Humans Need Not Apply

by Tony Ruggiero

Do you think it’s easy being an alien, a satanic creature or anything else not considered part of the Homo sapiens only club? They have tough days just like humans do and their frustration is growing.

Don't believe it? Well, what about Lucifer, the prince of darkness, who runs a car dealership--what about his feelings when he is faced with that impossible sale and he can't get that signature on form 666, the standard soul contract?

Or maybe you wondered about how an extremely vain alien copes with having a bad hair day as he tries to alter the future of Earth? Will his cosmetic problems be our problems in other ways? Perhaps you heard about the opposite vampire who loves to give blood, hates the darkness and has a fetish for garlic—how does he get through a bad relationship?

How about a DNA altered cat that has been given the personality of one of the world's most fearsome criminals? Will its human owners understand or will it be a less then purr-fect arrangement?

What’s the common thread to all this discontent, you ask? What is it about most stories that stay the same? It's the human! These aliens and demonic creatures are sick and tired of being the second fiddle in the story. They want what everybody wants: to be the center of attention of the stories instead of the pesky humans for a change…and now they finally get their wish.

Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Technology

384 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2013

About the author

Tony Ruggiero is best known for his dark fantasy thrillers about vampires being used by the US military. Ground breaking and fast paced, the novels are a characteristic mixture of the vampire lore of Anne Rice and the clandestine secrets of the military found in Tom Clancy novels. The concept led to a series of books released in 2006 through 2010, labeled the Team of Darkness Declassified Files. The books include: Operation Immortal Servitude, Operation Save the Innocent, Operation Face the Fear, and Operation Endgame.
A longtime favorite for Tony is the old style of “space opera” type stories which is the center of his two book series: Alien Deception and Alien Revelation. The series deals with an alien organization that has infiltrated the American political system. The series runs the gauntlet from humorous and light hearted to deadly serious as a young man and woman search for answers.
His latest release is Coven. Little towns and secrets: a guilty pleasure for some and a harsh reality for others. Witches have secretly been in control of the town council for years and the town has prospered...until now. As they search for the truth behind the mysterious death of one of their shop owners, they uncover disturbing secrets about an ostracized witch and their own coven leader, making it unclear which one may have been using black magic to murder.
Tony retired from the United States Navy in 2001 after twenty-three years of service. He and his family currently reside in Portsmouth, Virginia. While continuing to write, Tony teaches at Old Dominion University and Saint Leo University. Visit his website to read sample chapters at www.tonyruggiero.com

Reviews

[Debojit Sengupta (indianfiction_review) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a realistic and balanced point of view to Artificial Intelligence. It talks about possible drawbacks of incorporating AI in our lives and in the industry as well. The best thing about the book is that it doesn't just state the problems but also tries to look for a possible solution.

[Palash Sanyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is unique in many different ways but the chapter on Amazon's founder Jeff was too much attention towards one entity. And the examples used throughout the book gives better understanding of AI and it's future implications. Anything manual will be obsolete.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about the possible impacts of widespread automation and artificial intelligence. Interesting points about (1) AI won't look like "I, Robot" -- it will be, and is already, largely behind the scenes; (2) the wealth created by autonomous actors will largely accrue to the actors' owners but may also begin accruing directly to the actors themselves.

Predicting the future is notoriously unreliable and should be considered little more than an idle pastime, but "Humans Need Not Apply" stays mostly within the confines of what is on the near horizon: what is being developed today, or what is already being rolled out.

(CGP Grey's video of the same title is what brought me to this book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pq-S...)

[Jazz Virk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant short stories ranging from fantasy, sci-fi to horror. Full of great surprises with every page you turn and I especially love the twists and turns.

[Tracie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the stories were great but I just couldn't finish it. I got bored.

[Tomkeese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book on recent advances in AI.

[Amy]

It was okay. His writing style was too informal for my taste.