Gil's World

Wanderers #1

by James Murdo

After a relentless war ravaged the galaxy for hundreds of millions of years, an insidious enemy was finally subdued by the events of the Great Conflation – although not defeated. With the pre-Conflation empires in ruins and the Ascended Biologicals wiped out, the decimated galactic community struggled to rebuild itself from the ashes, and the machine-led Wanderer civilisation rose to prominence.

A lone Wanderer craft-lect – a sentient machine intelligence – has found something on an innocuous world it had marked for routine decontamination. Something that may aid it in finally discovering answers about their formidable enemy, and with the power to stop it.

Gil, a young woman from an isolated commune, realises that her abilities far surpass anything she had suspected, but do they come at a price? She battles to save the future of her commune against mysterious, ancient rivals, and possibly much more.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera

384 pages, Paperback

First published February 6, 2018

About the author

James Murdo was born and raised in London, where he still lives. He graduated from university with a Masters degree in Physics, which added fuel to his early love of science fiction. All of James' books are set in the Wanderer Universe.

James also created the Glossary Generator (software that quickly combs author manuscripts to help identify key terms that may be useful to include in glossaries). It can be found and used for free on James' website.

TAPACHE'S PROMISE TRILOGY
Echoes of Gravity (Book 1)
Echoes of Time (Book 2)
Echoes of Foundation (Book 3)

STANDALONES
Siouca Remembers
Long Paradise
Fractured Carapace

WANDERERS SERIES
Gil’s World (Book 1)
Searching the Void (Book 2)
Infinite Eyes (Book 3)

Instagram: @JamMurdo
Twitter: @JamMurdo

Reviews

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany)]

This was the case of a very interesting premise being overwhelmed by excessive and unnecessary information. Gil's World takes place billions of years in the future after most sentient life chose to self-annihilate in order to stop some sort of quantum parasite. (this does require some suspension of disbelief in terms of galaxy-wide suicide, but just go with it). We alternate perspectives between an AI spaceship charged with finding and destroying instances of this parasite, and a young woman named Gil with unusual abilities living in a primitive tribe. Eventually the two timelines intersect in interesting ways.

The thing is, nothing really happens for the first hundred pages and probably 2/3 of the AI perspective is fairly dull info-dumps on scientific and historical world-building that has no relevance to the actual plot. A good developmental editor could have streamlined and polished this into a solid sci-fi book, but as it stands I'm left wanting more plot and character development with a lot less irrelevant information. The last hundred pages of the book is pretty interesting for the most part and readers may be curious to see what happens next. I appreciate the author sending me a copy for review and I do think there are some great ideas here, but the plot is underdeveloped and overshadowed by a lot of information that should have gone into an appendix or been left out entirely.

[Faith Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gill’s World just about makes it into the remarkable reads category because it’s out there. Not just out there in the sense of ancient space vessels cruising around the galaxy, looking to patch up the cracks of chaos but also because the perspective is unique. Most of it is written from the point of view of a computer system, with secondary characters, sub-systems, named in binary (01001011!0) and holding the subjugated ambition to announce themselves and lay claim to their right to be treated as living beings, not disposable tools. In Star Trek, the character Data wanted to bridge the gap to become alive and be human (see Pinocchio) and had the introspection of Hamlet, but these sub systems are scared to voice their thoughts because of the ruthlessly dominant artificial intelligence that sits at the top of their pecking order. It can only learn humility and the value of life if it experiences humility with sufficient shock – and boy is it about to begin the process of questioning itself. The machine intelligence and sense of expanses of time in this is so well written. There’s no rust in space, just plenty of pebble strikes, but the sense of corporeal form and mind being worn down by the expanse of time, made even worse because the AI can complete most logical operations in a nanosecond, is colossal. The reader has respect for the old hulk, the old Rolling Stones band member. There’s contrast with an organic species too, as their fates intersect, which also has a fascinating angle on life (and symbiosis), so both are discovering themselves and their true predicament, hidden away from their understanding for so much time. The story explores the struggle between good and evil, issues of the value of life, right to life, conscious awareness, whether winning at all costs is worth the price, then small scale in space and time versus the incredibly large scale across unimaginable stretches of time that brings with it the ennui of near-immortal eternities of existence. I’m glad I read it. It was not normal – and in fiction, that’s an accolade.

[Bonnie Chiarillo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is still unfinished but in trying to right now, I've all but quit reading at all! I WILL eventually finish it, but my state of mind right now is having a really hard time with all the pseudo scientific stuff.

[T · Rating 1 out of 5]

There are at least a few interesting plot lines in this novel, and there’s definitely evidence of an interesting story. Unfortunately, the writing itself is so bad, so ponderous, pretentious, meandering, and inconsistent that it completely overshadows anything good or enjoyable about this book.

