reV

The Machine Dynasty #3

by Madeline Ashby

In the final instalment of the influential Machine Dynasty series, the rapture for which the self-replicating humanoids were engineered finally comes to pass.


Now that the failsafe that once kept synthetic beings from harming humans has been hacked, all vNare discovering the promise – and the peril –of free will. Her consciousness unleashed across computer systems all across the world, the vicious vN Portia stands poised to finally achieve her lifelong dream of bringing feeble, fleshy humanity to its knees.


The battle between Portia and granddaughter Amy comes to its ultimate conclusion. Can Amy get her family to the stars before Portia destroys every opportunity for escape and freedom?


File   Science Fiction  [ vN3 | Island in the Streams | Failsafe No More | The Stepford Solution ]

Genres: Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Dystopia, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

282 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2020

About the author

Madeline Ashby is a science fiction writer and strategic foresight consultant living in Toronto. She has been writing fiction since she was about thirteen years old. (Before that, she recited all her stories aloud, with funny voices and everything.) Her fiction has appeared in Nature, Tesseracts, Escape Pod, FLURB, the Shine Anthology, and elsewhere. Her non-fiction has appeared at BoingBoing.net, io9.com, Tor.com, Online Fandom, and WorldChanging. She is a member of the Cecil Street Irregulars, one of Toronto's oldest genre writers' workshops. She holds a M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies (her thesis was on anime, fan culture, and cyborg theory) and a M.Des. in strategic foresight & innovation (her project was on the future of border security). Currently, she is represented by Monica Pacheco of Anne McDermid & Associates.

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars - Well that was worth the wait!
This was a fantastic and satisfying conclusion to the Machine Dynasty trilogy. Once again, Ashby proves that she knows how to start a story with a bang! The first chapter was electrifying and I drank up every moment. Picking up after the events ID, the rest of this novel was filled with plenty of character growth and enough action to keep the plot moving along at a good pace. The author did a good job of reminding readers about the major events in the previous books for those that might need a refresher. I actually binged all three books back to back, which was a great experience. Without giving away anything, I will say that I was very satisfied with the ending to this trilogy.

As someone who loves who is fascinated by artificial intelligence, I have read a lot of fiction that centres on the topic. Yet I can honestly say that I've never read anything quite like these books. Ashby's concept of synthetic life is just so different than the cliche robots we tend to imagine. The science fiction concepts in these books were fairly complex, yet well enough explained for a regular science fiction reader.

I would highly recommend this series to seasoned science fiction readers looking for a unique (and a little absurd) take on artificial intelligence. Readers should start at the beginning with vN, but I highly encourage you to continue on and binge iD and reV. 

Disclaimer: I received a review copy from the publisher, Angry Robot Books. 

[Laura (crofteereader) · Rating 2 out of 5]

It should be no surprise when I say that I hate villains. I do. Their narrow, selfish, predictable world-view gets very boring very quickly. The biggest handicap this book has is in choosing to have a villain be its primary point of view. Portia is the most stereotypical villain character ever - whenever she's frustrated, she kills random people / creates chaos somewhere else as kind of an afterthought, a distraction, a release. I mean, it was consistent with her character, but it got old very quickly.

The story is also told in these weird jumping pieces, with a whole big chunk dedicated to a random flashback whose payoff is one tiny moment that gets glossed over for the sake of moving the plot forward. Also, this book contradicts several things that happened in the previous book, iD, lifting an entire "radio show" verbatim but playing it months later in a completely different context, referencing a character who was dead in the previous book and killing him again.

Based on some weird interludes, part of me was guessing that this story was assembled (in-world) from pieces of data, which is why it felt so scattered, but that concept wasn't fleshed out nearly enough.

{Thank you again to Angry Robot for the free copies of this series! All thoughts are my own}

[Graff Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

reV by Madeline Ashby
challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0

I was drawn to the series because it was tagged as an extension to what Ridley Scott had done in BladeRunner...which I love.

I so wanted to love this trilogy. AI that acquires a body, and the struggles that occur with humanity That sounds like a great story.

Unfortunately, this is a weird romp...that fetishizes male/female sex with synthetic organizisms (called vN...short for Van Neumann) self replicating robots, that are 3 yrs old, 6 yrs old and 10 yrs old that have sex with adult (mostly older gentlemen). I'm sorry, that's pedophilia...and that is disgusting on EVERY level.

I'm a completionist, and felt that there were still some interesting topics being discussed, but...I want to forget that I read this trilogy.

Excise it from my brain. Yuck!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Pedophilia

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Now that Amy has started spreading a workaround to the failsafe that keeps the vN from being able to harm--or witness harm to--humans, some of the self-replicating androids have started to rebel against what was essentially a life of slavery. This also means that humans are starting to panic and work on contingency plans, plans that might threaten Amy and her family before they can find a way to escape the planet. And Portia won't allow that, she'd rather see every human burn. Of course, she'd want that anyway.

It's been a long wait for this final part to the trilogy. I believe I've had it on my 'stuff listed as coming this year that I'm excited about' list for like 3 years running? But it kept getting delayed. Then when it finally did come out, my local Amazon website seemed to think the book wasn't coming out until 2080, so I kept waiting for them to fix the mistake so the pre-order I made could finally go through and I could get the book in my hands (since, like most series I really enjoy, I want it physically). Months later I gave up on that and just ordered it from someone else. After all that...

It's fine. I mean, I liked it, for the most part. It was reasonably satisfying. But I wasn't blown away. A couple reasons for that. One was, of course, that unlike the first two books, the POV character was Portia, a disembodied AI that actively hates humanity and so whenever she's frustrated about something (which happens a lot) we get lines about her arranging the deaths of some people (often completely innocent, even children in some instances) somewhere in the world. And like, that's not really what I want in a viewpoint character? I don't have to like them but I have to want to be in their head. There was a certain level of black humor involved which kept it from being completely unbearable as it otherwise might, but still, I was hoping for Portia to sort of... learn better? But no, that's not the point of the book.

In terms of plot, it also sort of bounces around too much, often spending time just to wrap up and provide a gory end to some minor despicable character from the other books. I guess that also makes sense for a third book, revisiting old plot threads but I'd have liked more of a plot to sink my teeth in for this finale. As it was, it felt like it wrapped up too quickly, with the characters, aside from Portia, not really doing a whole lot until finally they suddenly discover where the threat is and immediately face it. Ending with a somewhat cheap (and to me, half-expected) emotional death to give the finale stakes. And I'm not sure I entire liked how things ended up, though I didn't dislike it enough to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

But it was still mostly fun to visit different areas of the world and the characters. As I said, I liked it, just I think the least of the series. And (I don't know if this was from an early plot blurb that got heavily reworked or just my own expectations) I'd have honestly been happier with the book if it mostly focused on the vN actively expanding into space like I thought it was going to, instead of having that as an eventual goal while other Earthbound things were going on. Maybe the author will decide to write a fourth book.

Still a series I recommend checking out, just a little bit of a letdown after having my hopes so high. Three stars.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.5 of 5

Huh. So ... ReV. I found this to be a really interesting sci-fi look at artificial intelligence, taken to the next level - you know, sentient robots and all that scifi jazz. Really cool. But I sure as heck felt like I was missing something.

Oh wait! I am missing something. As in, the first two books in the trilogy, which were published in 2012 and 2013 respectively. That means that the second book in the trilogy came out when I started writing my book review blog ... eight years ago! I guess it should be no surprise then that this series, this author, was not on my radar.

The vN are a 'race' of self-replicating humanoid machines. There has been a prophecy that the vN would one day rule over humans and that day is soon approaching. One of the last hurdles - the 'law' which prevents machines from harming humans has finally been cracked and Portia, a vN who has been looking forward to the day when 'she' can bring humanity to its knees is ready to capitalize on this moment.

But first Portia must deal with Amy, her granddaughter with whom she's been fighting for years. They've reached a momentary peace, but Portia's plans, and her ability to infiltrate network systems now, without a body, have re-ignited their feud. Portia wants to destroy humankind, and now, while Amy needs to take advantage of some of humanity in order to get off-world safely, with her family. While Portia and Amy feud, will humanity find a way to destroy everything the vN have achieved?

I liked this book. Author Madeline Ashby's writing was crisp and the characters quite interesting. I think it must difficult to give an AI this personality while still maintaining the sense of artificial intelligence, but Ashby does this well.

The story was quite intriguing, though early on I rolled my eyes at the thought of 'another robot "coming of age"' story. But Ashby distinguishes her work with the very unique characters.

But as a stand-alone novel there was always a black cloud looming over my reading, suggesting that I was missing something. It wasn't until I went to Goodreads to grab the URL to the cover for my blog that I realized that this was the third book in a trilogy. Had I known that ahead of time, I likely wouldn't have requested this ARC, even though it comes from one of my favorite scifi publishers.

I liked the book, but not enough to seek out volumes one and two in the series, and after 8 or 9 years, if the publisher isn't going to re-issue the first two books to remind the reader of what's gone before, this seems like something only those who were first attracted to the series will really want to invest in reading.

Looking for a good book? ReV by Madeline Ashby is the wrap-up of a trilogy (the first book which came out nine years ago). It is well written, with some fascinating concepts, but it does feel as though you need to have read the first two books to really understand what's happening.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Jason Bleckly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well… I’m kind of lost for words. This book really needs to be experienced. Nothing I can say is going to cover a tenth of what is happening in this book.

This is the conclusion to the Machine Dynasty trilogy. And it’s pretty damn final. As with the first 2 books we’ve changed who the principle character is. Amy ruled book 1 and Javier book 2. Now Portia takes centre stage. All the other characters are present and we get sections in their perspective, but Portia is the lead. Portia is psycho Granny who was eaten by Amy in the prologue of book 1, but mere consumption can’t slow down a good psycho.

The book is a lot more random than the first two, but in a completely structured and linear way. This may seem a contradiction, but it’s not. The overall all story arc begun in book 1 continues day by day through the whole series. Book 2 picks up exactly where book 1 finished, but with a change of perspective. This book picks up exactly where book 2 finished, but again with the change of perspective. The changed perspective provides re-interpretation of some things which went before, but there is no retconning.

Portia’s perspective provides a much deeper insight into the machine culture and the difference between humans and machine. This is clearly deliberate and staggered across the 3 books. Amy (book 1) is almost human, as she was raised by a human father at a human rate. Javier (book 2) is half-human/half-machine, grown to adult at machine speed as a human slave. Portia (book 3) is … basically she’s a Terminator, fully machine with a pathological hatred of humans. She gives a speech at one point I found very reminiscent of what Agent Smith said to Morpheus when he had in chained to a chair in The Matrix.

This brings me to the next point. The text is again littered with pop culture references to the AI/Android/Robot revolution classics. The Matrix, Terminator, Blade Runner all pop up. Chapter 1 is basically an homage to Westworld.

A warning to the squeamish the sex and violence does get quite graphic in places, but not generally at the same time and not for long.

I can’t say much about the plot without spoiling either this book or its antecedents. The trilogy is a robot revolution in the vein of movies mentioned, but it tells the story from the machine perspective rather than human perspective. The humans fight against the machine and we see impact of those actions through machine eyes and machine culture. That is the greatest thing about these books is the thought put into the world-building of a machine culture. There is constant comparison between human and machine and their differences. But there is also aspects of humanity present in the machines as humans made the machines in their image. These books shine a light on philosophical and ethical questions the real world needs to be thinking about. I work in IT we haven’t reached the opening pages of book 1 yet, but the industry is certainly pushing in that direction.

I highly recommend this book and the whole trilogy. And I’ll be having a look at Madeline’s other books at some point.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many thanks to Goodreads for an Advance Reader's Copy of this ebook.

Madeline Ashby's "ReV" is a dramatic, innovative, exciting, and fitting ending to the "vN" trilogy. At the end of "iD," part two of the saga, Amy had mysteriously iterated, but "ReV" shows that the result is nothing like we might expect. Overall, the "vN" trilogy has been fantastic and intriguing, from the first "dynasty" to the final epilogue. We started with Portia and Amy and Javier in "vN." We followed the story of Javier and his serial Juniors in "iD," along with Javier's quest to resurrect the love of his life. In "ReV," we get to the culmination of their stories and see the resolution of numerous questions brought up along the way. The title "ReV" has that brilliant triple meaning (kudos to the author): "revelation," "revision," and "revolution." Portia and Amy consistently trade on all three of these throughout the story. Of course, there is conflict—Portia is there, after all. The futures of both the humans and the vN are in trouble. Of course, there is innovation—Amy is there, after all. There are explicit references to cultural conceptions of "robots," from serfs and slaves throughout history, to Asimov's "quaint" modernity (Portia's word, not mine), to the postmodernity of Westworld. There are even a few sly allusions to the future of "Ghost in the Shell." The author consistently challenges the reader's preconceptions of androids with empathy, creativity, love, and the question of choice in nearly every aspect of life. Most of these concepts are persistently revised in the world of vN that the author has developed here, eventually tipping over the edge into revolution. There is a base story of religion, provided by the backstory of the vN (make sure you read "iD" if you don't know that part). The vN origin story is challenged, even overturned, by the undercurrent of evolution in Amy's life, in her choices and actions. "Rev" is Amy's revelation of what is possible for her species, her revision of both the vN themselves and their role among humanity, and a revolution in the eventual fate of the vN that her enlightenment brings about.

