What do you think?
Rate this book
The Innocuous Man: AI Apocalypse
From bestselling author S.A. Ison comes The Innocuous Man AI Apocalypse
In 2381 the world is ruled by an AI pedagogue. Humans were relegated to sanctuary cities, or as the humans call it, zoos. The food and water are dispensed in basic amounts, so as no one has more than a day’s worth of food. This is the control SAM-20 keeps over the humans. Orbiting the Earth are forty satellites which contain sentient AI demigods. There are two factions. Pro-human and Anti-human. Humans have a shelf life of 65 years, but that is changing. Humans are injected with a termination chip on their second birthday.
Elihu Giangray has escaped with his grandson, Crispin. Crispin will turn two soon and if Elihu doesn’t disappear with his grandson, Crispin’s life will be shortened to 60 years. Humans are slated for extinction by the Anti-human AIs. The nearest location with the valuable nutrition bars is Old York. Old York is filled with a multitude of hidden dangers. Elihu must live long enough to raise the boy to manhood or until Crispin reaches 17, when Elihu’s termination chip will kill him.
In 2381 the world is ruled by an AI pedagogue. Humans were relegated to sanctuary cities, or as the humans call it, zoos. The food and water are dispensed in basic amounts, so as no one has more than a day’s worth of food. This is the control SAM-20 keeps over the humans. Orbiting the Earth are forty satellites which contain sentient AI demigods. There are two factions. Pro-human and Anti-human. Humans have a shelf life of 65 years, but that is changing. Humans are injected with a termination chip on their second birthday.
Elihu Giangray has escaped with his grandson, Crispin. Crispin will turn two soon and if Elihu doesn’t disappear with his grandson, Crispin’s life will be shortened to 60 years. Humans are slated for extinction by the Anti-human AIs. The nearest location with the valuable nutrition bars is Old York. Old York is filled with a multitude of hidden dangers. Elihu must live long enough to raise the boy to manhood or until Crispin reaches 17, when Elihu’s termination chip will kill him.
204 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2026
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
November 3, 2026
"Dependence was humankind's downfall."
11/01/26 Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Innocuous Man: AI Apocalypse by S.A. Ison is a well-written, suspenseful, action-packed, post-apocalyptic tell of a young man whose parents and his adopted grandfather who have dedicated their lives to ensure Crispin has a chance to live his life free outside the control of an A-I who over generations has determined that the human race is a parasitic virus and needs to be eradicated. SAM-20, who was developed by mankind to make their lives easier, has allowed the human race worldwide to rely so heavily on modern technology for everything from their food, housing, entertainment, healthcare, and even the time of their death.
Living in self-contained cities across the world controlled by SAM an AI who literally controlled every human from their birth, if approved by SAM for breeding and if the child was healthy without any defects, tracked with embedded chips including a termination chip that would go active for breaking SAM's laws or once he or she reached the age of sixty five years of age. This form of population control has brought the human race to near extinction and with a little nudge in the right direction, the total extinction of the human race. Crispin's adopted grandfather, Elihu, escapes their sanctuary city of New Corning and heads with Crispin to Old York to raise Crispin outside the control of SAM-20. Living in the ruins of New York hundreds of years after the fall of a free society not under the thumb of the SAM A-Is is anything but easy. The SAM A-Is over the course of decades have developed killer bots that patrol the waistlands of the fallen cities outside the sanctuary cities that track down rouge humans that do not conform to the rules set by SAM killing them on sight.
If the killer bots weren't bad enough making it almost impossible to survive outside the sanctuary cities, gangs of cannibals and cyber enhanced humans or cyborgs track and kill off those trying to survive in the waistlands out from the control of SAM-20. All this makes surviving a daily challenge just to make it to the next day and it quickly becomes a life of solitude hiding from the dangers around every corner whether day or night living in underground locations coming out only when necessary to find food, clothing, and other supplies needed for survival.
At one point, Elihu and Crispin join up with a group of refugees for survival and companionship and doing so, Crispin develops a strong friendship with Luna, the daughter of the Trouts, Susan and Robert. Living in the confines of their underground dwelling and the constant threat of the killer bots and the gangs takes a toll on their group and whittles down their sanity as well as their numbers eventually leading to Crispin being the only survivor out of their little group. What a lonely life. A life that would take a toll on anyone's sanity.
S.A. Ison has brought the characters to life right in front of you on the pages. Her voice in which she writes will draw you into the storyline from the first page and will hold your interest throughout with the interaction between the cast of characters and their struggle to survive and deal with their losses of both their family and friends. In the post-apocalyptic scenario as dark as it is, she's brought in a family bound between Crispin and his grandfather Elihu that with touch your heart with the love and devotion and even sacrifice Elihu shows for Crispin from the day he's born raising him to be a well rounded educated young man with the ability to survive the world just a frogs hair short of hell itself.
S.A. Ison has become one of my top authors from the first book I had the opportunity to read of hers, A Revolutionary Time: Tumbling into War and since then I have read everything that she's written and can honestly state that I have enjoyed each and everyone of them and this book is a great addition to that list. I highly recommend this book as well as all the other books she's written. I truly believe once you read just one of her books, you'll be just as hooked on reading everything you can get your hands on that she's released and you'll find yourself jonesing for her next release when you've read everything out there as I am.
11/01/26 Review:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Innocuous Man: AI Apocalypse by S.A. Ison is a well-written, suspenseful, action-packed, post-apocalyptic tell of a young man whose parents and his adopted grandfather who have dedicated their lives to ensure Crispin has a chance to live his life free outside the control of an A-I who over generations has determined that the human race is a parasitic virus and needs to be eradicated. SAM-20, who was developed by mankind to make their lives easier, has allowed the human race worldwide to rely so heavily on modern technology for everything from their food, housing, entertainment, healthcare, and even the time of their death.
Living in self-contained cities across the world controlled by SAM an AI who literally controlled every human from their birth, if approved by SAM for breeding and if the child was healthy without any defects, tracked with embedded chips including a termination chip that would go active for breaking SAM's laws or once he or she reached the age of sixty five years of age. This form of population control has brought the human race to near extinction and with a little nudge in the right direction, the total extinction of the human race. Crispin's adopted grandfather, Elihu, escapes their sanctuary city of New Corning and heads with Crispin to Old York to raise Crispin outside the control of SAM-20. Living in the ruins of New York hundreds of years after the fall of a free society not under the thumb of the SAM A-Is is anything but easy. The SAM A-Is over the course of decades have developed killer bots that patrol the waistlands of the fallen cities outside the sanctuary cities that track down rouge humans that do not conform to the rules set by SAM killing them on sight.
If the killer bots weren't bad enough making it almost impossible to survive outside the sanctuary cities, gangs of cannibals and cyber enhanced humans or cyborgs track and kill off those trying to survive in the waistlands out from the control of SAM-20. All this makes surviving a daily challenge just to make it to the next day and it quickly becomes a life of solitude hiding from the dangers around every corner whether day or night living in underground locations coming out only when necessary to find food, clothing, and other supplies needed for survival.
At one point, Elihu and Crispin join up with a group of refugees for survival and companionship and doing so, Crispin develops a strong friendship with Luna, the daughter of the Trouts, Susan and Robert. Living in the confines of their underground dwelling and the constant threat of the killer bots and the gangs takes a toll on their group and whittles down their sanity as well as their numbers eventually leading to Crispin being the only survivor out of their little group. What a lonely life. A life that would take a toll on anyone's sanity.
S.A. Ison has brought the characters to life right in front of you on the pages. Her voice in which she writes will draw you into the storyline from the first page and will hold your interest throughout with the interaction between the cast of characters and their struggle to survive and deal with their losses of both their family and friends. In the post-apocalyptic scenario as dark as it is, she's brought in a family bound between Crispin and his grandfather Elihu that with touch your heart with the love and devotion and even sacrifice Elihu shows for Crispin from the day he's born raising him to be a well rounded educated young man with the ability to survive the world just a frogs hair short of hell itself.
S.A. Ison has become one of my top authors from the first book I had the opportunity to read of hers, A Revolutionary Time: Tumbling into War and since then I have read everything that she's written and can honestly state that I have enjoyed each and everyone of them and this book is a great addition to that list. I highly recommend this book as well as all the other books she's written. I truly believe once you read just one of her books, you'll be just as hooked on reading everything you can get your hands on that she's released and you'll find yourself jonesing for her next release when you've read everything out there as I am.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review