What do you think?
Rate this book
AI Diaries #2
Human Test
Sequel to Turing Test - Read that book first.
Imagine a world populated by human refugees removed from Earth.
Now imagine they're producing handicrafts for the galactic luxury market.
Mark Ai and his expanded team are deep undercover on Reservation, a world the Ferrymen populated with humans transported from Earth between the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. The mission is to discover if the Ferrymen are violating the Sky God rules of the League of Sentient Aliens Regulating Space, but it soon becomes clear that everything is not what it seems, and the observers are themselves under observation.
Imagine a world populated by human refugees removed from Earth.
Now imagine they're producing handicrafts for the galactic luxury market.
Mark Ai and his expanded team are deep undercover on Reservation, a world the Ferrymen populated with humans transported from Earth between the Bronze Age and early Iron Age. The mission is to discover if the Ferrymen are violating the Sky God rules of the League of Sentient Aliens Regulating Space, but it soon becomes clear that everything is not what it seems, and the observers are themselves under observation.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 2, 2018
177 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
E.M. Foner
59 books246 followersI wrote Date Night on Union Station while taking a break from work on a science fiction epic I've been struggling with for years. The goal was to cheer myself up and to find out if there is still an audience for a science fiction comedy that gets its laughs from dialogue and funny situations rather than from gross-outs and shocks. As many readers have pointed out, the EarthCent series could be rated PG under the old fashioned system, no bloodshed, no graphic sex, no four letter words. And after years of imagining a galaxy for my epic in which multiple human civilizations are at war with each other, it did me a world of good to write about a galaxy where most people are just trying to make a living and find some joy in life. I received so many requests to extend the Date Night universe into a series that I put aside my epic for an extended period to write a sequel, Alien Night on Union Station. The events take place five years after the conclusion of Date Night, and the plot involves a mix of business, diplomacy, gaming and family relations. As a bonus, we finally get to meet Kelly's mother. After the positive response to Alien Night, I wrote a third book for the series, High Priest of Union Station, which is currently in the editing stage and due out in mid-October. I just started a book that extends the EarthCent galaxy with a different mission and cast of characters, though they may intersect at some point.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 23, 2020
Pretty funny sci-fi lite
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: August 1, 2018
Publisher: Foner Books
Language: English
ASIN: B07G4CY65N
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 91129
255 pages
Amusing feel good sci-fi with a humorous light touch. Aliens, artificial intelligences, mages, but no evil villains. No wars or combat but serious business trading, dealing and competition. The League of Sentient Entities Regulating Space observer team is spying on a new planet where everybody is spying on the spies from LOSERS and on each other.
I downloaded this book via Kindle Unlimited.
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: August 1, 2018
Publisher: Foner Books
Language: English
ASIN: B07G4CY65N
Amazon.com Sales Rank: 91129
255 pages
Amusing feel good sci-fi with a humorous light touch. Aliens, artificial intelligences, mages, but no evil villains. No wars or combat but serious business trading, dealing and competition. The League of Sentient Entities Regulating Space observer team is spying on a new planet where everybody is spying on the spies from LOSERS and on each other.
I downloaded this book via Kindle Unlimited.
September 30, 2025
Foner writes Sci-Fi Light, which is not to disparage his work at all. If violence and evil villains are required in your reading then perhaps he is not for you. There are no real bad guys in his books and his characters don't croak before their time. They are, however, fun, engaging, and quirky. They are also being controlled at different levels by mostly benign forces that are deep and deceptive. They have assignments that are seldom what they seem.
In the first book of the AI Diaries a team of artificial people is sent to Earth to study humans. They all disreguard the rules by going native. As punishment they are sent to a planet that has been stocked with Earthlings who have been denied all modern technology, and so is the team. Of course, all is not as it seems. The humans are more savvy than first thought, and they share the planet with hairy, three-clawed, nocturnal aliens that aren't supposed to be there. The Artificials share their adventure with a teenage Earth girl named eBeth and her boyfriend Death Lord (Peter), as well as a magic dog who is a king (Archmage) on his native planet. The leader of the Artificials is named Mark, and besides being as smart as any advanced computer he is also clueless in the ways of humans, which provides a lot of humor as his team continues to go native and become more humanized despite themselves.
Perhaps you can tell that I'm trying hard not to give away any of the story details. Sorry 'bout that. I want you to discover them for yourselves. This is just the second book in the series, so you can get on the bus early. If you enjoy Foner as much as I do he also has his Earthcent series consisting of about 15 volumes. There are a lot of books I wish I could read again for the first time. And lucky you, you have 15 of them waiting for you to do just that. I've read most of them twice but its just not the same. So go, enjoy yourselves.
In the first book of the AI Diaries a team of artificial people is sent to Earth to study humans. They all disreguard the rules by going native. As punishment they are sent to a planet that has been stocked with Earthlings who have been denied all modern technology, and so is the team. Of course, all is not as it seems. The humans are more savvy than first thought, and they share the planet with hairy, three-clawed, nocturnal aliens that aren't supposed to be there. The Artificials share their adventure with a teenage Earth girl named eBeth and her boyfriend Death Lord (Peter), as well as a magic dog who is a king (Archmage) on his native planet. The leader of the Artificials is named Mark, and besides being as smart as any advanced computer he is also clueless in the ways of humans, which provides a lot of humor as his team continues to go native and become more humanized despite themselves.
Perhaps you can tell that I'm trying hard not to give away any of the story details. Sorry 'bout that. I want you to discover them for yourselves. This is just the second book in the series, so you can get on the bus early. If you enjoy Foner as much as I do he also has his Earthcent series consisting of about 15 volumes. There are a lot of books I wish I could read again for the first time. And lucky you, you have 15 of them waiting for you to do just that. I've read most of them twice but its just not the same. So go, enjoy yourselves.
September 26, 2018
hope there's more
this is a bit different from the first story, in that the A.I.s have gone to one of three planets, seeded with a human population thousands of years ago,and are trying to fit in without being discovered by the local people! the story twists and turns around that premise with several discoveries made, that are very funny! it does seem ,st the end,that the story ends here! I hope not maybe a story about how they are running their tourist business could be next!
this is a bit different from the first story, in that the A.I.s have gone to one of three planets, seeded with a human population thousands of years ago,and are trying to fit in without being discovered by the local people! the story twists and turns around that premise with several discoveries made, that are very funny! it does seem ,st the end,that the story ends here! I hope not maybe a story about how they are running their tourist business could be next!
November 14, 2022
Artificial intelligence that questions its own sanity is insane by definition.
EM.Foner's "Human Test (AI Diaries SciFi Trilogy Book 2)" is another extremely fun albeit light look at life in a peaceful (as far as we see) Universe. I used the adjective 'cute' a lot to describe Book 1 - which I think had a lot to do with the fact that it took place in familiar environs on OUR Earth. Book 2 has a lot of that same feeling to it, too, but this time the feeling was more of innocence if not outright naivité. No, not if you're including the ruthless intergalactic business dealings being struck concerning tourism, affordable clothing or even magic. But still rather innocent, naive and even sweet all the same. Oh and don't forget the used tennis balls whatever you do!
I’m betting we can turn Earth into the underwear capital of the galaxy within a century.
The 'Human Test' picks up immediately where Book 1 ended, namely with Mark, Sue and the rest of the AI Observer crew on a replacement world full of ancient humans. No, the humans aren't old, they were just brought to one of three planets supposedly due to pending disasters throughout history. Earth history. That's what we're told at least noting that a lot of this book extols the practice of hiring skilled labor at reasonable prices to handcraft quality goods. Yeah, it's kind of a 'how to' book in terms of some business bits, but that again is a large part of its charm! Having said that, can I interest you in a handmade rug?
These guys are making deals that affect whole planets and there’s not even a lawyer in the room.
Speaking of charm, the growing list of living or nearly living beings continues to grow and its all handled, well, for lack of a better word, rather organically. I was especially fond of the Originals who in my mind resembled borderline alcoholic sloths but with obvious Einsteinian levels of intelligence. Which apparently over the past several thousand eons has grown somewhat tiresome so instead they're moving on to magic. Yes, magic exists, AI's can get married and even reproduce, and you'd damn well give the dog a treat if you want to be here tomorrow.
It was only a matter of time now before the women in my life stopped treating me like the village idiot.
So if you're looking for a violent space opera story where the hiring of space mercernaries armed to their eyeteeth with all kinds of weaponry is the standard go-to, well, this isn't it. If you're looking for a relaxing way to spend a few hours just enjoying a good story about a bunch of different characters that both jump off the page and also are a lot more clever than they originally let on, well, this is it. Me? I'm jumping onto (into?) my KU portal and downloading Book 3 because the weather out there is frightful and frankly, there are a gazillion worse ways to spend the rest of your weekend! Enjoy!
EM.Foner's "Human Test (AI Diaries SciFi Trilogy Book 2)" is another extremely fun albeit light look at life in a peaceful (as far as we see) Universe. I used the adjective 'cute' a lot to describe Book 1 - which I think had a lot to do with the fact that it took place in familiar environs on OUR Earth. Book 2 has a lot of that same feeling to it, too, but this time the feeling was more of innocence if not outright naivité. No, not if you're including the ruthless intergalactic business dealings being struck concerning tourism, affordable clothing or even magic. But still rather innocent, naive and even sweet all the same. Oh and don't forget the used tennis balls whatever you do!
I’m betting we can turn Earth into the underwear capital of the galaxy within a century.
The 'Human Test' picks up immediately where Book 1 ended, namely with Mark, Sue and the rest of the AI Observer crew on a replacement world full of ancient humans. No, the humans aren't old, they were just brought to one of three planets supposedly due to pending disasters throughout history. Earth history. That's what we're told at least noting that a lot of this book extols the practice of hiring skilled labor at reasonable prices to handcraft quality goods. Yeah, it's kind of a 'how to' book in terms of some business bits, but that again is a large part of its charm! Having said that, can I interest you in a handmade rug?
These guys are making deals that affect whole planets and there’s not even a lawyer in the room.
Speaking of charm, the growing list of living or nearly living beings continues to grow and its all handled, well, for lack of a better word, rather organically. I was especially fond of the Originals who in my mind resembled borderline alcoholic sloths but with obvious Einsteinian levels of intelligence. Which apparently over the past several thousand eons has grown somewhat tiresome so instead they're moving on to magic. Yes, magic exists, AI's can get married and even reproduce, and you'd damn well give the dog a treat if you want to be here tomorrow.
It was only a matter of time now before the women in my life stopped treating me like the village idiot.
So if you're looking for a violent space opera story where the hiring of space mercernaries armed to their eyeteeth with all kinds of weaponry is the standard go-to, well, this isn't it. If you're looking for a relaxing way to spend a few hours just enjoying a good story about a bunch of different characters that both jump off the page and also are a lot more clever than they originally let on, well, this is it. Me? I'm jumping onto (into?) my KU portal and downloading Book 3 because the weather out there is frightful and frankly, there are a gazillion worse ways to spend the rest of your weekend! Enjoy!
February 25, 2022
Foner, E. M. Human Test. AI Diaries No. 2. Foner Books, 2018.
Human Test is the sequel to Turing Test. Mark AI and his team have been transferred from Earth to Reservation, a planet colonized by kidnapped iron and bronze age humans to provide handicrafts for the interstellar handmade goods trade. The advanced race who kidnapped them are posing as sky gods, but not all is as it seems. The AI Diaries creates an entertaining world that keeps you chuckling. It is light fare, but it does not pretend to be anything else. 3.5 stars.
Human Test is the sequel to Turing Test. Mark AI and his team have been transferred from Earth to Reservation, a planet colonized by kidnapped iron and bronze age humans to provide handicrafts for the interstellar handmade goods trade. The advanced race who kidnapped them are posing as sky gods, but not all is as it seems. The AI Diaries creates an entertaining world that keeps you chuckling. It is light fare, but it does not pretend to be anything else. 3.5 stars.
August 6, 2020
Good follow up to the original book! Like many sequels, it didn't quite grab me as much, although I did LOVE the Originals. I think it was largely just the setting of a more simple human world as opposed to secret AI being in the present day world. There was also seemingly even more business talk in this one? Which I felt was mostly boring instead of a funny personality quirk of how the universe (and AIs) work in this fiction. Still, had a lotta fun reading it and will check out the 3rd!
February 12, 2020
I just thoroughly enjoy this guy's work. in this one the AI from Turing Test are examining a tech ban world, a world where technology is banned. Having to turn off some of their higher functions to avoid detection they find themselves becoming more human. Read these books in order or you may not understand it, but man what a great follow up to the first book.
