Capacity

AI Trilogy #2

by Tony Ballantyne

Society in the twenty-third century runs smoothly and peacefully with the aid of Social Care operatives such as Judy 3. Meanwhile benevolent AIs, under the control of the near mythical Watcher, seem to have solved all mankind’s problems, and with their aid humans have begun to explore the surrounding universe. But why does every AI that visits the planet Gateway commit suicide within just hours of arriving there? Justinian Sibelius has now himself arrived on the planet to try and find a reason. Yet how can someone with merely human intelligence solve a puzzle that has defeated minds far greater than his own – even that of the Watcher itself? And what if it should turn out that the Watcher is not so benevolent as people once believed? 'An exceptional first novel. A new British star has arrived to join the likes of Hamilton, Reynolds and Banks' Vector

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Fantasy, Artificial Intelligence

452 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Anthony Ballantyne, is a British science-fiction author who is most famous for writing his debut trilogy of novels, Recursion, Capacity and Divergence. He is also Head of Information Technology and an Information Technology teacher at The Blue Coat School, Oldham and has been nominated for the BSFA Award for short fiction.

He grew up in County Durham in the North East of England, and studied Math at Manchester University before moving to London for ten years where taught first Math and then later IT.

He now lives in Oldham with his wife and two children. His hobbies include playing boogie piano, walking and cycling.

Reviews

[Joel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second novel in a science fiction trilogy, set in a 23rd century in which human affairs are managed by AIs and virtual worlds (some of which simulate our own exactly) exist, in which virtual people whose personalities have been copied from flesh-and-blood people live out their lives.

A few plot elements:

1) a woman named Helen is rescued from an illegal virtual world in which she, and many copies of her, has been used as the victim for perverts living out their torture/rape fantasies. Now that she's free, she wants to hunt down the person (or program) who put her there.

2) a shadowy organization which manipulates everybody "for their own good".

3) a lot of arguing between characters about the nature of free will and intelligence and whether "real" people are any more "real" than virtual people. The arguments never really go anywhere.

4) villains who are way too concerned about winning the heroes over to their side, and thus spend way too much time explaining in detail why they're doing the things they're doing.

All these things together paint this general picture: "mass-market pop thriller in a sci-fi setting". For the most part that holds true, with all the lazy plotting and poorly-developed characters one expects in such a novel.

One thing, though, helps this novel stand out; a truly bizarre application of quantum mechanics. People and AIs attempting to colonize a remote planet have discovered that, on this planet, two odd types of objects are appearing and disappearing all the time:

1) little box-shaped items called "Schrodinger Boxes" which randomly appear and disappear and jump around from place to place randomly.
2) black rings called BVBs (Black Velvet Bands) which appear out of nowhere, then shrink until they disappear- unless they wrap around an object, in which case they stop shrinking and can't be cut or removed.

I'll refrain from explaining what these objects are, or why they turn out to be a dire threat to humanity; after all, it's the most novel thing about the book, and pretty much the only reason to bother reading it. You're welcome.

[Mark Lacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure I understood this book any more than the one ("Recursion") than came before it. Hard to follow the plot and how the story lines support one another, but I do find the author's ideas interesting.

[Sara]

Alone in bed
with that smell
without color
with hurt wond
its y in the end
y kill my twice
search the stare
talk about what y win
its oth of words
alone in bed even y near
even the poor memory
even yr hiden that photo
its y who his hand red
in sea of words
y play
what y want
religon like yr sense
war cant end
program mix with blue line
its me alone in the bed

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Burn It With Fire!!!

[L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the first, but I enjoyed it. I lost the plot a little at the end, but I'm still looking forward to the final book.

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the future, humanity is watched over, arguably controlled by AIs, and only a small fraction of people live in what we think of as the "real" world... many citizens are digital copies, living in simulations of reality, albeit with a human lifespan. An agent of the government rescues one of these digital copies from an illegal simulation used for torture fantasies, and the two go on a quest to find the creator of the sim and bring him to justice. And in deep space, a human is sent to investigate a planet where super-intelligent AIs seem to be effectively killing themselves by reducing themselves to below human intelligence.

This is set in the same world as Recursion, although it's hard to call it a sequel, as really the only character in common seems to be the Watcher, an AI that guides humanity. I liked Recursion, although it had flaws. This one... I'm a lot more mixed on.

