We defeated the invading death machines. But at a devastating cost, with smoldering radioactive craters on Mars, shattered moon-domes around Jupiter and floating junk where Saturn's satellite cities used to orbit.
We know more killing machines are coming and that the ultimate outcome seems hopeless. To win this war, we need more warships, more soldiers, and a way to take the fight to the enemy.
By analyzing a testy AI probe, Jon Hawkins discovers a secret: the whereabouts of a giant AI battle station, one protecting a factory planet 17.2 light-years from Earth.
Jon has to convince a defensive Premier Benz and the hostile Earth government to join him. A human flotilla has the lonely task of traveling through hyperspace to defeat the arrogant AIs in one of their own star systems.
The fate of the human race rests on the sacrifice and courage of Jon Hawkins and his friends.
I was born in Canada and remember as a small boy crawling in my snow-fort. I closed my eyes, and when I tried to open them, they were frozen shut. I didn't panic, but wiped away the ice crystals, unglued my eyes and kept on building my tunnel. Those were great days! I moved to Central California before seventh grade and couldn't believe I lived in a land where oranges grew on trees and you could pick grapes from the vine.
I used to wonder what I wanted to do with my life, what kind of work specifically. I was miserable not knowing and bordering on desperate. Then one day a friend gave me his typewriter. I began working on a novel. A different person told me it was much easier on a computer, so I bought one and began getting up at 4:30 A.M. each morning before work, writing for three hours. My eyes were unglued once again as the pang of misery left my gut. I knew exactly what I wanted to do: write. So now that's what I do, I write, and write, and write, and I love it.
Vaughn Heppner writes a distinctive kind of novel. He's a master of a specific form of storytelling, one in which his protagonist must overcome fantastic odds just to survive and more to overcome the threat that would surely overwhelm a lesser individual. But it's not that the hero, in this case a New London street rat named Jon Hawkins, is so remarkable in amazing gifts of physical or mental superiority. Hawkins just knows how to survive and he has learned all he can about military history and tactics, fighting under a stern but worthy mentor. In "A.I. Battle Station," the fourth in the Artificial Intelligence series, what's left of the human race has destroyed a trio of super vessels from a robot threat that sees any biological species as an infestation to be eradicated and cleansed from the universe. Hawkins teamed with Premier Benz and outsmarted the arrogant machine intelligence that sought to corrupt humanity with probes and vivisect people to do their bidding. Now Benz and Hawkins must form an alliance because the threat remains. The machines never sleep. More will come. Hawkins organizes a fleet to target the aliens in their nest but meets threats at every step. Some come from within. In fact, perhaps the fiercest had hidden under their noses the entire time. And Cog Primus, the leftover intelligence that survived their hack and rotten code, doesn't want to give up his new awareness even though his goals now no longer match that of the collective machines.
I enjoy this series a lot. For anyone looking for a light and fun science fiction read. go for the A.I. series. So why only 4 stars for Battle Station? A couple of reasons. First this book seemed a little formulaic. Part one x happens, part two y happens, part three z happens. No real twists or surprises. Second the action in battle station was not a thrilling or gripping as the first three books.
*Spoiler Alert* And third, the A.I. villains seemed quit week. The other characters and villains seemed much more dangerous a sly. The book is called A.I. Battle station, but we don't get a lot of the battle station. In fact, the final showdown with the battle station was so anti climactic I was not sure I reached the end of the book. perhaps I had set my expectations a little too high and was let down. *Spoiler Alert End*
With that being said, this book is still a solid 4 stars and I still recommend it for science fiction fans. And I am already reading the next book in the series.
I read the first three books in the series some years ago, and retook the series again. Although I didn't remember the details of the previous books the author does a good job in remembering us the main events and I quickly entered the storyline again. In this book commander Jon Hawkins take the fight into a main factory planet of the AI dominion. The story has of surprises and turns that keep your attention to the end. You regret reading this one.
Have read all of Vaughn Heppners' series and I loved them all. Since I know some have an upcoming book, the wait begins . . . and, the wait will be worth it! Strongly recommend series reading his books to gain the greatest appreciation of his writing.
I’ve tried to enjoy the syfi world of these books but the never ending “what if they think we’re thinking what we’re thinking is what they’re thinking” just got old. Its taken three and a half books to realize these are just hokey books. Not really a fun read at all.
This book kept me engaged, I was not expecting the course of the book until quite a way through, and, I also assumed a couple of routes that were in error but proved quite logical after all. Another good read. I am so glad I personally like to read things in order! Thanks for another step in the series, book 5 please!
I thoroughly enjoyed this chapter in the series. It is clearly set for another book or two. The only downside was the build up to a conclusion that was wrapped into a small amount of pages. I felt that the author shortened it too much. It was not enough to lower the star rating.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This is what the best story telling adventure of man's future is like. A superb saga of the Galactic empire of Mankind and the war against the terror of robots. Well done. When does the next book come out?
There is so much to say about this book; however, those words would not give it the credit it deserves. I so wish I could just continue to read more of this storyline and not have to wait for the next book.
They just keep getting better...or at this point I have become so invested in the characters and their backstory. And as the story evolves you can't help but root for them. I hope the story continues! I want to see AI ass kicked!
Very inventive with the focus on entertainment. Easy to read and enjoy for all ages without damming it down to preteens level as many other authors do. Will definately wait for the next book in the series.
I'll never trust my computer in the dark again.... I have a whole new appreciation for A.I. Captain Jon Hawkins the greatest space pirate in the Milky Way Galaxy.... Time to get me some A.I. Scalps...!
A very good 👍space opera with just the right amount of intrigue and plenty of action. While I'm not opposed to Romans it can clutter an otherwise perfect sci-fi novel but this book didn't make that mistake. Very well written.
This has the possibility of starting to explain where we may be going. What if we are the creature that builds the first ai and allows to get obtain awareness.
This continues the series by Vaughn Heppner. We find out more about Bast and his people's history. There are surprises that keep you on your toes and a few good battles to feed your excitement.
Not as good as the first three but it was still good and has me wanting more
I like the series as a whole and want to see what is next. Can humanity win. Will Benz get overthrown. Can wait for more. I like Heppners rewriting style and his characters.
This book has everything. That a syfy fan wants lot's of action plausible scenarios great heroes are good evil villains are bad and each book stands alone so if you do not read every book in the series you have closure in the story you read highly recommend
This was book four in a well written series. I was invested in the characters through all four books. Loved the good guys and hated the bad guys. What else is there?
This is turning out even better than I hoped. Some cool twists and turns make it exciting reading for sure. Vaughn writes a great novel and this is no exception.
This series gets better and better. Now there are 3 AI memberships and they go off to battle a huge AI factory ship....series is getting more and more interesting.