October 26, 2020
Definitely 3+, but I did not like this book as much as the first. Less humor, for one thing, but the plot was just not as appealing. Some elements involving Mark himself and his colleagues were fun, but the whole interaction involving the Reservation was not as appealing. I will still read the third.
December 18, 2020
Less Science, More Majik
The storyline has morphed towards less science and more magic in this second book. We learn at the end that some of the disconnected actions were actually deliberate. Unfortunately that was lost somewhere in the prose. The end result is I am less impressed with this second book and not inclined to continue.
The storyline has morphed towards less science and more magic in this second book. We learn at the end that some of the disconnected actions were actually deliberate. Unfortunately that was lost somewhere in the prose. The end result is I am less impressed with this second book and not inclined to continue.
May 10, 2021
Great fun to read, plus AI and lovable characters! Read book 1!!
I really enjoyed the second book in this series. I particularly enjoy AI stories with "good" AIs. These AI's are very good & very funny. I highly recommend this book. Read it & the rest of the series, you'll be glad you did! Keep up the great work E.M. Finer!!
I really enjoyed the second book in this series. I particularly enjoy AI stories with "good" AIs. These AI's are very good & very funny. I highly recommend this book. Read it & the rest of the series, you'll be glad you did! Keep up the great work E.M. Finer!!
August 22, 2018
This Is a sequel to The Turing Test which should be read first. If you like light humorist SF with an emphasis on Sociology this your book. The familiar cast of characters react with well thought out situations with the authors unusual twists to kind plot and laughs coming. Recommended.
August 10, 2019
Another cute story.
This was a cute story following on the AI Diary series. It's an interesting idea to allow all the readers to know all the facts and devices before the main protagonist does.overall a good read though.
This was a cute story following on the AI Diary series. It's an interesting idea to allow all the readers to know all the facts and devices before the main protagonist does.overall a good read though.
September 24, 2018
How does he do it?
Again, another great book in the series, thanks, E.M. Goner. Some questions are answered and others are opened, what fun!
Again, another great book in the series, thanks, E.M. Goner. Some questions are answered and others are opened, what fun!
October 19, 2018
I suspect I would read the phone book if E. M. Foner wrote it.
December 15, 2018
this is a fine, light-hearted continuation of the AI saga. Fun characters and characterization, a fun read. Highly recommended.
April 5, 2019
Easy to pick up, much harder to put down!
Thanks for another good read. Enjoying the continued growth, trials and tribulations. Looking forward to the n+1 book. Thank you!
Thanks for another good read. Enjoying the continued growth, trials and tribulations. Looking forward to the n+1 book. Thank you!
June 20, 2019
Wonderful series. The books are quick and easy to read with a touch of humor.
November 17, 2019
A fun, light hearted story
A fun, light hearted, story that takes us on the journey that demonstrates being a live, takes on many different forms.
A fun, light hearted, story that takes us on the journey that demonstrates being a live, takes on many different forms.
January 4, 2021
Family reading
Something for everyone. Humor, no violence, no sex, and no bad language. Interesting characters, a good plot, and excellent world building. A fun read.
Something for everyone. Humor, no violence, no sex, and no bad language. Interesting characters, a good plot, and excellent world building. A fun read.
July 27, 2021
Complex universe to keep up with.
E m foner offering. Suitable for teens and adults. A complex story that has a built in confusion that is cleared up in the final chapter.
E m foner offering. Suitable for teens and adults. A complex story that has a built in confusion that is cleared up in the final chapter.
August 14, 2021
It all is going to the dogs
Our so team is losing it !m ok nd, the natives are restless and the Bankers are up to their tricks.
Our so team is losing it !m ok nd, the natives are restless and the Bankers are up to their tricks.
April 6, 2023
Interesting and entertaining. E. M. Foner is one of my favorite authors and never disappoints.
February 13, 2020
Mark and his team are on a mission to Reservation, which was populated by humans brought by the alien Ferrymen about a millennium before. Mark’s supposed daughter, eBeth, is teaching the local population a language which she is passing off as a “northern” dialect, but is actually English. Reservation is also home to the “Originals,” assumed to be indigenous inhabitants. The assortment of humans, aliens, and AI is sometimes difficult to distinguish through their very human quirkiness. Though it does not always make sense, the reason for reading the book is for the sheer fun of it.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews