to the overall character. This ended up pacing the story, which I felt should have been done through more detail and/or events, rather than the main character beating around the bush.
The story posed a lot of philosophical questions. The characters did muse on them for a bit, but there was never really any answers chosen or assumed by them. This made me feel like I wasted my time reading, since there was no stance taken by the characters. At least the questions posed were food for thought. The climax of the story was definitely worth the read, but the ending was a bit of a let down afterward.
I have not yet looked into the author's other books, but this novelette would be a great introduction to an actual novel. On its own, it really does not accomplish much in my opinion. If you are interested in androids or singularity type books, this might be worth a read, depending on the price. I was recommended this book because "it has furries in it", but this turned out to not really be true. The androids are built in the shape of four foot tall anthropomorphic animals, but they are not "furries" aside from their appearance.
January 27, 2014
This was a wonderful read with a nice blend of science fiction and the furry fandom.
Griffin has composed a story that, if you read the other reviews, seems to have surprised a lot of readers into thinking they were going to read another story when they picked this story up. He has done a masterful job of composing a story where you don't know what's going to happen around the corner and where the build of suspense is going to lead.
But man, what an ending!
I have to say the only reason I had any kind of inkling about what was going to happen was from all the reviews saying that this wasn't the story they thought it was. It got me looking deeper into the storyline than perhaps I should have and thus when the big twists hit I was prepared and already suspecting them. (that said, I only suspected one of the twists, not the others)
This is a book I highly recommend to anyone interested in science fiction or furry fiction. Wonderfully done, the perfect length and a very smooth Twilight Zone feel to the story. Well worth the price.
Griffin has composed a story that, if you read the other reviews, seems to have surprised a lot of readers into thinking they were going to read another story when they picked this story up. He has done a masterful job of composing a story where you don't know what's going to happen around the corner and where the build of suspense is going to lead.
But man, what an ending!
I have to say the only reason I had any kind of inkling about what was going to happen was from all the reviews saying that this wasn't the story they thought it was. It got me looking deeper into the storyline than perhaps I should have and thus when the big twists hit I was prepared and already suspecting them. (that said, I only suspected one of the twists, not the others)
This is a book I highly recommend to anyone interested in science fiction or furry fiction. Wonderfully done, the perfect length and a very smooth Twilight Zone feel to the story. Well worth the price.
July 29, 2016
If you want interesting sci-fi with a furry bent, read this.
Going into this story with no expectations, I found it utterly delightful and surprising.
The story's crux is an engineer who can't figure out why an android acts so human, because it shouldn't, it doesn't make sense. That's an interesting premise, and it is a mystery that leads into unexpected places.
This story sidesteps a lot of previous material I've seen, of the what-is-human question you often see, of robots seeking to become human. Also it sidesteps any buildup about a robot war - that actually happened int he past, making the story post robot-war. Which is very refreshing.
The above, plus how short it is, makes for a very enjoyable read. I want to see more written fiction by the author.
Going into this story with no expectations, I found it utterly delightful and surprising.
The story's crux is an engineer who can't figure out why an android acts so human, because it shouldn't, it doesn't make sense. That's an interesting premise, and it is a mystery that leads into unexpected places.
This story sidesteps a lot of previous material I've seen, of the what-is-human question you often see, of robots seeking to become human. Also it sidesteps any buildup about a robot war - that actually happened int he past, making the story post robot-war. Which is very refreshing.
The above, plus how short it is, makes for a very enjoyable read. I want to see more written fiction by the author.
May 18, 2018
A sci-fi novel with a suitable mind-fuck ending. Mira is a creator of ani-droids, robot servants made to look like animals. At first, the presence of animal creatures seems rather arbitrary, a quirk of a furry author, but reasons are eventually given: human-like androids had once been made, but their ability to blend in with humanity was deemed dangerous, and all androids were required to be non-human, to protect their creators. When we learn this, it's obvious that a human-droid will feature in the story, but by the time it appeared, I hadn't guessed its form in the slightest.
Perhaps not a draw for most sci-fi readers, but fans of Griffin's Housepets would be well-served to add this to their collection.
Perhaps not a draw for most sci-fi readers, but fans of Griffin's Housepets would be well-served to add this to their collection.
June 22, 2013
My experience with Argo was probably my fault, I didn't realize this was a short story when I started. I should have looked closer at the description on Amazon. If you're hoping for a Twilight Zone-esque story about anthro robots then this is the way to go. Just be warned that just as the setting is defined, the characters are properly introduced, and the protagonist's ultimate goal is revealed the story ends.
February 28, 2013
Apologies - the review was not the review for this book.
Read
October 29, 2012wrong book
February 10, 2013
Interesting but a bit tedious. Too many examples of the author's track record of previous assignments for me. I'm looking forward to checking out the film for perhaps a better sense of 'action'.
February 7, 2013
How the CIA and Hollywood got hostages out of Iran. Interesting.
September 21, 2014
Excellent story, extremely intriguing, but ends just as the story is beginning to develop. More of an unfinished short story than a novel...
April 29, 2016
An interesting vignette about A.I. and humanity.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews