Vision: A Story of Deep Time

by Jesse Laeuchli

Sub-Major Clement, a reserve officer of the third expeditionary fleet is becoming increasingly disenchanted with the Imperial mission and the constant state of war required to keep the peace. When a strange set of circumstances allow him to take control of a Warmind, one of the highly sophisticated AIs running the conflict, he discovers the true nature of the war and the terrible weapon the AIs are designing. Clement must find a way out before the weapon or whatever is driving the AIs to develop it destroys them all.

58 pages, Paperback

Published September 7, 2017

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Vision: A Story of Deep Time, it portents to the peril of an AI singularity, where a network of Terran supercomputers called warminds become so intent on anticipating historical outcomes for the betterment of mankind that they invent a technology for messaging across the timeline so as to give them a assured chance of predicting the outcome on any timeline with dire consequences.

[Daniel Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually enjoy Sify books, but I really enjoyed this one. The descriptive vocabulary makes the book engaging, and you can almost see Clement’s story unfold before your eyes. The Sun and the Patriarch make excellent "Villains". While the personification of the Warmind AI makes it feel like a pivotal character in the story.

The book also plays with the concept of time in a strange way. Allowing multiple versions of the past to influence the future. The storyline seems distorted at times and it is sometimes difficult for the reader to understand where they are in the timeline. Nonetheless, the blend of a modern society with arcane religious beliefs makes for an interesting plot line and an interesting read. I recommend it to anyone, who is looking for a fun and quick read.

[Brian's Book Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average Sci-Fi Short Story Missing A Little

2.5 out of 5 stars

Sometimes a book just doesn't work for you.  I thought this sounded good but I didn't find myself enjoying it.  It couldn't get or keep my attention. 

 It was short (I knew that going into it and I don't mind a short story) but it just felt a little rushed.  Ironically, it also felt like it dragged on a bit.  That's why I'm so torn by this book. It felt short and not short at the same time.

Vision tells the story of a futuristic time where everyone is at war all the time. War seems the only way to… keep the peace if that makes any sense.

Early on in the story our main character meets someone or something named Warmind and is given the opportunity to work with it to figure out how to do something. I genuinely feel bad that I can’t remember, but Vision was just one of those books that I read and instantly put back on a shelf in my mind. There wasn’t one thing that jumped out at me.

Overall, Vision is an average Sci-Fi book without much character or world building. I understand it’s a short story but it did feel like some reasons why were left on the cutting room floor.

[Todd Oliver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Vision was an interesting Sci-fi short that I feel had potential to be a great story but was missing so much. There wasn't much world building or even character building. The story line wasn't bad. In the future, humanity is always at war. Supposedly it's how they keep the peace. Clement, the main character, takes control of the warmind AI and learns the truth about the war.

The narrator did a good job with most of the narration, but I didn't enjoy the very monotone AI voice. This takes place in the future. Google and Amazon's Alexa AI have voices that aren't monotone. The future should be better!

Overall, the story and narration we're just average for me.

[Cowmanrobert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something new, something old

An interesting sci-fi novella with hints of ancient mythology, bureaucratese, and spirituality. I enjoyed the originality (It's something new, that was not quite like anything I've read before) and the shutouts to ancient mythology and space sci-fi (something old). The concept of time, time travel, existence, the meaning of life as painted in this short read will keep me thinking for a while. I'm curious what the author will come up with next.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but found it a little hard to follow - audio may not have the been the best choice for this one.

[P · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice look into the nerdier side of the galaxy to come.

[Jesse]

If you read one sci-fi novella this summer..... ;-)