There are some really brilliant bits here, arguments on human nature both now and in the far future, thoughts on free will, and a couple of really cool SFnal concepts. Some of the book could be viewed as a deliberate answer to the Culture books, showing off how horrifying a world where AIs, even benevolent AIs, in control of humanity could be, in a way that's really visceral.

And yet... as a whole, the story just doesn't really work for me. Part of this is that the author set a very high difficulty for himself. It's not impossible to tell a coherent story where there are multiple copies of the same people operating at the same time, jumping in and out of different artificial realities, and manage to make it easy for the reader to both keep straight exactly what's going on where, and also to care about what happens to any one instance. I've seen authors do it... but it's incredibly difficult, and I think Ballantyne's attempted it on a scale beyond any successful attempt I've seen. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite live up to it. And with that central piece faltering a bit, the story as a whole doesn't hang together very well. The characters feel somewhat flat, and some of the future society exploration, given the setting, don't feel realistic... even considering they're artificially hemmed in by the rules of the Watcher, everyone seemed too... conventional, and there was a lot of focus on sex that, while not offensive (save the human trafficing/sexual abuse playground aspect which, thankfully, happens mostly off-page), provoked a few eyerolls. Finally, while it's a cool idea, I can't really buy into the premises behind the big threat revealed at the end. If the was my only problem, I could suspend that disbelief and just run with the cool concept, but as it stands it's one more thing that doesn't quite work for me.

I rated it a three, but it's on the edge between two and three. I was hoping to like it more. There is a third book in the series/universe, and, right now, I'm not sure I'll follow through to it. Maybe if I'm browsing a used bookstore and see it I might try it, but I don't have a drive to seek it out.

[Wealhtheow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Virtual worlds, in which personality constructs and AIs live, are now considered as real as the tangible, "atomic" world we live in today. The story follows social worker Judy and one of her charges, Helen, as they traverse the two realities in search of answers. Their search gradually broadens in scope until at last they discover what happened at the edge of the known galaxy two decades ago. The characters are prickly, complex and believable; I particularly liked Helen, whose last memories were from 70 years before. I hated the antagonist, a manipulative meaniepants named Kevin. Although he was supposed to enrage me, he did so to the extent that I could barely finish the book, I was so loathe to read any more of his scenes.

This is the second part in a loose trilogy: in Recursion Ballantyne examines life under a mindless intelligence. In this, he reveals life without any intelligence at all. Overarching both these books is an examination of human society in the future, where it is watched over and subtly cared for by a nearly omnipotent intelligence. It's a cool discussion, but I'd almost rather Ballantyne spent more of the book writing his excellent fight scenes and dialog and less talking about quantam theory and "what it really means to be intelligent."

[Reads with Scotch · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a not so distant future humanity has given up control of it's every day lives to A.I. In order to ensure its survival, peace and harmony. This work of fiction explores the ramifications of this, such as, if we give up our free will are we still human. If free will is in the hands of an A.I. were program and analog replace spirit; passion, morals, ethics. (Think "i Robot") If we make a digital copy of ourselves, and live in a digital world are we still human?

The year is 2122-2255, with the advent of A.I. Humanity has slowly lost its grip on control. As A.I. becomes more efficient and more responsibilities are place in its control, humanity loses free will. A.I. forms agencies such as EA environmental agency, and SC social care. These agencies are manned by manipulated humans and robots; their mission is to pacify humanity. Setting the tone of existence and manipulating everything to its will. Only a few characters are aware that the robots and A.I. are manipulating everything, but it is unclear why.
To muddy the waters further, people make digital copies of themselves and lead duel lives in a public construct, which the A.I. makes a law stating that they hold rights as living citizens, making robots and A.I. equal, in the eyes of the law.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were moments in this book that captivated me. I'm interested in subjectivity, identity and the construction of reality and experience...but ultimately I just couldn't stick with the book. I skimmed the last part. It isn't that the writing is bad or anything (hence two stars rather than one) but I lost interest. I think it has something to do with the narrative structure; the shifts in point of view characters and of time frames contribute to a feeling that the ideas haven't been explored to their fullest potential. That becomes a bigger problem because I had little emotional connection to the characters themselves. Everything rests on the ideas. I know from previous experience that this is part of Ballantyne's style. He brings the pieces together in the end to create a big moment. So, I guess that makes my previous comment a bit unfair. However, in this case I just wasn't willing to wait. I felt like I was forcing myself through and I began to doubt that the payoff would be worth it. On to the next!

[Michael Compton · Rating 4 out of 5]

(May contain spoilers)
Wildly inventive and beautifully written, I really wanted to love this book, and I sometimes did, but somehow it never fully came together for me. It sets you up with a cheeky prologue as a socio-technological satire ("Welcome to your new life...as a personality construct!"). That goes nowhere, because the next chapter plunges you into what appears to be a kind of AI serial killer shocker. But then we get this other narrative of a guy with a baby who's been sent into deep space to investigate a problem with suicidal AI. Ultimately, though, the novel becomes a kind of first-contact story, which left me wondering what all that other stuff was about. I give Ballantyne credit--there is genius in his world-building, and especially in his conception of the alien menace. The book is by turns fun, terrifying, and thought-provoking, but I often found the characters confused and the plot dizzying. The second of a trilogy, the book can stand alone. It gave me plenty to chew on, but not enough satisfaction to try another course.

[Mike Franklin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very good hard SF book. This story follows on from Recursion but other than sharing the same universe it does not really continue the story of Recursion. However the third book does continue this story.

Again this is very computer techie hard Sf. It takes a very interesting look at the ideas of real, or in the book's terminology atomic, people, personality constructs (copies of atomic people running in virtual realities) and AIs and all their relative rights as unique individuals. This is generally handled very well, providing an interesting backdrop to the main story which runs in both the atomic and digital worlds and in two different timeframes.

It is also not shy about examining ways in which such a society can be abused with illegal copies of individuals held in private networks and used for various unsavoury practices. Again well handled in believable siutations.

Overall a very good book but not for people who don't like their SF hard and techie!

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is yet another living-as-a-virtual-person-in-a-computer story that is set 200-300 years in the future. It's a good read but a little hard to follow at times. The story really blurs the distinction between "atomic" people (living in the physical world) and "digital" people (living in a computer). It makes the assertion that both are equally real.

It's an interesting philosophical question that takes you a different direction than stories like "The Matrix." Is there any difference between what we call the real world and a simulated world of sufficiently high fidelity? We would currently say one person is real and the other is a simulation and not really alive. But is this just another form of discrimination, this time against digital people?

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book by Ballantyne in same universe as Recursion. More about intelligence and AI than about nanotechnology. More linear than Recursion although for much of the book does have two seperate timelines with Judy and Helen and Justinian Sibellius. About Schroedinger boxes and alien plants as well as questioning the benevolence of the Watcher and how humanity has been shaped.

[Brendan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Reading the description for this book made me really excited for it, but I just got disappointed when I actually read it. Despite the high level of technology it's very soft sci-fi and while there are some cool ideas they are not explored enough. The story was totally lacking and I didn't really get attached to any of the characters. In short, not my thing.

[Chani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for its backstory. The characters were odd and didn't really engage me, nor did the front stage story. But the imagination of the world, the rich details, the new spinning of sci-fi, oriental, and organic elements sucked me in. I feel compelled to give it a high rating solely because it was so enjoyable from an aesthetic and emotional perspective.

[Luke Meehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant hard-AI scfi. Ballantyne does exceptionally well in dealing with the potentialities of replicable mind-simulations, both negative and positive. The literal deus ex machina limits the, otherwise uncontrollably vast, examination of consciousness emulation and provides an enjoyable plot framework. An important book.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy the first 100 pages of this book, which is my cutoff for how long I give a book to engage my interest before I put it in the used bookstore pile. Life, as they say, is too short to read bad books.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cyber-themed 'Brave New World' distant future dystopia faces an existential threat.
Lots of cool and edgy ideas here.
The ending surprised me a bit as the side that I thought of as the good guys was
defeated, at least temporarily.
Excellent read.

[Nick0z · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good sequel continuing in the same universe. I'm only 70 pages in, but it is expanding the old thought-provoking ideas of the previous novel while adding new ones.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book.
had me reading on and on.

talks about AI and the ability to copy the mind and all the social implications thereof.

[Gerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really solid sequel to Recursion that I felt built on the themes of free will, God, and the definition of life. A pretty good sci-fi series I will re-read.

[Nicole]

I am honestly not sure what I think of this book. I wonder if the story would make more sense if I read the other books in the trilogy...

[Jan Spindler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this series

[Bryan Chong · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my kind of book.