Paradox

by Aaron Crocco

Meet Gregory, an artificial intelligence unlike anything the world’s ever seen before. His impact onto society has been significant: by analyzing the answers given to just 12 questions, he will tell you how you will die. When Ryan Downs gets a death prediction like no other, he learns entire shadow groups exist solely to find out just how Paradox and Gregory’s other fantastical predictions will come to pass.

ebook

First published November 14, 2011

About the author

Aaron Crocco can be summed up as a writer, but complicating this further is the fact that he's a huge geek, Apple fanboy, and loves Back to the Future so much that he owns a Delorean. In the mid-2000′s his writing spark was reignited and he's been tearing up the keyboard ever since.

Aaron’s debut sci-fi thriller novel SPIRIT HACKERS explores the intersection of technology and the afterlife. His thriller CHRONO VIRUS rocked readers in 2012 with its original take on space travel. In 2013 he released the tie-in story CHRONO VIRUS: FALL OF THE HORIZON. Aaron's apocalyptic debut series AS DARKNESS ENDS explores the end of the world from many points of view.

Aaron hails from Long Island, NY and enjoys hockey, rock & roll, coffee, and way too much ice cream.
Visit him online at www.AaronCrocco.com.

Reviews

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really fun read and a perfect sized short fiction grab to entertain me over my lunch break at work. I do have to admit that in when I got onto page 10, I was really hoping this would spin off into an apocalyptic zombie-fest, with only Ryan left to save the world from evil deathly forces - this is possibly due to my having just finished reading the Walking Dead Volume 1 earlier today, so my brainz are all zombified right now! :)

I did find that the second the world had gone slightly swivvel-shaped for the protagonist that I really started to enjoy the story. It had admittedly seemed a teensy-bit clunky up until this point, but now the cogs really start turning on newly greased wheels. I'd hazard a guess this is where the author Aaron Crocco started to really get into his own story and enjoy the writing as the pace increases in a good way from here on in. There's a mighty good twist to the end and it turns into a rollicking good ride from here on in. I especially like the roundup of events at the end, that give you that scooby-doo moment of 'aaAHA'-ness we all know and love!

Two thumbs up for a nifty little story and as I said at the start, a great read to pop in your lunchbox.

[Eoghann Irving · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a heavy reader of short stories. I generally prefer long form fiction and that keeps me pretty busy. But this popped up on my network as being available at free (for Prime members $0.99 for you plebs!) so I figured... why not try it out. It's always good to find new authors to read.

For all that it's a short story there was a remarkable amount of world building crammed in and I'd actually like the author to revisit this world some time so I can find out a bit more about the mysterious AI Gregory and its predictions.

In terms of character it's a bit more limited. See most of it from one person's perspective and don't get a great deal of insight into his life. But that's not really the thrust of the story anyway. There's a clever twist that's almost an anti-twist if that makes any sense and I came away satisfied with the resolution despite it featuring a sci-fi trope that I think is terribly over-used.

Crocco's writing style is easy to read. Descriptive without being overly flowery. He keeps things moving along. I'd like to read more of his work and I've already added his book As Darkness Ends to my wishlist.

Definitely worth $0.99 of your money and if you have Amazon Prime, you have no excuse!

[Charlie Kravetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is for the Kindle edition ebook.

A short story with a predictable ending, Paradox is very well written.

A computer named Gregory can and does predict how you will die. The predictions have always come true, but are sometimes worded in a way that is hard to understand. All predictions must be a single word, but none have ever not been accurate.

I like the way this book is narrated. The premise of computers being highly intelligent is still being proven today. Who can say what tomorrow will be like. While I found the ending predictable, the story is well done and allows for the readers imagination to come up with alternatives. I did find there is too much preview material for other of Aaron Crocco’s works. I prefer not to have full chapter previews, but that is really my own personal opinion.

I enjoyed reading this short story. It would fit well into a daily bus ride to work. It gives the reader room to think about the future, without being short on plot and explanations.

I would recommend this story to science fiction readers. While the ending may be predictable for most of us, the story is different from the normal discussions of paradox. I have purchased two other of Aaron Crocco’s books.

[R.A. Desilets · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick short story with an interesting premise.