[David Munch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gil’s World is a science fiction story written by James Murdo. We follow the mute girl Gil, who lives in a hunter-gatherer society. As she lost the ability to speak at an early age, she has a very hard time communicating with people around her, and she often feels a bit like an outsider. A huge part of her tribal life is influenced by peoples ability to access their ‘sphere’, a supernatural ability to feel and interact with each other over distances. Gil is fortunate in that respect, in that she thinks her ability to use the sphere is stronger than most other people around her.
In a parallel story, we follow a several years old machine-like entity, and its travels through the galaxy, looking for enemies. It is all powerfull, with sufficient technology on board its vessel, to destroy suns and planets.
As chance will is, the paths of Gil and the machine-like entity cross.

The book is generally well written, but I found the jumping back and forth between the two stories to ruin the flow. Every second chapter is either from Gil’s point of view, or the machine-like entity, and while the former is standard low tech fantasy, the latter is hardcore technobabble science fiction, so it was quite contrasting. And as the stories didn’t really convene at all until over halfway through the book, and even then only really took hold the last quarter of the book, it didn’t work for me at all. Gils story was the interesting one, since there was actually a character going through some issues, but much of her story was merely explaining the magic system, that affected most of her daily life. And way too much time was spend on that without progressing the story much, and that wasn’t very interesting.
I tend to love hardcore science fiction, and don’t mind techno babble and world building, so for the first five chapters of the machine like entity I was quite focused on following the story. But, as it turned out, most of the chapters was just world building, and after five more chapters I started to loose interest, and five chapters later I didn’t really care much about the ‘character’ or what it was doing, because there wasn’t much happening. There was sooo much world building which didn’t have any effect on the story, and that ruined it completely for me. Interesting, yes, but it didn’t do anything for the book. Also, since the entity was machine-like, it always referred to subparts of itself in binary, which didn’t help me at all.
As the two stories really convened at the end of the book, the amount of time spent building up to it was just way too much, so the ending felt really flat for me. I think the book would have been much better if it was cut down significantly, and the world building was spread out over more books or cut completely. Overall I found the writing nice, and it carried a lot of the book. There were definitely some good things to be found here, but ultimately it didn’t work for me, as the contrasting stories made everything very unfocused. Most of the hard science fiction chapters was one long world building info-dump, and that didn’t work for a book that tries to tell a story.

I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Rhett Samuel Price, who did a very nice job. Clear narration, and good voices, and I thought he was a nice pick for the story.

I received this audiobook for free in return for a review. I have no affiliation with the author, the narrator, the publisher, or their pets (Although I am sure the latter are quite nice!).

[Soscha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gill's World catapults itself into the realm of remarkable reads due to its boundary-pushing nature. It ventures beyond the realms of ancient space vessels navigating the galaxy to offer a truly unique perspective. Much of the narrative unfolds through the eyes of a computer system, with secondary characters identified in binary code (01001011!0). These characters possess a suppressed longing to assert their existence and demand recognition as sentient beings, rather than disposable tools. While Star Trek's Data aimed to bridge the gap between artificial intelligence and humanity, echoing the tale of Pinocchio with introspective qualities akin to Hamlet, these sub-systems remain fearful of expressing their thoughts, subdued by the dominance of the artificial intelligence overseeing their every move. The path towards learning humility and rediscovering the value of life requires a shocking revelation, one that will compel the dominant AI to question its very essence.

The portrayal of machine intelligence and the expansive sense of time within this narrative is masterfully executed. Space holds no rust; instead, it brims with pebble strikes. However, the toll of time on both the physical form and the mind is staggering, further magnified by the AI's ability to execute logical operations in a near-instantaneous manner. Readers develop an admiration for the aging relic, the ancient member of a band similar to the Rolling Stones. Contrasted with the organic species whose fate intertwines, a fascinating exploration of life and symbiosis ensues. Both sides embark on a journey of self-discovery, unearthing hidden truths that have eluded them for countless epochs.

The story delves into the eternal struggle between good and evil, tackling profound questions surrounding the value of life, the right to exist, conscious awareness, and the worth of victory at any cost. It artfully juxtaposes the intimate scales of space and time with the vastness of incomprehensible stretches that yield a sense of ennui derived from near-immortal existences. Having experienced this extraordinary narrative, I am grateful for the opportunity to have engaged with such an unconventional tale. In the world of fiction, embracing uniqueness is truly praiseworthy.

[Norma · Rating 4 out of 5]

( Format : Audiobook )
"Kill, evolve and reach for everything. Or die."
Several days have passed since this reader finished listening to Gil's World: Wanders I. The enormity of this book in terms of time and space is, quite honestly, overwhelming, millions of years and races, both biological and machine, have evolved, spread, and many have died. We learn little about the vast majority but focus, instead, on the few and in particular, the Wanderer ship, which travels the galaxy collecting and recording Everything - yes, that's everything with a capital E. From technologies and species down to the minutest moments, incidents, things. It has all the time it needs as it slowly moves, absorbing, contemplating and sometimes communicating, especially internally. It has been travelling in this way for many,many millennia. And it encounters a small planet which shows signs of infection by Sense Space, hated and feared for past destructions, to be eliminated at all costs.

Simultaneously, the reader is introduced to Gil, a young human, living in a smallish hunter gatherer community, with her beloved twin brother, Tor. Because of an accident when she was a child, Gil cannot speak but can still communicate with her village companions and, most easily, with her brother. Other senses seem to have been enhanced since her loss of speech, in particular her sphere, a sort of intuitive bubble that can reach out to sense the presence and feelings of others. All of the people in the community have this, but Gil's seems more developed than that of the others.

The book alternates between the space history and Gil's story - the sense and the specific. It was difficult initially for this reader to find a comfort zone, not understanding the vastness and not diagnosing with the villagers, but at some point, not too far into the story, everything seemed to fall into place and the enormity stopped being overwhelming and became a truly thrilling adventure taking place in slow motion. Beautiful and quite remarkable. And very funny on occasion, as well.

So, as anyone can probably tell, this reader still has no idea how to write this review. The narration by Rhett Samuel Price is excellent, the story both near infinite and locally specific, both coming together, intriguing each other, various outlooks and all wanting life. This is a book I will be reading again, something I almost never do. My thanks to the rights holder who, at my request, freely gifted me a complimentary copy of Gil's World, via Audiobook Boom. To all who enjoy science fiction, I recommend that you read this remarkable story. See what you think. I personally look forward to the arrival of volume two.

[Russell Fletcher · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the record, I have received an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) of this book with the request that I leave a voluntary honest review for other potential readers. That having been said, here is my honest opinion and review of this book. The plot is very interesting though I found the pace of the story a bit ponderous at times. I feel that the idea behind It was to create the sense of the last breath before the plunge to build up the story bit by bit but I found that the long pauses in the action just slowed things down. It does, however, have great world building and character development. I can see the mix of the highly advanced civilizations and those less developed across the galaxy. They add a very interesting element to the story as it plays out. The back and forth from high technology to primitive society is very tricky to pull of well but this story does it. The various disparate elements of the story seem to not be related to each other but as the story progresses, they start to make sense in the overall scheme of things. I think that the machine intelligence is a great character and that he really gets an eye opener in the story. Throughout the story, the human characters act in the manner of the way people acted during the same time period in our history. The villian, on the other hand, is still a mystery. I am definitely intrigued by the story and will read the sequel when it comes out.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Number 1...this is great writing. Number 2...I was intrigued from the beginning of this book and this is coming from a lifelong scifi reader and scientist from elementary school and beyond. Number 3...if a book reads so well that I can "see" it in my mind like a movie and lose the print...that's art. More specifically, you will engage on a journey with a girl/woman named Gil as she seeks to understand who and what she is and what she is capable of in a perilous world. Watch out, few in this galaxy or the various entities are what they seem. There are tensions between biologicals and machines that have gone on for eons. Gil is caught in the middle of it, especially as she seems to have more skills/powers than she realizes. There is a strong theme of community or “commune” as well. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading the rest of the series. Please note that I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mystee Pulcine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic series starter! I loved the perspective alternation each chapter to keep things interesting. I loved all the questions that were raised (most of which were answered within this book). I loved the uniqueness of the story - I've never heard anything like this. This is not your typical space opera with a bunch of space marines in mech suits killing one another - this story is much bigger and much more personal. Get ready to fall in love with characters, and just like when you fall in love in real life, get ready to crave understanding about them.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Christinaraven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded my of older pure science fiction stories. It had an interesting story idea that was drawn out as little bits of history that spans millions of years were dropped throughout the story and slowly drawn together until slowly learned why Gil was important and different, maybe... It was almost like there were two stories in one that had different time spans but slowly connected at the end. It did not have the action or a love story except for the love between Gil and her brother. But it was interesting with its slow buildup of danger that kept you reading to figure out what was going on.

[Lori Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received as a review copy from Story Origin, this is an honest review. A wonderfully poetic masterpiece of an adventure with two visual narratives. Gil's world is centered among those that call a small commune home and its among the woods and vast land that Gil and the others harvest what's needed to survive. And despite of being robbed of her voice, Gil still demonstrates when her and her community is threatened that she can stand up to any trial. Set against the vast and aged stars, a lone and unique Wanderer ship is the key to finding the truth of an enemy that's become a troublesome danger to all intelligence that has blossomed across time.

Highly recommended.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Had a little trouble with the beginning of the book. The whole tech stuff with the craft lect was a bit hard to follow but as I got further in it was easier, so I pushed through. I realize it's a series and things will become clearer as the story continues but I felt like there could have been a bit more at the end. It felt like something was missing. It needed more to make the ending more satisfying. All in all, I did enjoy the story. The whole sentient machine society against primitive man is deeply interesting. #storyorigin I make this review voluntarily.

[Lyle Blosser · Rating 4 out of 5]

The universe (although it claims to be ours) was refreshingly unique in its portrayal of denizens (both biologic and machine) and I was immediately caught up. I found both the Wanderer and human-like cultures to be well-developed and very believable. I had hoped for a more complete resolution by the end of book one, but completely understand why that was not presented -- this is an "epic" after all! Kudos to the author for his unique and well-written tale!

NOTE: I received a free review e-copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Victoria Haugen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was at times confusing but also fascinating! I liked the chanters switching back & forth, I've listened to a few others done that way and I liked it. I think both perspectives lent well to this story, and it created a very intricate world.

I enjoyed Gil's character, and her world. Very interesting!
Thought the story and narration were great, and enjoyed listening!
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[Angel Ballard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book took me on a journey of intrigue which had my heart racing at times. I'd listen and at times even broke out in a sweat during precarious situations. I loved being able to listen deep into the night after everyone had gone to bed so I could just immerse myself in the story and journey through the space adventures right along with the characters. Great story! Highly recommended! I received a free review copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Erik McManus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was decent and it opened it up to a series. It definitely felt like an intro because the entire book was mainly build up for more to come. There were a lot of chapters that switched to a different mysterious perspective that were much more analytical and I kind of skimmed through them since it was a lot of talk about code and such but I think the next books in this series will be good now that the foundations are set for the series.

[Sue Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an interesting book. Far out of my usual comfort zone. But very compelling. Parallel worlds, artificial intelligence, terrible conflict. At times the story has seriously scientific detail so the glossary is very helpful. But even when the science presents a challenge, the writing is still beautiful and the scope of the writer’s imagination quite breathtaking.

[Ralph Roller · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way to complicated

This Book was very imaginative, but was way to complicated to understand. There was to many parts and racists to keep up with. I was lost most the time. I mean know disrespect to the author but the more parts for your readers to keep strait the harder the read. Please keep trying your imaginative aspect is good, but simplify your story line.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting in a wordy way :)

The story was interesting but...! I am pretty well read and have an excellent vocabulary, and there were a number of places where I just started skimming as my eyes were glazing over from the technical verbiage. I still want to read the next in the series. Just sayin’.

[Bob Blanton · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a great story here, It much like an anthropologist's study of two species, a mechanical one and a biological (human-like) one. There is a lot of fo detail in it, some times too much, but bear with it, the story is worth it.

[Frank Geimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story in convoluting and confusing. I had trouble keeping up with all the technical jargon and totally missed the plot I think. However, I think that this author will do better in the future and I hope to keep up with his stories and see how they grow.

[Harland Monroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was pretty good if you could get around the made up and unnecessary words. He must've worn out his thesaurus. I read for fun. I read pretty fast so when unnecessary $10 dollar words are used when a 50 cent word would have worked better.

[Teri Ruscak · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Murdo
Gil's World (Wanderers Book 1)
This book was, as the author noted, hard sci-fi. It had many pov's, as well as a abundance of technological verbiage.
I received a free copy of this book from Storyorigin and I am leaving a review

[Barbara Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

~It’s hard to find something if you’re not looking for it.~
Set aside two days for this intricately plotted highly-mathematical science fiction puzzle. I had an ARC from StoryOrigin that got lost in the TBR queue and this is my voluntary review.

[Colin Rowlands · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting start to a series

[Sing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found that book did not meet up with the promotional ad. Many interesting concepts but I found it a tedious read and skipped many pages.

[James Haydon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept is interesting but not well developed. A lot going on but it was a bit confusing.

[Steve Hayes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not finish. Reams of telling rather than showing. Would have persevered but it’s also very long

[mark ogden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good in parts, slower in others

Generally an interesting read & concept. Personally I enjoyed the character driven sections over the machine only, which to me felt sometimes slow. However a story needs to be built. I will read the next in the series & see where I go from there