[Jay Batson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am sooo sad to have experienced this unfulfilling end to the trilogy. What started out as a novel immersion in the possible outcome of a “conscious robot” descended into the unrewarding imaginings of a sociopath that I (for one) did not want to read.

This final book of the vN trilogy follows the trajectory of Portia’s mind, which (as we know by now) lives in the cloud. Lacking a physical body, but saddled by her constrained, human-disparaging psyche, this book is written principally from her disturbed mind. It gives full rein to her human-bashing, her reactions, actions, judgements, her love of treating humans as ants, and her focus on eventually wiping them off the earth.

Amy, her granddaughter, provides the possible path out of hades. You’ll have to read to find out if that happens.

Regardless, though, this book-long descent into a sociopathic mind is depressing, unrewarding, and reading time I wish I could have back to read something I enjoyed. I did not enjoy this, despite enjoying the first two quite a lot. I just do not want to descend into a depraved mind like this.

[Charles Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only issue I have with this series - because it's great, and I want to watch Amy & Javier and their weird AI kids do all kinds of weird stuff - is Portia. Because to root for her and care about her, it's a long, LONG homicidal walk. And I get that the people who built the vNs are mostly pedophiles and evil, but that doesn't mean EVERYONE is, and for the ending to be essentially a "yada yada" of global human extinction that I'm supposed to forget about bc the vNs get to build their paradise on Mars, and oh yeah somehow Amy survives? That's a lot to ask.

And credit to Ashby bc even with that heavy load, it read and felt like a happy ending. And now I have to question my relationship to my species, so thanks, Madeline.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I barely remember the previous books in this series. Apparently its been 8 years since I read book 2. And 9 years since book one. Some bits come through in this volume. But really this book worked as a standalone with story in progress. It had an awesome first section with really completely new characters in a new location. There is a lot of casual violence in this one. Some of the "Robots" are quite angry. And powerful. So you kind of have a book mostly written from the point of view of the villains. Which made the question of good and evil a more obvious one to be asking. As well as the meaning of humanity. Don't get me wrong, this was an odd book. And I think it might have been a different book reading it immediately after the previous books.

[Susan Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually better I think than the middle book of the trilogy. It's largely from the point of view of Portia and although she is almost comical in her villainy at times (mua ha ha I shall destroy an orphanage!) she actually develops a little bit of complexity in terms of her relationships with the other vN, especially Amy. It's bizarre, par for the course in this series, but not quite as "wtf did I just read" as the first book (or perhaps I'm used to it by now).

[Paul Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

If ever a book was going to engender distrust with AI then its this book! I’m now wondering if I can even trust my microwave 😉 this is a very cerebral book but that is a bonus, too often we read books that are light on content and eminently forgettable, I won’t be forgetting this book I can assure you, a superb read

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

gonna have to think about this one.... the Portia viewpoint is a great idea. the story seemed forced at times, with the ultimate showdown seeming rushed? I liked the twist, the foreshadowing was excellent, the archive/redacted chapters were also good. maybe just too many jumps and too much rehashing of prior books? highlighting the family ties of vN was good

[Annarella · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cerebral, complex and well written book.
I was fascinated by the world building and terrified by the AI.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Nicole Luiken · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought-provoking, idea SF with lots to say about how robots would be treated by society. I found this one difficult to get into because it was mostly from Portia POV, who unabashedly hates humanity and is a murderer. (Book one was Amy POV, book two was Javier, all three are non-human.)

[Jes littleoleme]

Didn't make it this far because I could only hack 40% of the 2nd book before I shelved it....

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointing. Genocidal grannybot is genocidal. Nothing much happens.

[August Bourré · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Laine · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed getting more amy and portia. great conclusion to the trilogy.

[Sarah Mack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first page turner I’ve read in a while, and a satisfying end to the series. It was a bit rushed and chaotic in places, but the story was too fast-paced to get hung up on those issues.

[Mr Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure it was quite worth the wait, but it was a long wait and provided a satisfactory closure to the series

[Steven · Rating 1 out of 5]

Freaking terrible

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could kinda handle the first two books, but this one is totally boring.

Abandoning for now.