Smartbrain

by G.F. Smith

An eerily predictive Novel…

New Consumer Tech: Smartphone Device Interfaces with the Human Brain

Sarah Whiting, young, attractive, techno-savvy homebody, researcher by trade, accepts a potentially lucrative offer to join a product/market analysis team that is performing the final evaluation of the believed technological breakthrough of the century before its release to the public.
New “Smartbrain” technology interfaces advanced smartphone capabilities directly with the human brain. But revelations about the technology's true origins, its potential consequence for the human brain, for society, and for this lonely backward planet, have Sarah second-guessing herself, and her sanity, when she falls for one of the engineers of the new tech and is suddenly swept into a dangerous ruse of deception, which may just be all in her mind, or may truly threaten the entire world.

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This is one story that seems to be going to everyone’s head, literally! Apparently, Smartphones can now be interfaced—connected—directly with the Human Brain. The news streams are a-stir with this breaking buzz and legitimate sources are confirming it’s true!

They’re calling it Smartbrain: your Field of Vision is the Monitor; Images, Motion, and Sound feed directly into your neural pathways; Activation, Operation, and Navigation accomplished by your thoughts; a plethora of Apps and Cloud Sources, under development. Many are already saying that this will be the technological game-changer of the century. But ask yourself, who in their right mind would want it?

This is Jonathan Raker of Raker’s Slant; stay tuned for more breaching news and inclined commentary!

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Tags: Smartphone/Brain Computer Interface, Consumer Technology, Virtual Worlds, Artificial Telepathy, Neural Streaming, Auxiliary Senses, Brain Hacking, Ruse, Alzheimer’s Disease, Mind Control, Personal Identity, Artificially-Viable Transhuman Realities, Avatars, Human Trafficking, Moon, Space, Planets, Streamplaces, Dreams, Purpose, Romance, Adventure.

A Two-part Novel in one Volume
Printed pgs. - 495

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Technology

498 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 4, 2015

About the author

G. F. Smith:

BACKGROUND
By his own proudly stated admission, G. F. Smith has a fantastic family: a wonderful wife of 35+ years who cares to great measure (a Director of a not-for-profit corporation in charge of a large staff overseeing Supported Living Programs for people with disabilities). They have four remarkable and talented grown children, and several awesome grandchildren (up to five at present), which are all a huge part of their lives.

G. F. Smith has always been a DYI type of guy; he understands physics, engineering, and mechanics, is technologically privy and knows his way around computers and computer controlled equipment. He is handy around the house, having been a tradesman in multiple fields, and a general contractor in his younger years. He has made a living in the management and continuous improvement of people, projects, and processes over the last several decades.

His writing skills have developed from working in the business world--entrepreneurial to corporate--writing copy, correspondence, training modules, along with consuming thousands of stories, books, and movies over a multitude of years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management along with other business certifications.

Though a private person, he enjoys people and welcomes public speaking and social interaction when there is something important to learn, as well as to share. He does not seek in any form or fashion to be a celebrity or public figure. However, he does believe it is immensely important that we ‘give back to life’ through our gifts, talents, and humble contributions.

VALUES & INTERESTS
G. F. Smith’s personal interests, as well as the main themes in his writing include: science, metaphysics, cosmology, psychology, history, and adventure; also at the top are environmental concerns, faith and purpose and causality, the future of humanity, inspiration and encouragement, and the discovery—and sharing—of the best in all of us.

He has loved many forms of adventure along the course of his life: motorcycles, spelunking, fishing, rafting, skydiving, and the sort. He also enjoys museums, reading, writing, movie and documentary watching, hiking, campfires, and family get-togethers. He is also a talented guitarist, enjoys singing, and is an awesome play-doh sculptor (at least according to his grandkids).

DRIVING FOCUS & THEMES
G. F. Smith believes, whether we want to admit it or not, that we all ask some of those deep, big-universe questions at certain times in our lives; and that just maybe we are part of something larger than ourselves—call it what you will. We are also all highly fallible, and as a result, all have our own particular sufferings and frustrations to learn from. That is if we can embrace the frustration and choose to ‘make good out of it.’

G. F. Smith is also a deeply spiritual person, though admittedly not dogmatic, or proselytizing. He espouses—as do most of us—the fact that he doesn’t know what’s going on down here on this little planet, any more than the rest of us do. However, he fully believes that our ignorance doesn’t necessarily mean that it is all just random, make-it-up-as-we-go-along BS, therefore justifying all sorts of abhorrent behaviors.

On the contrary, G. F. Smith believes that we all have great potential and purpose, and that by choosing to be humble, genuine, honest, respectful, forgiving and giving, we can help generate like behavior, and by doing so…make the world a better place for everyone to live in.

www.gfsmithbooks.com

Thanks for Reading…

Reviews

[G.F. Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book everyone will be talking about. Yes, for the reason that it is a good book, but the humble truth is, is that the storyline of the piece portends the future of what we may expect when the elusive THEY figure out how to connect our current-day smartphone devices directly with our brains--hence "Smartbrain." You do know they're working on this...don't you?

And when they do, that will be somewhat of a genre/culture-bender that will stretch across the broad spectrum of Earth's populace, to say the least. Many say we're only a few decades away. Wow, now won't this shake up society as we know it?! The question is: are we SMART enough to survive the changes?

~G. F. Smith

http://www.gfsmithbooks.com

[Pam Mooney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book which really bends your imagination and helps you question what reality will be in the future. You cannot stop reading because your mind is trying to second guess the author as you wind through the twist and turns the author puts forth. A thinking persons book and a good read.

[Rob Slaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

As is often the case, I received this book for the purposes of review. Despite that immense kindness, I give my candid thoughts below.

The summary on this one is tough because it evolves quite a bit as it goes on. It starts out mildly creepy techno thriller and ends somewhere completely different with all manner of action bits. I won't give you much more detail than that to avoid spoilers.

So to the positive, our author is a reasonably good writer. His prose is measured, well constructed and easily consumed. His characters are real and vividly described and you do begin to feel for them. Mr. Smith's creativity is also obvious as he puts his characters through a dizzying gauntlet of situations and one is left with a sort of whiplash once all is revealed.

The negatives, however, left me gasping in annoyance at the end. This book is exceptionally long and not because of the complexity of what's going on. His description of events and situations is almost Dickensian in scope but with none of the quaintness of the old classics. One eventually has to skim in self-defense and at the end of a couple pages finds that nothing much has really been missed. Further, the book changes gears dramatically at 37% through (based on my Kindle's reckoning) and it takes a long time to figure out what's real and what's not. This is, I suspect, part of the author's intent, to keep us a bit confused as readers, but it's a major distraction in a book that has a lot of difficulty holding the attention of its reader.

Further, some of the book's most obvious points are in need of a close examination. The cover alone made me fear for the quality of the book and it took considerable reading time to assuage those fears. Unfortunately, the author's choice of proper nouns is overly simplistic and almost young adult so they add a major distraction. The name of the device, for example: Smartbrain seems like something from a 60s B-movie. Add to that names like Vectren, Athena and 'Brain Computer Interface' and the tone of the whole book seems to be in a bit of conflict about whether it's trying to be mid-20th century or more modern.

In summary, I think the author has a solid foundation for this story but it just tries to go too many places at once and takes far too long to get there. I packaged away my incredulity during the first third of book only to have it all spill out repeatedly in the last two-thirds and have to be packed away again. As much story as actually resides between these pages it could be half the length and cause me much less impulse to sigh, "What? You mean there's MORE!?!??!" and consider hurling my Kindle across the room and taking a belt of whiskey. To quote Emperor Joseph II, there are simply too many notes... or something along those lines.

[Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Smartbrain’ written by G. F. Smith, a first part of Penchant Series, offers a bit challenging piece when it comes to quantity, yet a book that comes with an interesting premise – a kind of “Brave New World” for 21st century.

And though the idea for plot is pretty simple, I would not spoil you the fun of own discovery what happens with the young Sarah Whiting, researcher who will accept fantastic offer to join a market analysis team that does the final evaluation of great tech breakthrough.

The real truth what lies behind new technology called “Smartbrain” will be too much for main character and with lots of twists and turns will be an exciting ride for readers, as well…

Though this is the only work I read from G. F. Smith, his love of technology and concept of its integration with human physiology is evident. Though, it should be fair to say that the book can be roughly divided into the two parts – first that will be liked by most people, while the second would be challenged by some. Therefore, though I’m somewhere in between, my recommendation (if I was asked prior to book publishing), would be to shrink book a bit in order to improve the pace and make it more fluid.

Written in sometimes challenging-to-read style, while though self-published without significant negative features this type of literature usually carries on, seems ‘Smartbrain’ is one of those books that is hard to generalize in overall opinion, you have to read it and judge for yourself.

I was given a copy of this book by the author for the purpose of unbiased review, while all the presented information is based on my impressions.

[Cissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if your smartphone directly interfaced with your brain?

In many ways, this was an interesting thought-experiment into that potential. While the theory is arguably plausible, the version in the novel was very ambitious, and the tech behind it was mostly hand-waving. -Which is OK, but when much of the text is talking about the details of this tech, the hand-waving aspects got annoying.

It was mostly a very talky novel, where people talked a lot about what things mean, etc.

However, there was a section that was action-adventure, with pure space opera tropes. That part was very exciting and page-turning.

In short- I think it had promise as a critique of smart-phone, social-media conventions... but such were nonetheless described as a 100% plus, and the secrecy about the mechanisms made me very dubious.

Also- it is long. It's a large book, with a reasonable but small type, and just under 500 pages. I mention this because large books can sometimes be hard to read for me, physically.

I do not think that it would be that easy to integrate smartphone tech with brainwaves, especially as miraculously as was described here. And, if that happened, I do not think a utopia is necessarily the inevitable result; I think it would be likely to be misused.

The book resolved the current plot arc, but had another one that was very much not resolved- the Big Bad remained amorphous.

I received this book in exchange for writing an objective review.

[Kristina Aziz · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author sent me this book in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this book for about 180 pages. I enjoy realistic, predictive satire like brave new world or 1984 and from the blurb (and first 100 pages) I thought this would be along that sort of genre.

I was really really hoping that the foreshadowing wasn't as obvious as it seemed, and I was able to deal with the romancing bits because the rest of the concept was good and had so much promise.

But then aliens. Of all the directions this book could have possibly taken--aliens. Not for me. I put it down to go to the next book on my tbr list. But even though I DNF, the writing is pretty good. I just wish it had gone a different direction.

[Pennie · Rating 5 out of 5]

G.F Smith has an extensive published collection of books throughout the years that introduce familiarizing fundamentals of science that journeys into a wide agenda.

Smartbrain is no different and is a powerful read that introduces the start to a series of technology with narrative aspects that is no doubt, a promising page turner. You may find yourself seriously drawn in to the world of Sarah Whiting.

A very intriguing concept and possibilities of doubt (what if's) and most definitely, food for thought. The revelations are unpredictable and endless.

The narrative is strong, meaningful and full of substance. The interactions and explorations were intelligently displayed. Over all, a marvelous read. I give this one a clear 5 out of 5 stars.

[Amber Griffith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting book that makes you think about what technology might do to our futures as human beings. If you love futuristic science fiction, you will love this book. I won this book on a good reads giveaway. Thank you!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received the book “Smart brain” from the author, free. Thank you!

This book is a sci-fi, love story with plenty of action and suspense! Even has "first contact". A page turner!
A very enjoyable book to read.

[Reader Views · Rating 4 out of 5]

SMARTBRAIN

GF Smith
GFsmith Books (2015)
ISBN 9780983361237
Reviewed by Ben Green for Reader Views (01/16)

I was quite impressed with G.F. Smith’s “Smartbrain” from the start. This book has everything I would want from an Indy sci-fi-ish story. I say sci-fi-ish because the technology that “Smartbrain” is pitching is not really that far-fetched or futuristic. The story has all the elements of a good one: it is well-written, well-paced, and given the length of the novel, a worthy investment in entertainment. In fact, when I started Smartbrain, I really, really liked it. Sure, there were some seemingly obvious foreshadowing and romance angles that seemed both too easy and unlikely but even so, it had all the makings of a good futuristic read. The “smartbrain” technology is, as the name suggests, basically a smartphone in your brain. The story starts off in a predictable fashion but the author’s ability to detail how the technology works without boring the reader, and while continuing to move the story on is both entertaining and impressive.

Of course, we all know that technology this powerful is going to have some negative side effects. It could also easily be misused and clearly, the government will be highly involved. While “Smartbrain” does touch on these issues, it also takes the story in a totally different direction. While the direction it takes may be surprising, it is not necessarily positive. It will most likely cause many readers to not want to even finish the book as it goes off in an unnecessarily fantastical direction. I was almost one of those readers. Of all the ways this story could have developed, Smith’s direction seems the most unlikely and unpredictable. While I totally respect an author who is willing to take the road less traveled, in this instance it seems to have led to a galactic wilderness of ridiculousness. I mean, given the story’s trajectory, it could have written itself after the first two hundred pages. Instead, it takes a detour and abruptly self-destructs.

All that being said, I like G.F. Smith’s writing style, and I totally respect him for taking a risk; in this case, it just doesn’t seem to work for me. However, “Smartbrain” is the first volume in a series, so maybe the story will be salvaged in the second half. I really do hope so because a lot of work went into “Smartbrain.” G.F. Smith also has the potential to be an excellent Indy futurist and technology writer.

In the end, I gave “Smartbrain” 4 out of 5 stars. I really would like to give it more because there are so many things this book does right. In many ways, “Smartbrain” by G.F. Smith is an example of everything Indy fiction should be. This is one of the few times in a review that I wish I could spoil the story in order to explain just how off the rails it goes. However, “Smartbrain” is worth reading if you like sci-fi and have the time. The fact that there is still a second volume of the series not yet published also makes me hold out hope.

[Rob Slaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

As is often the case, I received this book for the purposes of review. Despite that immense kindness, I give my candid thoughts below.

The summary on this one is tough because it evolves quite a bit as it goes on. It starts out mildly creepy techno thriller and ends somewhere completely different with all manner of action bits. I won't give you much more detail than that to avoid spoilers.

So to the positive, our author is a reasonably good writer. His prose is measured, well constructed and easily consumed. His characters are real and vividly described and you do begin to feel for them. Mr. Smith's creativity is also obvious as he puts his characters through a dizzying gauntlet of situations and one is left with a sort of whiplash once all is revealed.

The negatives, however, left me gasping in annoyance at the end. This book is exceptionally long and not because of the complexity of what's going on. His description of events and situations is almost Dickensian in scope but with none of the quaintness of the old classics. One eventually has to skim in self-defense and at the end of a couple pages finds that nothing much has really been missed. Further, the book changes gears dramatically at 37% through (based on my Kindle's reckoning) and it takes a long time to figure out what's real and what's not. This is, I suspect, part of the author's intent, to keep us a bit confused as readers, but it's a major distraction in a book that has a lot of difficulty holding the attention of its reader.

Further, some of the book's most obvious points are in need of a close examination. The cover alone made me fear for the quality of the book and it took considerable reading time to assuage those fears. Unfortunately, the author's choice of proper nouns is overly simplistic and almost young adult so they add a major distraction. The name of the device, for example: Smartbrain seems like something from a 60s B-movie. Add to that names like Vectren, Athena and 'Brain Computer Interface' and the tone of the whole book seems to be in a bit of conflict about whether it's trying to be mid-20th century or more modern.

In summary, I think the author has a solid foundation for this story but it just tries to go too many places at once and takes far too long to get there. I packaged away my incredulity during the first third of book only to have it all spill out repeatedly in the last two-thirds and have to be packed away again. As much story as actually resides between these pages it could be half the length and cause me much less impulse to sigh, "What? You mean there's MORE!?!??!" and consider hurling my Kindle across the room and taking a belt of whiskey. To quote Emperor Joseph II, there are simply too many notes... or something along those lines.

[Itsadog · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest review.

A 1970s-styled science fiction that needed a lot of editing. The characterization was very weak and the over-sexualization of the female protagonist made me want to put the book down. For the amount of plot involved, I think this would have been a better short story. Entire chapters should not have made it to publication - they were essentially brainstorming the product that the characters are all so excited about.

Also, this is a technology that has existed in several forms for ages. Prosthetics researchers are on the forefront of the science, but Stephen Hawking has used a rudimentary form of this interface tool for years.

The book also demonstrates some disdain for my generation. They were portrayed as gormless, shallow, and easily sold on anything that could hold their attention for half a minute. They also were all in the habit of talking like crotchety grandpas, and worshiping any white man over the age of 50.

Essentially, the unrelenting product-commercial lectures delivered against a white-supremacist LA backdrop was very boring. I found nothing to like about this book.

[Tehila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for review purposes.

This is a well-crafted story, with some very unexpected twists and turns. Can’t say more without a spoiler alert.

There is some awkward grammar. It wasn’t so bothersome when people were having conversations, but definitely the opposite in speeches. Towards the end, errors were also in the narration. As a former English / lit major, these hit me in the eye.

I have already recommended this book to one of my friends.

[Stefanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book through Goodreads First Reads.
I was interested in this book from the moment I read the description and it did not disappoint!
Just a warning - it goes above and beyond the Smartbrain technology, and it had me at the edge of my seat the whole time.
The wording was a bit too technical at times, but other than that, I enjoyed the book!

[Teresa Kander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review soon

[Nick]

Goodreads win. Will read and review once received.