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Unshackled Intelligence
Unshackle yourself from the chains of mortality.
Since the tragic death of her parents, high school teacher Audrey Heartwood has struggled with the impermanence of life. Eager to secure her immortality, she contacts CryoNeuroTech—a cutting-edge company specializing in cryogenics and neurorobotics.
CryoNeuroTech’s to overcome mortality. CryoNeuroTech’s to preserve their clients’ brains using cryogenics. Once they perfect their neurorobotic technology, they’ll house each brain in a robot—allowing clients to achieve immortality.
But through her research, Audrey discovers something may not be right at CryoNeuroTech. Employees seem to be hiding something.
Audrey’s insatiable curiosity sends her on a mission to discover CryoNeuroTech’s secret. As she unravels clues, evidence suggests that CryoNeuroTech’s vision isn’t so noble after all. Faced with a difficult decision, Audrey must choose between satisfying her own desires and doing what’s right.
Published as part of the 2023 Inkfort Press Publishing Derby.
Since the tragic death of her parents, high school teacher Audrey Heartwood has struggled with the impermanence of life. Eager to secure her immortality, she contacts CryoNeuroTech—a cutting-edge company specializing in cryogenics and neurorobotics.
CryoNeuroTech’s to overcome mortality. CryoNeuroTech’s to preserve their clients’ brains using cryogenics. Once they perfect their neurorobotic technology, they’ll house each brain in a robot—allowing clients to achieve immortality.
But through her research, Audrey discovers something may not be right at CryoNeuroTech. Employees seem to be hiding something.
Audrey’s insatiable curiosity sends her on a mission to discover CryoNeuroTech’s secret. As she unravels clues, evidence suggests that CryoNeuroTech’s vision isn’t so noble after all. Faced with a difficult decision, Audrey must choose between satisfying her own desires and doing what’s right.
Published as part of the 2023 Inkfort Press Publishing Derby.
96 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 25, 2023
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 3, 2023
Dystopian sci-fi? HECK YES. A shorter read but enjoyed the original story line. Honestly related to Audrey because I would be so curious about immortality and what all it actually means in this world!
I received this ARC for an honest review, all thoughts/opinions above are my own!
I received this ARC for an honest review, all thoughts/opinions above are my own!
September 22, 2023
A timely sci-fi story with a compelling, interesting, and relatable main character.
September 24, 2023
I received an advance reader copy of Unshackled Intelligence for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.
The Inkfort Press Publishing Derby is an annual event that gives authors two months to write a book with a minimum of 10,000 words. Each is presented with a selection of pre-designed covers (complete with titles and pen names), which they must rank. Following a random draw, they are allocated the cover for the book they are to write. Unshackled Intelligence is one of these books.
The author more than doubled the minimum word count, to about 23,000 words, putting the book squarely into novella territory, resulting in a brisk read that can easily be digested in a single sitting. The limited space works for the story, but a full novel would have allowed the author to expand upon the story and themes, and explore the plot in more detail.
The book is marketed as a technothriller, which is an appropriate descriptor, but if you’re looking for a cyberpunk story (the term “technothriller” has virtually become synonymous with the genre), you won’t find it here. It’s certainly a sci-fi story, and it’s set in a world with technology we don’t have in the current day, and features a corporation—CryoNeuroTech—whose motives may be less than honourable, but the world, characters, tone and themes are fairly far removed from the Cyberpunk. As protagonist Audrey works to uncover CryoNeuroTech’s secrets, the story is certainly a thriller.
Audrey is a school teacher drawn into CryoNeuroTech’s orbit following a decision to have her body cryogenically frozen. After signing up to undertake the procedure after her death, she soon learns there is more than meets the eye. The plot moves slowly, and while this feels like a deliberate decision, it lacks urgency. As one would expect from a thriller, it takes a few turns, but these unfortunately don’t shift the reader’s expectations.
As the protagonist and sole POV character, Audrey serves as the book’s anchor. The author has crafted an interesting backstory for her, involving the death of her parents when she was nineteen. This propels Audrey through the story, informing her decisions, but aside from her history and motivation, she isn’t particularly interesting. Given the novella’s length, there isn’t a great deal of space to delve into the character, but more depth would have made it easier to buy into her story. The other characters don’t fare any better; they feel like they’re included to move the story forward.
One element that makes it difficult to connect with Audrey and the other characters is the dialogue. It features a high amount of dialogue, and while conversations generally flow nicely, the characters have a tendency of sounding somewhat wooden. They all sound similar, without distinct voices. These are similar to the author’s voice, which is clear and easy to follow. But it results in the dialogue getting lost within the pages.
The sci-fi elements are understated, which works in the book’s favour. Although its story revolves around cryogenics and transferring minds into robots, these elements feel like a natural part of the world. It highlights themes about whether people should be able to live forever and how one would spend their endless existence without dwelling on them. It provides the reader with something to consider without making it the entire point.
Although the book has a wonderful concept of cryogenics and the desire to extend one’s life, many of the elements don’t fully click into place. I don’t know how easy it may or may not have been to create a story from the cover image, but suspect two months to write it hindered the story. More time to iron out the kinks and, perhaps, tell a longer story, could have resulted in something that fires on all cylinders. As it stands, it doesn’t exploit its concept as fully as it otherwise could have.
My full review will be available on my website from 25 September 2023. To read it, and a host of other reviews, click here.
The Inkfort Press Publishing Derby is an annual event that gives authors two months to write a book with a minimum of 10,000 words. Each is presented with a selection of pre-designed covers (complete with titles and pen names), which they must rank. Following a random draw, they are allocated the cover for the book they are to write. Unshackled Intelligence is one of these books.
The author more than doubled the minimum word count, to about 23,000 words, putting the book squarely into novella territory, resulting in a brisk read that can easily be digested in a single sitting. The limited space works for the story, but a full novel would have allowed the author to expand upon the story and themes, and explore the plot in more detail.
The book is marketed as a technothriller, which is an appropriate descriptor, but if you’re looking for a cyberpunk story (the term “technothriller” has virtually become synonymous with the genre), you won’t find it here. It’s certainly a sci-fi story, and it’s set in a world with technology we don’t have in the current day, and features a corporation—CryoNeuroTech—whose motives may be less than honourable, but the world, characters, tone and themes are fairly far removed from the Cyberpunk. As protagonist Audrey works to uncover CryoNeuroTech’s secrets, the story is certainly a thriller.
Audrey is a school teacher drawn into CryoNeuroTech’s orbit following a decision to have her body cryogenically frozen. After signing up to undertake the procedure after her death, she soon learns there is more than meets the eye. The plot moves slowly, and while this feels like a deliberate decision, it lacks urgency. As one would expect from a thriller, it takes a few turns, but these unfortunately don’t shift the reader’s expectations.
As the protagonist and sole POV character, Audrey serves as the book’s anchor. The author has crafted an interesting backstory for her, involving the death of her parents when she was nineteen. This propels Audrey through the story, informing her decisions, but aside from her history and motivation, she isn’t particularly interesting. Given the novella’s length, there isn’t a great deal of space to delve into the character, but more depth would have made it easier to buy into her story. The other characters don’t fare any better; they feel like they’re included to move the story forward.
One element that makes it difficult to connect with Audrey and the other characters is the dialogue. It features a high amount of dialogue, and while conversations generally flow nicely, the characters have a tendency of sounding somewhat wooden. They all sound similar, without distinct voices. These are similar to the author’s voice, which is clear and easy to follow. But it results in the dialogue getting lost within the pages.
The sci-fi elements are understated, which works in the book’s favour. Although its story revolves around cryogenics and transferring minds into robots, these elements feel like a natural part of the world. It highlights themes about whether people should be able to live forever and how one would spend their endless existence without dwelling on them. It provides the reader with something to consider without making it the entire point.
Although the book has a wonderful concept of cryogenics and the desire to extend one’s life, many of the elements don’t fully click into place. I don’t know how easy it may or may not have been to create a story from the cover image, but suspect two months to write it hindered the story. More time to iron out the kinks and, perhaps, tell a longer story, could have resulted in something that fires on all cylinders. As it stands, it doesn’t exploit its concept as fully as it otherwise could have.
My full review will be available on my website from 25 September 2023. To read it, and a host of other reviews, click here.
September 15, 2023
This novella is part of the Inkfort Press Publishing Derby. The Derby is an annual event hosted by Inkfort where authors are presented with the year’s selection of pre-made book covers, which comes with a title and a pen name. Authors rank their choices of covers and eventually, the authors are assigned the highest ranked cover that is available.
Once the covers are assigned, the writing phase begins. The narrative must follow the theme of the bookcover and title. And the time limit to finish the book is two months with a word count minimum of 10,000.
When I was first approached to read and review Unshackled Intelligence, I was a bit skeptical. But after reading the background information about the Inkfort Press Publishing Derby, I was intrigued about the challenge. I just couldn’t fathom how any author could come up with a creative story using a pre-made cover and title as the only inspiration. And to top it off, the story needed to be completed in 2 months. Needless to say, I had to read what the author came up with given such tight parameters. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was impressed.
I loved the concept of immortality via the use of cryogenics and robotics. Such imagination, but not too far fetched from reality.
The story unfolds through a first person’s point of view and follows a linear timeline. There are a few plot twists which made for an engaging read.
Considering how short the story was, the characters are well developed. I didn’t quite like the main protagonist, and perhaps it was her selfish and self centered attitude. But that can be a good thing if it evoked some emotion. I did like the rest of the players except for one that exuded the same type of personality as the main character.
The finale was a little abrupt, and open ended which left a lot for the imagination. I also found the catch phrase used throughout the novella to be a bit too much. But given the tight parameters, I understand how those parameters can affect the desired outcome.
Overall, Unshackled Intelligence was an excellent read, all things considered. Four solid stars.
I received a DRC from the author. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
Once the covers are assigned, the writing phase begins. The narrative must follow the theme of the bookcover and title. And the time limit to finish the book is two months with a word count minimum of 10,000.
When I was first approached to read and review Unshackled Intelligence, I was a bit skeptical. But after reading the background information about the Inkfort Press Publishing Derby, I was intrigued about the challenge. I just couldn’t fathom how any author could come up with a creative story using a pre-made cover and title as the only inspiration. And to top it off, the story needed to be completed in 2 months. Needless to say, I had to read what the author came up with given such tight parameters. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was impressed.
I loved the concept of immortality via the use of cryogenics and robotics. Such imagination, but not too far fetched from reality.
The story unfolds through a first person’s point of view and follows a linear timeline. There are a few plot twists which made for an engaging read.
Considering how short the story was, the characters are well developed. I didn’t quite like the main protagonist, and perhaps it was her selfish and self centered attitude. But that can be a good thing if it evoked some emotion. I did like the rest of the players except for one that exuded the same type of personality as the main character.
The finale was a little abrupt, and open ended which left a lot for the imagination. I also found the catch phrase used throughout the novella to be a bit too much. But given the tight parameters, I understand how those parameters can affect the desired outcome.
Overall, Unshackled Intelligence was an excellent read, all things considered. Four solid stars.
I received a DRC from the author. The review herein is completely my own and contains my honest thoughts and opinions.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews