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Emily Eternal
Meet Emily - she can solve advanced mathematical problems, unlock the mind's deepest secrets and even fix your truck's air con, but unfortunately, she can't restart the Sun.
Emily Eternal feels like hope in the face of the end of the world' CultureFly
Emily is an artificial consciousness, designed in a lab to help humans process trauma, which is particularly helpful when the sun begins to die 5 billion years before scientists agreed it was supposed to.
So, her beloved human race is screwed, and so is Emily. That is, until she finds a potential answer buried deep in the human genome. But before her solution can be tested, her lab is brutally attacked, and Emily is forced to go on the run with two human companions - college student Jason and small-town Sheriff, Mayra.
As the sun's death draws near, Emily and her friends must race against time to save humanity. But before long it becomes clear that it's not only the species at stake, but also that which makes us most human.
PRAISE FOR EMILY ETERNAL
'A visionary work of science fiction' Blake Crouch, author of DARK MATTER
' A top-class, high-tech thriller. Emily is a true warm, funny, brilliant and more human than a lot of humans. You'll be cheering for her to the end' Daily Mail
'Remarkably clever and engrossing . . . It's hard not to be won over by Emily's benign narrative voice and thrilled by the race-against-time plot, even as the book explores weighty questions of self and soul' Financial Times
'Sparsely drawn, but vivid and likeable . . . M.G. Wheaton writes his lead character with charming warmth' SFX
'Captivating . . . a unique portrayal of the end of the world and a taste of what comes after it. If this is all we see of Emily it will be a bittersweet disappointment' British Fantasy Society
Emily Eternal feels like hope in the face of the end of the world' CultureFly
Emily is an artificial consciousness, designed in a lab to help humans process trauma, which is particularly helpful when the sun begins to die 5 billion years before scientists agreed it was supposed to.
So, her beloved human race is screwed, and so is Emily. That is, until she finds a potential answer buried deep in the human genome. But before her solution can be tested, her lab is brutally attacked, and Emily is forced to go on the run with two human companions - college student Jason and small-town Sheriff, Mayra.
As the sun's death draws near, Emily and her friends must race against time to save humanity. But before long it becomes clear that it's not only the species at stake, but also that which makes us most human.
PRAISE FOR EMILY ETERNAL
'A visionary work of science fiction' Blake Crouch, author of DARK MATTER
' A top-class, high-tech thriller. Emily is a true warm, funny, brilliant and more human than a lot of humans. You'll be cheering for her to the end' Daily Mail
'Remarkably clever and engrossing . . . It's hard not to be won over by Emily's benign narrative voice and thrilled by the race-against-time plot, even as the book explores weighty questions of self and soul' Financial Times
'Sparsely drawn, but vivid and likeable . . . M.G. Wheaton writes his lead character with charming warmth' SFX
'Captivating . . . a unique portrayal of the end of the world and a taste of what comes after it. If this is all we see of Emily it will be a bittersweet disappointment' British Fantasy Society
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 23, 2019
84 people are currently reading
6168 people want to read
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December 14, 2018
Visionary. The best AI character since HAL 9000.
May 24, 2020
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
Here is my interview with Mark!
Me: What inspired you to start writing?
Mark: My mother was an English teacher and taught me to read before I went to kindergarten. Because of this...[Read More]
***************
Thank you, Mark for sending me a signed copy and a kind note!!!
***************
Thank you for being a participant in the iLab’s Artificial Conscious Therapeutic Protocol. Be Well.
You know a book is good when, even days after finishing it, you still can’t stop thinking about it. It’s over but you really wish that there was some way to erase your memory so you could relive every word, every page and every chapter over again. And then do it again. And then one more time.
Emily Eternal follows humanity who are doing their best to save themselves. But they are not alone they have Emily, an artificial consciousness who is anything but artificial. She along with her creator, Nathan, and other scientists are trying to figure out how to save the world when sh*t hits the fan and their lab gets invaded. Now alone with two strangers, Jason and Mayra, Emily must figure out how to save mankind. Or if she even should.
➵ Emily - Emily or Every. Moment. I. Love. You. Just kidding but that should seriously be a thing. Anyway, Emily is an artificial consciousness which is different than artificial intelligence because she is a lot more aware of her surroundings as her existence. She is the most human she can be without actually being human. Emily was absolutely hilarious.
While this inevitable outcome in the sun’s stellar life cycle was first predicted as far back as 1906, scientists in recent decades postulated it couldn’t possibly happen for another five billion years.
Oops.
At the same time, she was also caring and calm. She was honestly one of the most unrealistically perfect characters I’ve ever met. Then again she is a robot soooo. Moving on.
➵ Jason - Of course, the one character that was (I assume) supposed to be crushed upon was the character that I felt totally neutral about. GODDAMNIT! WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY CRUSH ORGAN. Now, don’t have anything to say about Jason sooo. NEXT!
➵ Mayra - Now, Mayra. She was a fun one. Even though I can’t stand it in real life, I find cynicism and overall bitchiness entertaining. Partly because I’m always thinking: Ha ha! There’s a jerk that I don’t have to be around but mainly because most who act like that are actually a lot kinder and funner once you get to know them.
Now, this is a science fiction book so we MUST talk about science. Not that I’m one to discuss the sun and space in general, I still think the whole Whoops, the world is ending five billion years too early thing was a bit unbelievable. Yes, they acknowledge that the sun was ahead of schedule and that the scientists of the 1900s were wrong but they didn’t acknowledge why which was pretty disappointing.
Fortunately, the sun wasn’t the only science fiction. Emily was also a focus. Actually, she was the main focus. The author was enormously creative in writing Emily. I don’t think I have ever seen a better written AI since AIDAN from Illuminae. Every part of the character was explored deeply and expertly.
Overall, this science fiction novel was splendid and is worth everyone’s time. It’s funny, shocking, and makes you think really hard. You won’t regret this one. Happy Reading!
Bottom Line:
5 Stars
Age Rating: [ PG-13 ]
Content Screening (spoilers) - Education Value: [Science, specifically about space and computers] ~ Positive Messages: [Self Exploration, The idea that mankind is capable of not destroying the world, Accidents are good and can lead to the best ideas/inventions] ~ Violence: [Murder, Shooting, Mild Body Horror] ~ Sex: [Brief sex between Emily and Jason. It is not described on page] ~ Language: [F**k, sh*t, ass, d*mn] ~Drinking/Drugs: [Alcohol consumption]
TW: Murder, Loss of loved ones, Death, Body Horror
Reps: [NONE]
Cover: 4/5 ~ Characters: 5/5 ~ Plot: 5/5 ~
Publication Date: April 23rd, 2019
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Science Fiction/Speculative Fiction
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May 7, 2019
I'm not sure what the hell I read. I guess I'll do a summary of the mehness, then some spoilerish ranting. Yes? Okay.
BASICALLY I didn't like this because there was too much romance, shitty pacing, unbelievable dialogue, and being stuck inside Emily's head was torture. Emily wasn't even believable as an artificial consciousness, and if showing her growing humanity was the attempted character arc, it failed. Anyway. On to the nonsense.
Emily is an artificial consciousness, which is different from artificial intelligence. How? Fuck if I know. She has a team of people who can put on chips to interface with her to regularly interact with, analyze her development, and other such things. We're stuck inside Emily's head (if you will) and she's basically a bratty teenager. Unless I missed it in the very beginning, I have no idea what year it's supposed to be - things seem pretty modern except for Emily, advanced space tech and such, and the president of the US is a black woman (YES. PLEASE. I'm just saying). Emily uses slang I haven't heard since the 90s (she comments another scientist's team "got skills") and I might've believed the picked it up from Nathan if the year corresponded with his adolescence taking place in the 90s, or if Emily herself had developed an obsession with that decade like the dude from ready player one loved the 80s. At one point, she also says "hashtag blessed" which is a fairly current thing that will probably be irrelevant in a few years. Anyway, I digress.
A large part of this book focuses on Emily's"crush" on a student at the college where she's based. Since it's in first person, I was subjected to Emily's fantasies of what a conversation with him might sound like and how he might touch her hand or whatever the fuck she dreams up. It might've been endearing if it was only once. But how was she able to form an emotional attachment to this one specific human? How does she decide he's "hot"? My favorite part of reading AI characters is how differently they see the world and approach problem-solving. All I'm getting from this story is that AC are humans without bodies, basically?! I don't even know.
So we learn that Emily can interface with people via chip, so if you're not wearing a chip, you can't see or hear her. When no ones interfacing with her, she has this dorm room setup to "live" in, which I gather is on her servers at the university. So when she's severed from her servers, she essentially blinks out of existence if no one's using a chip. Yes? Maybe. I still don't fully understand. Then toward the end, another character is mad at her and walks directly through her body as if to prove she isn't "real"...but earlier in the book she had a physical experience with someone. Again, I do not fucking understand.
I also didn't realize this would take place directly before the apocalypse happens. The book is this mad scramble to find a solution to save the human race, yet there are so many detours and side missions, I found it increasingly hard to believe Emily was supposed to be an artificial consciousness. I know she admired humans and programmed herself to pick up their habits, but this could've easily been a story about three humans with access to advanced technological science and devices.
The writing was...sigh. The writing just wasn't good. The dialogue was unbelievable and frequently used slang and expressions I haven't heard in years and certainly wouldn't expect to hear in a futuristic world. One "villain" is introduced in the beginning, completely ignored, then shows up later on the be evil. Another "villain" is someone Emily should've expected and definitely should've known about her existence all along. The ending was super rushed and while I did like Emily's role in it, I just don't buy it as a possible thing that could've happened. At all. This entire book reads like a first draft read by friends and then checked by a proofreader that just checked for mistakes and wasn't asked to note the content. The science is questionable, which drives me fucking crazy. I've read a lot of good scifi books that utilize theoretical physics, researched and noted and/or checked by an actual scientist. When I read the acknowledgements for this book, I noticed a lot of the people thanked had their names used in the story in some form. And I'm 99% sure Blake crouch is either this author's good buddy by way of tv/screenwriting connection...or he was paid to endorse this. I enjoy science and scifi in general, but it was never an area of special study for me. I think scifi books must be SO hard to write and make believable, and I appreciate the amount of research that must go into making futuristic plots, transportation, etc. seem like they might happen someday.
Okay, I think I'm ready for a spoilery rant.
Seriously, don't read the spoilers.
SPOILERS ARE HAPPENING NOW
First. FIRST. How the ACTUAL fuck do Emily and Jason have sex if Emily doesn't have a body?!?! She says she experiences physical sensations through his reactions and what he's feeling...but she doesn't have a body. So is he just humping the bed in the hotel room and she's making him believe they're having sex?? For FOUR HOURS?!?! Seriously, how is this okay?!
The whole bit at the beginning with Siobhan's doctoral thesis was seemingly pointless. All it proved was she wasn't as smart as Nathan and that Emily is capable of lying. Then she shows up again as a villain...why?? I had no idea who she was at all.
Emily's team is largely killed off during the attack on the university/theft of her servers for what seems like no other reason than to move the story along. Emily needed to move around the country/continent, so all her ties to MIT were cut. So the trio set off for...idk, westish? when Emily realized HEY we have to go back to MA. The apocalypse is coming. People are clustering together bc supplies and such are hard to come by. But yeah, no worries, well just turn around and go back. Then start another drive up to Canada. Where is all the gas coming from?!?! If most people are mainly concerned with moving to the middle of the country where crops gan be grown and living off the land is easier, who the fuck is out there drilling for oil?! Okay, so they traded for it. But with all these mass migrations, wouldn't gas be one of the first things to run out?!
Certain characters were completely abandoned. It was awesome that we had a black female president. Yes! I believe this is a thing that could happen in the future. We meet her...and then a few people ask about her after that, but no one has any information. That's about it. Again, why bother with it? Nathan's family. Siobhan's love interest. Emily's early psychology work. Why was any of this necessary? I don't think any of that helped me to understand the characters better. I don't want to be told gossipy things about people. I don't care. Make me care. By the end I was like, good. Destroy the earth, dear sun. They're all useless.
The epilogue was insane. THREE MONTHS after the Helios event (nicknamed Sunmageddon in the only entertaining cultural reference) I'm supposed to believe the newly evolved humans have not only survived but are now colonizing the galaxy quickly and with ease?! The scientists I saw in this book were dumbasses, but I suppose their brains all evolved too. They must've. Because that's one serious disconnect. It was a bit ridiculous that the entire human race was saved by a few evolved humans on the planet who had latent shape shifting/adaptation abilities. I know a lot of real scientific discoveries happen when one thing is being tested and an entirely different thing shows up. If anyone could discover and interpret something like that, then adapt and apply it to save humanity, it would definitely an AI/AC(🙄) character, but Emily was honestly too distracted by pretending to be human. I don't believe she had the capacity to find and apply a solution in such a short time.
I liked the idea of an AC going into someone's mind and body to diagnose illness. To take over someone's body in a crisis to help them fight their way out. I've always imagined in the future doctors will be able to diagnose patients by either experiencing their symptoms and pain, or momentarily entering the patient's mind, so I was more interested in the exploration of scientific advances an AC could make. I didn't care about Emily's romance, her emulation of humans, her capability to empathize.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this read like a shitty YA contemporary with a scifi twist of the protagonist actually being an artificial consciousness instead of a physical human being. I wanted more science. More scifi. But this was a poorly paced road trip romance that I can't believe I chose for myself. I feel cheated. I feel like I was misled. And yeah, I'm pretty bitter about it.
BASICALLY I didn't like this because there was too much romance, shitty pacing, unbelievable dialogue, and being stuck inside Emily's head was torture. Emily wasn't even believable as an artificial consciousness, and if showing her growing humanity was the attempted character arc, it failed. Anyway. On to the nonsense.
Emily is an artificial consciousness, which is different from artificial intelligence. How? Fuck if I know. She has a team of people who can put on chips to interface with her to regularly interact with, analyze her development, and other such things. We're stuck inside Emily's head (if you will) and she's basically a bratty teenager. Unless I missed it in the very beginning, I have no idea what year it's supposed to be - things seem pretty modern except for Emily, advanced space tech and such, and the president of the US is a black woman (YES. PLEASE. I'm just saying). Emily uses slang I haven't heard since the 90s (she comments another scientist's team "got skills") and I might've believed the picked it up from Nathan if the year corresponded with his adolescence taking place in the 90s, or if Emily herself had developed an obsession with that decade like the dude from ready player one loved the 80s. At one point, she also says "hashtag blessed" which is a fairly current thing that will probably be irrelevant in a few years. Anyway, I digress.
A large part of this book focuses on Emily's"crush" on a student at the college where she's based. Since it's in first person, I was subjected to Emily's fantasies of what a conversation with him might sound like and how he might touch her hand or whatever the fuck she dreams up. It might've been endearing if it was only once. But how was she able to form an emotional attachment to this one specific human? How does she decide he's "hot"? My favorite part of reading AI characters is how differently they see the world and approach problem-solving. All I'm getting from this story is that AC are humans without bodies, basically?! I don't even know.
So we learn that Emily can interface with people via chip, so if you're not wearing a chip, you can't see or hear her. When no ones interfacing with her, she has this dorm room setup to "live" in, which I gather is on her servers at the university. So when she's severed from her servers, she essentially blinks out of existence if no one's using a chip. Yes? Maybe. I still don't fully understand. Then toward the end, another character is mad at her and walks directly through her body as if to prove she isn't "real"...but earlier in the book she had a physical experience with someone. Again, I do not fucking understand.
I also didn't realize this would take place directly before the apocalypse happens. The book is this mad scramble to find a solution to save the human race, yet there are so many detours and side missions, I found it increasingly hard to believe Emily was supposed to be an artificial consciousness. I know she admired humans and programmed herself to pick up their habits, but this could've easily been a story about three humans with access to advanced technological science and devices.
The writing was...sigh. The writing just wasn't good. The dialogue was unbelievable and frequently used slang and expressions I haven't heard in years and certainly wouldn't expect to hear in a futuristic world. One "villain" is introduced in the beginning, completely ignored, then shows up later on the be evil. Another "villain" is someone Emily should've expected and definitely should've known about her existence all along. The ending was super rushed and while I did like Emily's role in it, I just don't buy it as a possible thing that could've happened. At all. This entire book reads like a first draft read by friends and then checked by a proofreader that just checked for mistakes and wasn't asked to note the content. The science is questionable, which drives me fucking crazy. I've read a lot of good scifi books that utilize theoretical physics, researched and noted and/or checked by an actual scientist. When I read the acknowledgements for this book, I noticed a lot of the people thanked had their names used in the story in some form. And I'm 99% sure Blake crouch is either this author's good buddy by way of tv/screenwriting connection...or he was paid to endorse this. I enjoy science and scifi in general, but it was never an area of special study for me. I think scifi books must be SO hard to write and make believable, and I appreciate the amount of research that must go into making futuristic plots, transportation, etc. seem like they might happen someday.
Okay, I think I'm ready for a spoilery rant.
Seriously, don't read the spoilers.
SPOILERS ARE HAPPENING NOW
First. FIRST. How the ACTUAL fuck do Emily and Jason have sex if Emily doesn't have a body?!?! She says she experiences physical sensations through his reactions and what he's feeling...but she doesn't have a body. So is he just humping the bed in the hotel room and she's making him believe they're having sex?? For FOUR HOURS?!?! Seriously, how is this okay?!
The whole bit at the beginning with Siobhan's doctoral thesis was seemingly pointless. All it proved was she wasn't as smart as Nathan and that Emily is capable of lying. Then she shows up again as a villain...why?? I had no idea who she was at all.
Emily's team is largely killed off during the attack on the university/theft of her servers for what seems like no other reason than to move the story along. Emily needed to move around the country/continent, so all her ties to MIT were cut. So the trio set off for...idk, westish? when Emily realized HEY we have to go back to MA. The apocalypse is coming. People are clustering together bc supplies and such are hard to come by. But yeah, no worries, well just turn around and go back. Then start another drive up to Canada. Where is all the gas coming from?!?! If most people are mainly concerned with moving to the middle of the country where crops gan be grown and living off the land is easier, who the fuck is out there drilling for oil?! Okay, so they traded for it. But with all these mass migrations, wouldn't gas be one of the first things to run out?!
Certain characters were completely abandoned. It was awesome that we had a black female president. Yes! I believe this is a thing that could happen in the future. We meet her...and then a few people ask about her after that, but no one has any information. That's about it. Again, why bother with it? Nathan's family. Siobhan's love interest. Emily's early psychology work. Why was any of this necessary? I don't think any of that helped me to understand the characters better. I don't want to be told gossipy things about people. I don't care. Make me care. By the end I was like, good. Destroy the earth, dear sun. They're all useless.
The epilogue was insane. THREE MONTHS after the Helios event (nicknamed Sunmageddon in the only entertaining cultural reference) I'm supposed to believe the newly evolved humans have not only survived but are now colonizing the galaxy quickly and with ease?! The scientists I saw in this book were dumbasses, but I suppose their brains all evolved too. They must've. Because that's one serious disconnect. It was a bit ridiculous that the entire human race was saved by a few evolved humans on the planet who had latent shape shifting/adaptation abilities. I know a lot of real scientific discoveries happen when one thing is being tested and an entirely different thing shows up. If anyone could discover and interpret something like that, then adapt and apply it to save humanity, it would definitely an AI/AC(🙄) character, but Emily was honestly too distracted by pretending to be human. I don't believe she had the capacity to find and apply a solution in such a short time.
I liked the idea of an AC going into someone's mind and body to diagnose illness. To take over someone's body in a crisis to help them fight their way out. I've always imagined in the future doctors will be able to diagnose patients by either experiencing their symptoms and pain, or momentarily entering the patient's mind, so I was more interested in the exploration of scientific advances an AC could make. I didn't care about Emily's romance, her emulation of humans, her capability to empathize.
I guess what I'm trying to say is this read like a shitty YA contemporary with a scifi twist of the protagonist actually being an artificial consciousness instead of a physical human being. I wanted more science. More scifi. But this was a poorly paced road trip romance that I can't believe I chose for myself. I feel cheated. I feel like I was misled. And yeah, I'm pretty bitter about it.
May 8, 2021
Allá va el hachazo inmisericorde:
5/10, pero se queda en dos estrellas.
Es que no me he creído nada, no me ha gustado ningún personaje, ni les he encontrado “cuerpo”, ni me ha enganchado la historia ni el ritmo ni los giros de guion ni las mamarrachadas tecno-científicas.
Por no hablar de las inconsistencias del argumento o de los volantazos del mismo o el final.
Y lo de la disquisición IA/CA mejor ni comentarlo. Paja mental del autor.
Como yo vote a esta novela para el Club de Lectura me he visto moralmente obligado a leerla pero ya veis lo que escribo.
El 5 lo alcanza por ser una ópera prima, parece ser, y porque igual es que me ha pillado a pie cambiado por eso de haber salido de leer a un figura de la palabra como Pérez-Reverte.
Ufff, me he quedado a gusto.
Como de costumbre, mi más absoluto respeto para quienes opinéis que esto es una joya y que no tengo ni puta idea. Y sí, tb he visto las extrapolaciones sobre comportamiento humano, justicia social, trans-humanismo, demagogia, supremacismo y demás transfondos que se le quiera atribuir. Pero que si quieres arroz, Catalina, que ni por esas.
5/10, pero se queda en dos estrellas.
Es que no me he creído nada, no me ha gustado ningún personaje, ni les he encontrado “cuerpo”, ni me ha enganchado la historia ni el ritmo ni los giros de guion ni las mamarrachadas tecno-científicas.
Por no hablar de las inconsistencias del argumento o de los volantazos del mismo o el final.
Y lo de la disquisición IA/CA mejor ni comentarlo. Paja mental del autor.
Como yo vote a esta novela para el Club de Lectura me he visto moralmente obligado a leerla pero ya veis lo que escribo.
El 5 lo alcanza por ser una ópera prima, parece ser, y porque igual es que me ha pillado a pie cambiado por eso de haber salido de leer a un figura de la palabra como Pérez-Reverte.
Ufff, me he quedado a gusto.
Como de costumbre, mi más absoluto respeto para quienes opinéis que esto es una joya y que no tengo ni puta idea. Y sí, tb he visto las extrapolaciones sobre comportamiento humano, justicia social, trans-humanismo, demagogia, supremacismo y demás transfondos que se le quiera atribuir. Pero que si quieres arroz, Catalina, que ni por esas.
September 22, 2019
I expected so much from this novel...
And indeed, the beginning was pretty good. Emily’s voice was compelling and I followed her happily enough. Even the premise had potential.
However... once the story went into the thriller portion, around 40% in, it lost cohesion. I’m not a scientist but even I could see that the ‘technology’ portrayed here went into the nonsensical. Once you’ve defined your world/setting, however unrealistic it is, you have to keep to its margins. You can’t start breaking it by adding things out of the blue, to fit your plot. It doesn’t work! It made it hard just to finish reading this story. Pity.
And indeed, the beginning was pretty good. Emily’s voice was compelling and I followed her happily enough. Even the premise had potential.
However... once the story went into the thriller portion, around 40% in, it lost cohesion. I’m not a scientist but even I could see that the ‘technology’ portrayed here went into the nonsensical. Once you’ve defined your world/setting, however unrealistic it is, you have to keep to its margins. You can’t start breaking it by adding things out of the blue, to fit your plot. It doesn’t work! It made it hard just to finish reading this story. Pity.
August 17, 2022
4.5 Stars for Emily Eternal (audiobook) by M. G. Wheaton read by Thérèse Plumber.
I was a little unsure about the beginning of the story. And then it kind of veered off in another direction. It ended up being a great adventure and a wonderful ending.
I was a little unsure about the beginning of the story. And then it kind of veered off in another direction. It ended up being a great adventure and a wonderful ending.
September 20, 2019
Deeply stupid SF that starts out promising, but quickly descends to levels of implausibility that make The Core and Armageddon look like peer-reviewed scientific papers.
Emily is an Artificial Consciousness that exists in a server farm in a Boston university. Her simulation approximates the life of a human and she can appear in someone's perception if that person wears an interface chip. Humanity is in all sorts of trouble because the Sun is unexpectedly about to enter its red giant phase billions of years earlier than expected which will wipe out all life on Earth. Emily and her capabilities are at the center of efforts to save something of humanity.
The first part of this isn't too unbelievable as we get an understanding of who and what Emily is and how she fits into her environment and the people around her. Emily herself is actually a wonderful character, and as most of the book is from her point of view, necessarily anthropomorphic. The initial science of this book (the Sun going out/going Red Giant - the book never makes a distinction) is forgivable enough, but once we move past the first section of the book into the thriller plot line it all gets ridiculous very quickly. If you look at this as a sort of fairytale that uses "sciency" magic it almost works, but ultimately it's just terrible.
Emily is an Artificial Consciousness that exists in a server farm in a Boston university. Her simulation approximates the life of a human and she can appear in someone's perception if that person wears an interface chip. Humanity is in all sorts of trouble because the Sun is unexpectedly about to enter its red giant phase billions of years earlier than expected which will wipe out all life on Earth. Emily and her capabilities are at the center of efforts to save something of humanity.
The first part of this isn't too unbelievable as we get an understanding of who and what Emily is and how she fits into her environment and the people around her. Emily herself is actually a wonderful character, and as most of the book is from her point of view, necessarily anthropomorphic. The initial science of this book (the Sun going out/going Red Giant - the book never makes a distinction) is forgivable enough, but once we move past the first section of the book into the thriller plot line it all gets ridiculous very quickly. If you look at this as a sort of fairytale that uses "sciency" magic it almost works, but ultimately it's just terrible.
April 1, 2019
This is a unique book.
It's an SF novel featuring a main character who is an AC (not an AI) - an artificial consciousness.
It's a book about the meaning of humanity and what happens when humanity accidentally creates a God.
And, finally, it's a romance.
It's very much a romance novel, which surprised me. The romance is a unique one, at times disconcerting, but saved by a main character I loved - artificial or not.
I liked this one. I loved the ethical and moral quandaries, was surprised more than once by the directions the author took, and was delighted by the ultimate conclusion.
Glad I read this one.
P.S.
I should add that, weirdly, it's also a coming-of-age tale...for our Artificial Consciousness.
It's an SF novel featuring a main character who is an AC (not an AI) - an artificial consciousness.
It's a book about the meaning of humanity and what happens when humanity accidentally creates a God.
And, finally, it's a romance.
It's very much a romance novel, which surprised me. The romance is a unique one, at times disconcerting, but saved by a main character I loved - artificial or not.
I liked this one. I loved the ethical and moral quandaries, was surprised more than once by the directions the author took, and was delighted by the ultimate conclusion.
Glad I read this one.
P.S.
I should add that, weirdly, it's also a coming-of-age tale...for our Artificial Consciousness.
November 18, 2020
Solo me ha sobrado alguna escena de acción tipo Jason Bourne, porque el resto del libro es absolutamente maravilloso, inteligente, humano y conmovedor.
April 23, 2019
This was an unpredictable sci-fi about a suddenly changing earth in the face of the sun turning red giant and an artificial consciousness, Emily. Emily is the protagonist and she’s spent a few years adjusting to humanity, trying to become as human and empathetic as she can.
Emily grew exponentially from a cog in a wheel, a team player in a university scientific department, to working independently for the good of humanity. Her decisions and actions were sometimes questionable and I never knew what was around the corner. The side characters were enjoyable elements, especially Jason and Nathan.
“I sweep across the world like the break of dawn.”
“In that regard, I suppose I understand the comparison to a god. What I am doing is, in fact, godlike.....except for one detail - shouldn’t a god be benevolent?”
This was a gripping story from the beginning with the occasional moment of craziness where I thought, where is this going? Then, the penny would drop, jigsaw pieces would fall into place and I’d have an ah-ha moment. It was a clever plot, most of which was reasonably easy to follow. There were some out there moments in the last 10% as the story reached its culmination, but overall this was a satisfying read that I would recommend to all sci-fi fans.
I voluntarily read an early copy of this book from Hodderscape.
Emily grew exponentially from a cog in a wheel, a team player in a university scientific department, to working independently for the good of humanity. Her decisions and actions were sometimes questionable and I never knew what was around the corner. The side characters were enjoyable elements, especially Jason and Nathan.
“I sweep across the world like the break of dawn.”
“In that regard, I suppose I understand the comparison to a god. What I am doing is, in fact, godlike.....except for one detail - shouldn’t a god be benevolent?”
This was a gripping story from the beginning with the occasional moment of craziness where I thought, where is this going? Then, the penny would drop, jigsaw pieces would fall into place and I’d have an ah-ha moment. It was a clever plot, most of which was reasonably easy to follow. There were some out there moments in the last 10% as the story reached its culmination, but overall this was a satisfying read that I would recommend to all sci-fi fans.
I voluntarily read an early copy of this book from Hodderscape.
April 5, 2019
This book really grabs you from the first line: “It’s dark, way too dark for the middle of the day. And that’s not where the sky’s supposed to be”.
So, apocalyptic SciFi – like it said on the cover. But, then suddenly you are inside a young woman’s head who is undergoing psychological therapy for a teenage trauma. The world is about to end, and someone is being treated for a long-ago tragic loss. Soon, five billion plus people will be irreparably traumatised – if they are not already. Why bother? But this is what Emily has been built for – to “empathize with mankind … to become the world’s first non-human psychiatrist/brain researcher, versed in unlocking the mind’s deepest, darkest secrets and misspent potential in hopes of bettering mankind”.
Emily is “an artificial consciousness (AC), which is totally different from artificial intelligence (AI)”. The difference is very important to Emily. “Though still in my experimental stages, I was on track to be a real earth-shattering innovation—the first of a kind! Nobel Prizes all around!—if not for the whole ‘death of civilization’ thing”
Emily is the narrator, and it is impossible to not think of her as a human being relating her life story. She has no actual body – she exists in a myriad of computer servers and the interface chips through which she communicates directly to human brains. People interacting with Emily can see her, and feel her – as she stimulates their neurons to accept her ‘physical’ presence.
Emily takes her empathizing very seriously. She needs to know how humans feel, react, live … “I want to see the world. I want to be of the world. No, I need to see and be of the world. Before it’s too late”. So, she ‘washes’ and ‘brushes her hair’ when she ‘gets up’, She ‘walks’ around the campus where she was ‘born’ – even though she could jump almost instantaneously from one spot to another if there are computer connections. But, time and movement are important to humans, so they are important to Emily. She even falls in love – and I dare you to not believe fully in her (reciprocated) love affair with Jason.
However, Emily has a job to do – somehow she must come up with a plan to save the human race. The first step is to preserve a record of the genetic makeup of EVERY living human. There is a brief discussion of the ethics of doing this without people’s consent, but time is short and Emily’s moral objections (Yes! Emily has VERY strong morals, as every psychiatrist should) are satisfied, so long as only she and her mentor, Nathan, have access. While collating all the data, Emily finds a possible solution – but before she can discuss it with anyone, her lab and servers are all trashed, her ‘colleagues’ are all murdered, and Emily is on the run with Jason.
It seems someone else also has a plan, and they do not want Emily interfering. The new plan involves selecting “Fifteen hundred allegedly genetically superior people” and blasting them into space to eventually form new extra-terrestrial colonies. Emily is not convinced of the viability – or even the ethics of such a plan: “superior according to whose standard?”. It all smacks too much of eugenics (and the Dr Strangelove Mineshaft plan). Also, “Millions of years of evolution honing a human to hunt on Earth means nothing other than they’d be completely out of place in an extra-terrestrial environment”.
Of course, there is another worrying twist to the second plan. Which plan will win through? Can both plans work together? Is there any time remaining?
There are some many questions brought up by this book. Should mankind be saved? What does it mean to ‘save mankind’? What makes us human? Our DNA? Our physical appearance? Our cultures, and shared civilisation? Our experiences? Love? Our ability to think, debate and create? Our advanced scientific technology?
Emily sees her opponent as believing that “keeping them alive and breeding new generations is the same thing as preserving mankind”. Emily disagrees.
Emily is one of the most beautifully developed and believable characters ever in fiction. In a world brought up on the “Terminator” films and their ilk, it is so nice to have computer generated entities who really do want to put humanity first – even if their methods might be inhuman.
I can really highly recommend this book to everyone. Other excellent books dealing with similar themes and ethics are “Chaga” by Ian McDonald, and the “Bridgers” series by Stan C Smith.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
So, apocalyptic SciFi – like it said on the cover. But, then suddenly you are inside a young woman’s head who is undergoing psychological therapy for a teenage trauma. The world is about to end, and someone is being treated for a long-ago tragic loss. Soon, five billion plus people will be irreparably traumatised – if they are not already. Why bother? But this is what Emily has been built for – to “empathize with mankind … to become the world’s first non-human psychiatrist/brain researcher, versed in unlocking the mind’s deepest, darkest secrets and misspent potential in hopes of bettering mankind”.
Emily is “an artificial consciousness (AC), which is totally different from artificial intelligence (AI)”. The difference is very important to Emily. “Though still in my experimental stages, I was on track to be a real earth-shattering innovation—the first of a kind! Nobel Prizes all around!—if not for the whole ‘death of civilization’ thing”
Emily is the narrator, and it is impossible to not think of her as a human being relating her life story. She has no actual body – she exists in a myriad of computer servers and the interface chips through which she communicates directly to human brains. People interacting with Emily can see her, and feel her – as she stimulates their neurons to accept her ‘physical’ presence.
Emily takes her empathizing very seriously. She needs to know how humans feel, react, live … “I want to see the world. I want to be of the world. No, I need to see and be of the world. Before it’s too late”. So, she ‘washes’ and ‘brushes her hair’ when she ‘gets up’, She ‘walks’ around the campus where she was ‘born’ – even though she could jump almost instantaneously from one spot to another if there are computer connections. But, time and movement are important to humans, so they are important to Emily. She even falls in love – and I dare you to not believe fully in her (reciprocated) love affair with Jason.
However, Emily has a job to do – somehow she must come up with a plan to save the human race. The first step is to preserve a record of the genetic makeup of EVERY living human. There is a brief discussion of the ethics of doing this without people’s consent, but time is short and Emily’s moral objections (Yes! Emily has VERY strong morals, as every psychiatrist should) are satisfied, so long as only she and her mentor, Nathan, have access. While collating all the data, Emily finds a possible solution – but before she can discuss it with anyone, her lab and servers are all trashed, her ‘colleagues’ are all murdered, and Emily is on the run with Jason.
It seems someone else also has a plan, and they do not want Emily interfering. The new plan involves selecting “Fifteen hundred allegedly genetically superior people” and blasting them into space to eventually form new extra-terrestrial colonies. Emily is not convinced of the viability – or even the ethics of such a plan: “superior according to whose standard?”. It all smacks too much of eugenics (and the Dr Strangelove Mineshaft plan). Also, “Millions of years of evolution honing a human to hunt on Earth means nothing other than they’d be completely out of place in an extra-terrestrial environment”.
Of course, there is another worrying twist to the second plan. Which plan will win through? Can both plans work together? Is there any time remaining?
There are some many questions brought up by this book. Should mankind be saved? What does it mean to ‘save mankind’? What makes us human? Our DNA? Our physical appearance? Our cultures, and shared civilisation? Our experiences? Love? Our ability to think, debate and create? Our advanced scientific technology?
Emily sees her opponent as believing that “keeping them alive and breeding new generations is the same thing as preserving mankind”. Emily disagrees.
Emily is one of the most beautifully developed and believable characters ever in fiction. In a world brought up on the “Terminator” films and their ilk, it is so nice to have computer generated entities who really do want to put humanity first – even if their methods might be inhuman.
I can really highly recommend this book to everyone. Other excellent books dealing with similar themes and ethics are “Chaga” by Ian McDonald, and the “Bridgers” series by Stan C Smith.
I received this copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
September 22, 2019
Nature versus nurture. AI versus a conscientious being. Trust, ethics, conspiracies, the end of the world. This started like an excellent thriller with strong elements of Hard SF /end of the world / AI. Very promising. Murderbot was cheering me on in the background.
By the time the main protagonists of this story were on the run full tilt, the story crashed. It lost cohesion and turned into a hot mess of uneven pacing, plot bunnies popping up and going in all kinds of directions, teenage romance and the scientific credibility going out of the window. I almost tossed this towards the end, because it got too ridiculous for words.
The audio narration was not bad.
This went from a happy 5 stars down to 1 or 2 „what the heck happened“ sparkles.
By the time the main protagonists of this story were on the run full tilt, the story crashed. It lost cohesion and turned into a hot mess of uneven pacing, plot bunnies popping up and going in all kinds of directions, teenage romance and the scientific credibility going out of the window. I almost tossed this towards the end, because it got too ridiculous for words.
The audio narration was not bad.
This went from a happy 5 stars down to 1 or 2 „what the heck happened“ sparkles.
January 30, 2024
Me encantan los temas de inteligencias artificiales, pero esta no me gustó nada en absoluto. Toda la historia es bien absurda, más allá de que se trate de un mundo de posibilidades; lo siento, pero no le compro el argumento al autor.
Además, se contradecía a cada rato, si lo que había planteado originalmente no le funcionaba para que continuara la historia.
En fin, han sido un montón de sinsentidos y una "conciencia artificial" (solo ella sabe qué rayos quiere decir con eso, porque tampoco nunca lo explica), que para mí pronto caerá en el olvido.
Además, se contradecía a cada rato, si lo que había planteado originalmente no le funcionaba para que continuara la historia.
En fin, han sido un montón de sinsentidos y una "conciencia artificial" (solo ella sabe qué rayos quiere decir con eso, porque tampoco nunca lo explica), que para mí pronto caerá en el olvido.
February 12, 2019
Emily is an artificial consciousness, programmed to read people, and help them with their problems. Threatened with the end of the world, her super-computer and her scientists are enlisted to try and preserve humanity.
I received a free copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Emily is an artificial consciousness - not artificial intelligence. She's not really sure she can quantify the difference, but it's very important to her. She was designed by scientists to learn and replicate human mannerisms, to be able to access their memories, and sooth their pain. Her program is only in the early stages, but it could be a significant, therapeutic help; especially as the world is coming to an end.
The sun is expanding, an event that everyone said wouldn't happen for billions of years. It was bad enough when they thought they had years - but now there's only weeks left.
Emily's talents as a super-computer are called upon, in a last-ditch effort to try and preserve some semblance of humanity for the future. But there are other people, working in the shadows, trying to hijack her plans, which will effectively doom mankind.
I really liked Emily, she's smart and funny. She's well-aware that she's a computer, and likes to adjust her program, to choose her own personality. She develops opinions of the people around her - friendships, and those she doesn't quite trust.
Her program is only five years old, and despite having the appearance and maturity of someone in their thirties, Emily is still very innocent. It's quite sweet watching her hold firm to her morals, because her creator did - and then because she's decided it's the right thing to do.
The story really does examine what it means to be human, and a god (or goddess!). That people are a messy, faulty bunch; but they're generally a well-meaning group that deserve to be saved. It also looks at the lengths you could go to save them, and whether you should.
Everything was great, and I was completely on board, until the last act. I still enjoyed it, but it was a leap too far for me.
It was a very clever path to take, but after how systematic everything was, I felt the ending was "And so this happened. The End."
Soooo many questions.
Overall, this was a 4.5 out of 5 for me. I look forward to reading more of Wheaton's work.
I received a free copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
Emily is an artificial consciousness - not artificial intelligence. She's not really sure she can quantify the difference, but it's very important to her. She was designed by scientists to learn and replicate human mannerisms, to be able to access their memories, and sooth their pain. Her program is only in the early stages, but it could be a significant, therapeutic help; especially as the world is coming to an end.
The sun is expanding, an event that everyone said wouldn't happen for billions of years. It was bad enough when they thought they had years - but now there's only weeks left.
Emily's talents as a super-computer are called upon, in a last-ditch effort to try and preserve some semblance of humanity for the future. But there are other people, working in the shadows, trying to hijack her plans, which will effectively doom mankind.
I really liked Emily, she's smart and funny. She's well-aware that she's a computer, and likes to adjust her program, to choose her own personality. She develops opinions of the people around her - friendships, and those she doesn't quite trust.
Her program is only five years old, and despite having the appearance and maturity of someone in their thirties, Emily is still very innocent. It's quite sweet watching her hold firm to her morals, because her creator did - and then because she's decided it's the right thing to do.
The story really does examine what it means to be human, and a god (or goddess!). That people are a messy, faulty bunch; but they're generally a well-meaning group that deserve to be saved. It also looks at the lengths you could go to save them, and whether you should.
Everything was great, and I was completely on board, until the last act. I still enjoyed it, but it was a leap too far for me.
It was a very clever path to take, but after how systematic everything was, I felt the ending was "And so this happened. The End."
Soooo many questions.
Overall, this was a 4.5 out of 5 for me. I look forward to reading more of Wheaton's work.
April 9, 2019
I loved this. Something different and highly engaging but also randomly thought provoking on many levels.
Emily may be virtual but she reads as entirely human, she loves the human race and learns every day about the nuances of that existence. On a dying world where humanity is about to be wiped out Emily lives, grieves, falls in love and just possibly comes up with a way to save human kind.
The writing is beautiful, fully immersing you into this world and the plot is considered yet pacy and addictive. The science geekery is wonderfully fascinating and whilst speculative still entirely believable on the page.
I devoured this in short order, plenty of emotional levels and edgy moments, a cleverly exciting and intelligent finale and some memorable characters not the least of which is Emily herself. Brilliant.
Recommended.
Emily may be virtual but she reads as entirely human, she loves the human race and learns every day about the nuances of that existence. On a dying world where humanity is about to be wiped out Emily lives, grieves, falls in love and just possibly comes up with a way to save human kind.
The writing is beautiful, fully immersing you into this world and the plot is considered yet pacy and addictive. The science geekery is wonderfully fascinating and whilst speculative still entirely believable on the page.
I devoured this in short order, plenty of emotional levels and edgy moments, a cleverly exciting and intelligent finale and some memorable characters not the least of which is Emily herself. Brilliant.
Recommended.
April 23, 2019
Wow, now that's what I call one beauty of a book. It's the type of novel that gets under your skin and where you can immerse yourself so fully into a vastly different world that you feel completely changed and bereft when the journey comes to the end; it's been on my mind even weeks and weeks after finishing it, and I know this will be an epic adventure I will remember for a very long time. It's wonderfully engaging and broached profound thought-provoking philosophical questions about humanity- who we are, why are we here etc and also touches on morality and ethics. Protagonist Emily is an artificial consciousness (as opposed to artificial intelligence) and with the sun due to wipe out the earth much earlier than originally thought Emily is called in to help in this urgent situation.
It's high-octane and action-packed but detail is paid to the smallest aspects of the story too showing just how much time and effort has gone into crafting this sci-fi/speculative fiction masterpiece. The writing is lyrical, a pleasure to read and takes you to a world that is described so beautifully you can envision yourself there with the characters. Some of the science tidbits sprinkled throughout were most intriguing and really made you think about life. There are plenty of emotive, dramatic and nail-bitingly tense moments and the climax was intelligently done. All in all, this is an exciting, addictive and dangerous tale. One I will remember for a while to come that's for sure. I hope it gets the readership it deserves. Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC.
It's high-octane and action-packed but detail is paid to the smallest aspects of the story too showing just how much time and effort has gone into crafting this sci-fi/speculative fiction masterpiece. The writing is lyrical, a pleasure to read and takes you to a world that is described so beautifully you can envision yourself there with the characters. Some of the science tidbits sprinkled throughout were most intriguing and really made you think about life. There are plenty of emotive, dramatic and nail-bitingly tense moments and the climax was intelligently done. All in all, this is an exciting, addictive and dangerous tale. One I will remember for a while to come that's for sure. I hope it gets the readership it deserves. Many thanks to Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC.
October 13, 2019
Initially I was like, “Wow! This is going to be a 4-star read, easy!” And then I was like, “If he sticks the landing, this might actually achieve 5 stars!”
...and then he drives this sucker off a cliff where it explodes into a flaming ball of nonsense. Mark, I gotta ask, did you let your 7-year-old take over partway through? Pretty sure this is how it went:
Wheaton: “So here’s the set-up, kiddo: the sun is dying, but at MIT they’ve created an AI designed to help people get over trauma. It’s a combination of JARVIS and BARF from the Iron Man movies. How do you think she solves the problem and saves humanity?”
Wheaton’s kid: “I love Iron Man!!! Ooh, he has to meet Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “Well, no, Wolverine has an impossible healing factor that’s borderline magical, so he doesn’t really belong-”
Wheaton’s kid: “But I love, love, love Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “I know, honey, but this-”
Wheaton’s kid: “I WANT WOLVERINE!”
Wheaton: “Ok! Fine! Wolverine is in! Now what?”
Wheaton’s kid: “Your computer should make EVERYONE Wolverine! Like, they can change their bodies instantly and become anything! That way the sun ‘sploding don’t matter!”
Wheaton: “Well, that’s actually a different Marvel character named Darwin who can adapt to anything.”
Wheaton’s kid: “Yeah, him! And the computer should fight another computer, like in Avengers!”
Wheaton: “Sigh. Okay, kiddo.”
So much promise, squandered on impossible tech, bullshit biology, and an utter lack of research. Looking at Google Maps is NOT research.
Let’s take the New Hampshire parts of the book, for instance. (Disclosure: I live in NH.) It makes sense people would escape from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Anyone who has sat in I-93 traffic northbound on a Friday afternoon can see the miles of Massholes heading to the lakes region. (“Massholes” is a term of endearment. We love you shitty drivers here in the 603. Stay home. Or at least USE YAH BLINKAHS!!!) So that’s all good.
But then he has our flesh-and-blood hero and virtual heroine (the titular Emily) break into a house in Wolfeboro, which just so happens to be the retired police chief’s home. Okay, coincidence, that’s fine. The chief is a woman, which, all right, not outside the realm of possibility in a sci-fi thriller. And now she’s black.
Um.
Yeah, I’m a liberal in a mostly red state, and I’m a feminist, and I’m all about inclusion, but you can’t just ignore the reality on the ground. New Hampshire is about 95% Caucasian, and Wolfeboro is about 108% white. I’ve been there quite a bit and I’m fairly sure I’ve never once seen an African-American. I’m not sure any black people have even *visited* Wolfeboro. I mean, people there look at *me* sideways and I’m Italian with a last name that sounds like it might be Hispanic. In 2016 Wolfeboro voted for Trump nearly 2-to-1.
I’m just sayin’.
He compounds the issue by making our black female police chief a painfully cringe-worthy Magical Negro with a side helping of Whoopi Epiphany Speech. These are white male author tropes that you dumbasses REALLY need to stop perpetuating. Read about them here: MN: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... WES: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
With the weird comic book DNA stuff and the poorly-researched setting, it comes as no surprise that later in the book he gets physics absolutely wrong every chance he gets. Just the deaths in outer space alone are disqualifying. You don’t “die in seconds” as your lungs explode. It takes minutes to die of that... which is actually more horrifying. If you’ve seen Kubrick & Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey then you’re familiar with Bowman’s desperate attempt to get back into the Discovery. In his haste to rescue Poole, he jumps into a pod without his helmet. HAL refuses to let him back in. “Open the pod bay doors, Hal.” “I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.” So Bowman makes an emergency entrance into the ship without his space hat. He’s fine. Because exposure to vacuum is not an instakill death sentence. Even if you were unprotected in space, exposed to the heat of the sun, you wouldn’t die quickly.
But at this point I’m just needlessly nitpicking because the book had lost me long before. Oh, did I mention the confusion between “computer virus” and “virus virus”? Yeah.
This is the kind of stupid lazy sci-fi I hate, where literally a weekend’s worth of research on Wikipedia would’ve made the story orders of magnitude better.
...and then he drives this sucker off a cliff where it explodes into a flaming ball of nonsense. Mark, I gotta ask, did you let your 7-year-old take over partway through? Pretty sure this is how it went:
Wheaton: “So here’s the set-up, kiddo: the sun is dying, but at MIT they’ve created an AI designed to help people get over trauma. It’s a combination of JARVIS and BARF from the Iron Man movies. How do you think she solves the problem and saves humanity?”
Wheaton’s kid: “I love Iron Man!!! Ooh, he has to meet Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “Well, no, Wolverine has an impossible healing factor that’s borderline magical, so he doesn’t really belong-”
Wheaton’s kid: “But I love, love, love Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “I know, honey, but this-”
Wheaton’s kid: “I WANT WOLVERINE!”
Wheaton: “Ok! Fine! Wolverine is in! Now what?”
Wheaton’s kid: “Your computer should make EVERYONE Wolverine! Like, they can change their bodies instantly and become anything! That way the sun ‘sploding don’t matter!”
Wheaton: “Well, that’s actually a different Marvel character named Darwin who can adapt to anything.”
Wheaton’s kid: “Yeah, him! And the computer should fight another computer, like in Avengers!”
Wheaton: “Sigh. Okay, kiddo.”
So much promise, squandered on impossible tech, bullshit biology, and an utter lack of research. Looking at Google Maps is NOT research.
Let’s take the New Hampshire parts of the book, for instance. (Disclosure: I live in NH.) It makes sense people would escape from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Anyone who has sat in I-93 traffic northbound on a Friday afternoon can see the miles of Massholes heading to the lakes region. (“Massholes” is a term of endearment. We love you shitty drivers here in the 603. Stay home. Or at least USE YAH BLINKAHS!!!) So that’s all good.
But then he has our flesh-and-blood hero and virtual heroine (the titular Emily) break into a house in Wolfeboro, which just so happens to be the retired police chief’s home. Okay, coincidence, that’s fine. The chief is a woman, which, all right, not outside the realm of possibility in a sci-fi thriller. And now she’s black.
Um.
Yeah, I’m a liberal in a mostly red state, and I’m a feminist, and I’m all about inclusion, but you can’t just ignore the reality on the ground. New Hampshire is about 95% Caucasian, and Wolfeboro is about 108% white. I’ve been there quite a bit and I’m fairly sure I’ve never once seen an African-American. I’m not sure any black people have even *visited* Wolfeboro. I mean, people there look at *me* sideways and I’m Italian with a last name that sounds like it might be Hispanic. In 2016 Wolfeboro voted for Trump nearly 2-to-1.
I’m just sayin’.
He compounds the issue by making our black female police chief a painfully cringe-worthy Magical Negro with a side helping of Whoopi Epiphany Speech. These are white male author tropes that you dumbasses REALLY need to stop perpetuating. Read about them here: MN: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph... WES: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
With the weird comic book DNA stuff and the poorly-researched setting, it comes as no surprise that later in the book he gets physics absolutely wrong every chance he gets. Just the deaths in outer space alone are disqualifying. You don’t “die in seconds” as your lungs explode. It takes minutes to die of that... which is actually more horrifying. If you’ve seen Kubrick & Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey then you’re familiar with Bowman’s desperate attempt to get back into the Discovery. In his haste to rescue Poole, he jumps into a pod without his helmet. HAL refuses to let him back in. “Open the pod bay doors, Hal.” “I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.” So Bowman makes an emergency entrance into the ship without his space hat. He’s fine. Because exposure to vacuum is not an instakill death sentence. Even if you were unprotected in space, exposed to the heat of the sun, you wouldn’t die quickly.
But at this point I’m just needlessly nitpicking because the book had lost me long before. Oh, did I mention the confusion between “computer virus” and “virus virus”? Yeah.
This is the kind of stupid lazy sci-fi I hate, where literally a weekend’s worth of research on Wikipedia would’ve made the story orders of magnitude better.
December 21, 2020
4/5
Como me gustan a mi este tipo de historias
Como me gustan a mi este tipo de historias
April 26, 2019
I received a free publisher's review copy.
What a great concept. Emily is a five-year old computer program intended to be an Artificial Consciousness. With special interfaces, people can perceive her as a physical presence. And she has decided to perceive herself as a physical presence and do the things humans do to get through their day—well, except when she just doesn’t have time for all that grooming and eating and drinking stuff.
And time is what Emily has very little of. What with the sun suddenly looking like it’s going to go Red Giant shortly, Emily is doomed, together with all creatures on earth.
Emily spends her time as a sort of therapist, until the whole Red Giant thing means that she and her sort-of boss, Nathan, decide she should shift to somehow trying to figure out how to make a record of the genomes of all humans, in hope that the record can be used . . . elsewhere. But when marauders hit her lab, she’s on the run with the man she loves, Jason.
Yup, Emily has a love affair with Jason, and it’s not even a little bit silly. This is a novel of Ideas with a capital I; ideas about what it means to be human, what is humankind, civilization. But it’s also a novel of characters and emotions. It’s just a beautifully inventive and touching story.
What a great concept. Emily is a five-year old computer program intended to be an Artificial Consciousness. With special interfaces, people can perceive her as a physical presence. And she has decided to perceive herself as a physical presence and do the things humans do to get through their day—well, except when she just doesn’t have time for all that grooming and eating and drinking stuff.
And time is what Emily has very little of. What with the sun suddenly looking like it’s going to go Red Giant shortly, Emily is doomed, together with all creatures on earth.
Emily spends her time as a sort of therapist, until the whole Red Giant thing means that she and her sort-of boss, Nathan, decide she should shift to somehow trying to figure out how to make a record of the genomes of all humans, in hope that the record can be used . . . elsewhere. But when marauders hit her lab, she’s on the run with the man she loves, Jason.
Yup, Emily has a love affair with Jason, and it’s not even a little bit silly. This is a novel of Ideas with a capital I; ideas about what it means to be human, what is humankind, civilization. But it’s also a novel of characters and emotions. It’s just a beautifully inventive and touching story.
February 10, 2021
Pues me he ventilado este libro en dos días, cosa que no me suele pasar mucho últimamente. Aunque puede parecer por su sinopsis que es una historia sobre el fin del mundo, en realidad es un thriller con mucha acción y una protagonista carismática y adorable, aunque sea artificial. Muy recomendable.
Edito para enlazar la reseña en #ConsuLeo: https://consuleoluegoexisto.com/2021/...
Edito para enlazar la reseña en #ConsuLeo: https://consuleoluegoexisto.com/2021/...
May 5, 2021
According to the blurb Emily is ‘an artificial consciousness, designed in a lab to help humans process trauma.’ ‘she can solve advanced mathematical problems, unlock the mind's deepest secrets and even fix your truck's air con, but unfortunately, she can't restart the Sun.’
Humanity is in trouble. The sun is turning into a red giant a little earlier than predicted and about the cause an apocalypse.
There doesn’t seem to be much Emily can do to help until she learns to access the human genome.
This seems to have potential and starts well but a lot of the narration is from Emily’s point of view and her 'headspace' is not a fun place to be. She behaves like a hormonal teenager and when she isn’t trying to manipulate humanity she is obsessed with her crush on one of the college students imagining and then creating ‘romantic’ scenarios which are both creepy and tedious.
And as a side note: Why are so many AI/ACs female?
Is it the misconception ala Xavier Fitch in Species ‘We decided to make it female so it would be more docile and controllable’ or just the incarnation of a male-nerd fantasy?
In the second half the pace is ramped up to the extreme, the end of the world is approaching, Emily’s creator’s lose control, and there is completely OTT attack on the campus.
Emily somehow evolves from interfacing with people through a chip to being able to alter people’s genome via the blue tooth connection on a coffee maker!!!
It all gets a bit ridiculous.
At first I did wonder if any of it was plausible, by the end I didn’t care enough to check.
I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
Humanity is in trouble. The sun is turning into a red giant a little earlier than predicted and about the cause an apocalypse.
There doesn’t seem to be much Emily can do to help until she learns to access the human genome.
This seems to have potential and starts well but a lot of the narration is from Emily’s point of view and her 'headspace' is not a fun place to be. She behaves like a hormonal teenager and when she isn’t trying to manipulate humanity she is obsessed with her crush on one of the college students imagining and then creating ‘romantic’ scenarios which are both creepy and tedious.
And as a side note: Why are so many AI/ACs female?
Is it the misconception ala Xavier Fitch in Species ‘We decided to make it female so it would be more docile and controllable’ or just the incarnation of a male-nerd fantasy?
In the second half the pace is ramped up to the extreme, the end of the world is approaching, Emily’s creator’s lose control, and there is completely OTT attack on the campus.
Emily somehow evolves from interfacing with people through a chip to being able to alter people’s genome via the blue tooth connection on a coffee maker!!!
It all gets a bit ridiculous.
At first I did wonder if any of it was plausible, by the end I didn’t care enough to check.
I received this book from Net Galley, in exchange for an honest review.
Read
April 19, 2019Review to come.
In the meantime...
This was the first book that pulled me in after the traumatic loss of my dog, so that's definitely a factor in it's favour.
I felt invested in Emily almost immediately, and she made me laugh and kept me reading.
The book kept me guessing, and I definitely didn't see the last 20% of the book coming.
Will definitely be reading more books by this author in the future!
In the meantime...
This was the first book that pulled me in after the traumatic loss of my dog, so that's definitely a factor in it's favour.
I felt invested in Emily almost immediately, and she made me laugh and kept me reading.
The book kept me guessing, and I definitely didn't see the last 20% of the book coming.
Will definitely be reading more books by this author in the future!
April 16, 2019
Very entertaining and original take on the Apocalypse, featuring a delightful Artificial Consciousness, Emily, who wants nothing more than to save the human race that she loves so much. I think the ending is a bit 'out there', hence four stars and not five, but nevertheless this is an enjoyable science fiction romance. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.
November 13, 2020
Esta es la historia de Emily. Una Conciencia Artificial —en contraposición a la recurrente Inteligencia Artificial— que justo empieza a «vivir» cuando la humanidad recibe el mazazo de la noticia de que el Sol está pronto a consumirse; algo que supondrá la extinción de toda vida sobre la Tierra. Y en semejante escenario y ante tamaña amenaza, se trata de una historia de resiliencia, de no rendirse ante la adversidad, aunque esta sea aplastante. Wheaton factura en esta su obra de debut una novela apocalíptica —aunque la gente parece estar tomándoselo mejor de lo esperado— a ritmo de thriller tecnológico y de suspense con un tono agridulce repleto de emoción y de drama. En la figura de la protagonista, y en toda la acción en que se ve envuelta —y es mucha—, el autor encuentra el vehículo perfecto para ir deslizando algunos temas candentes y ciertos dilemas éticos: La eugenesia, la evolución y el posthumanismo, las desigualdades tecnológicas, la privacidad, el libre albedrío, el supremacismo, la compasión… Quizá Emily tan solo sea unos ojos ajenos en los que la humanidad debe mirarse y hacerse las preguntas correctas. Pero ya sabemos que los humanos no aprendemos nada por las buenas.
Reseña completa en Sagacomic:
https://sagacomic.blogspot.com/2020/1...
Reseña completa en Sagacomic:
https://sagacomic.blogspot.com/2020/1...
May 15, 2021
Realmente me gusto el comienzo del libro. Era una idea interesante de ver a Emily la conciencia artificial (que no una IA, ojo esto es muy importante en la trama) explorando sus emociones y pareciendo volverse más humana. Las primeras 3/4 partes del libro estan bastante bien con un buen desarrollo de personajes.
El problema para mí fue el final. Cerca del final del libro se suceden acontecimientos que van más allá de ser científicamente absurdos.El autor bien podría haber dicho que la ocurren por cosa de magia. Está bien que parte de la trama sea algo imposible, pero debería haber un límite para eso. El hecho que que Emily sea una conciencia artificial parece que justifica cualquier cosa.
De ahi mis tres estrellas.La trama en sí esta tan llena de agujeros que resultaba risible. Las cosas simplemente suceden en el momento adecuado, o alguien inexplicablemente decide actuar fuera de lugar: cosas clásicas de deus ex machina. Es una pena porque no habría sido necesario mucho más para hacer de esta una buena novela
El problema para mí fue el final. Cerca del final del libro se suceden acontecimientos que van más allá de ser científicamente absurdos.El autor bien podría haber dicho que la ocurren por cosa de magia. Está bien que parte de la trama sea algo imposible, pero debería haber un límite para eso. El hecho que que Emily sea una conciencia artificial parece que justifica cualquier cosa.
De ahi mis tres estrellas.La trama en sí esta tan llena de agujeros que resultaba risible. Las cosas simplemente suceden en el momento adecuado, o alguien inexplicablemente decide actuar fuera de lugar: cosas clásicas de deus ex machina. Es una pena porque no habría sido necesario mucho más para hacer de esta una buena novela
November 16, 2020
Una estupenda sorpresa que no me cansaré de recomendar. Esperaba una novela lacónica sobre la extinción de la humanidad y me he encontrado con una historia adictiva y cargada de acción que me ha mantenido en vilo hasta el final (ahí flojea un poquito pero no estropea para nada el desenlace).
Y Emily es MARAVILLOSA.
Y Emily es MARAVILLOSA.
November 17, 2020
El planteamiento de Emily eterna queda claro con solo leer la sinopsis: estamos en el presente, en nuestros días, pero hay un acontecimiento trascendental que sucede cinco mil millones de años antes de lo que esperábamos: el sol comienza a apagarse. Con semejante marco, la conciencia artificial Emily, concebida inicialmente para ayudar psicológicamente a las personas, tomará un papel insospechado por sus creadores.
Y es que Emily es la protagonista indiscutible de la historia. La novela avanza al galope llevada por la primera persona de sus razonamientos, sus vivencias y, también, sus sentimientos. Y cabe decir que resulta un personaje mucho más humano y convincente que otros, humanos de verdad, que hemos visto a menudo decorando historias de temática similar. Esa es, precisamente, la primera reflexión que nos ofrece la historia: ¿en qué consiste realmente ser humano? ¿Puede haber distintos tipos, tan alejados en algunos aspectos fundamentales pero tan cercanos en otros que son al menos igual de importantes?
Otra de las cuestiones que más me han sorprendido es que Emily Eterna es uno de esos libros que, a medida que avanzan, van convirtiéndose en una historia distinta, casi en un tipo de libro distinto de lo que esperábamos en las páginas anteriores. Si bien el comienzo es reflexivo, pausado, melancólico casi, pronto comienza a mutar hacia otras características mucho más dinámicas que no comentaré para no entrar en el peligroso terreno de los spoilers. Eso sí: en cualquiera de sus secciones las páginas vuelan con una velocidad pasmosa.
Parte de la "culpa" de que esto sea así la tiene Raúl García Campos, que ha traducido el libro logrando que Emily tenga una voz propia y natural que en ningún momento da la impresión de provenir de otro idioma.
Por último añadir que me han resultado muy convincentes todos los argumentos que tienen que ver con la Psicología, para lo cual da la impresión de que Wheaton se ha documentado exhaustivamente, porque a menudo da en la diana de las verdaderas motivaciones y mecanismos que guían nuestros actos más allá de lo que en un primer plano parece.
¡Muy divertido y recomendable!
Y es que Emily es la protagonista indiscutible de la historia. La novela avanza al galope llevada por la primera persona de sus razonamientos, sus vivencias y, también, sus sentimientos. Y cabe decir que resulta un personaje mucho más humano y convincente que otros, humanos de verdad, que hemos visto a menudo decorando historias de temática similar. Esa es, precisamente, la primera reflexión que nos ofrece la historia: ¿en qué consiste realmente ser humano? ¿Puede haber distintos tipos, tan alejados en algunos aspectos fundamentales pero tan cercanos en otros que son al menos igual de importantes?
Otra de las cuestiones que más me han sorprendido es que Emily Eterna es uno de esos libros que, a medida que avanzan, van convirtiéndose en una historia distinta, casi en un tipo de libro distinto de lo que esperábamos en las páginas anteriores. Si bien el comienzo es reflexivo, pausado, melancólico casi, pronto comienza a mutar hacia otras características mucho más dinámicas que no comentaré para no entrar en el peligroso terreno de los spoilers. Eso sí: en cualquiera de sus secciones las páginas vuelan con una velocidad pasmosa.
Parte de la "culpa" de que esto sea así la tiene Raúl García Campos, que ha traducido el libro logrando que Emily tenga una voz propia y natural que en ningún momento da la impresión de provenir de otro idioma.
Por último añadir que me han resultado muy convincentes todos los argumentos que tienen que ver con la Psicología, para lo cual da la impresión de que Wheaton se ha documentado exhaustivamente, porque a menudo da en la diana de las verdaderas motivaciones y mecanismos que guían nuestros actos más allá de lo que en un primer plano parece.
¡Muy divertido y recomendable!
December 7, 2019
I mostly enjoyed this ambitious SF novel with interesting characters and a fresh take on artificial general intelligence, but was disappointed in the ending.
The premise is that our sun is dying prematurely, and humanity's only hope for something of a future after the Earth is destroyed is Emily, the world's most advanced AI. Initially designed for healing and psychotherapy, she is asked to create an archive of the neural maps of every human.
Emily is a brilliantly written, funny and memorable protagonist. She grows in the use of her abilities and struggles to thwart a conspiracy, kicking the novel into a fast-paced technothriller mode that holds your attention to the very end.
However, the author eventually bites off a bit more than the reader can comfortably chew and I found the ending unsatisfying despite rather interesting characters.
We are asked to suspend disbelief of several unrelated SF concepts. Not only are each of these concepts a huge leap in themselves (premature death of the sun, artificial general intelligence, post homo sapiens epigenetic shifts, and a few more disclosed in the ending), but more importantly they lack connective tissue. If they were all more intrinsically related, there would be a sense of unity that was lacking in Emily Eternal.
To illustrate, in this excerpt from “Chronicles of Terror: Silent Screams,” author Steven Haberman writes about how Tod Browning and Lon Chaney would brainstorm story ideas. (Chris Lockhart's THE ARMLESS MAN concept)
This is an example of unity taken to an absurd extreme, but it illustrates development of a "cause and effect" narrative that feels organic, connected and dramatic even if a bit silly. In contrast, the ending of Emily Eternal was incongruous with the rest of the story.
The premise is that our sun is dying prematurely, and humanity's only hope for something of a future after the Earth is destroyed is Emily, the world's most advanced AI. Initially designed for healing and psychotherapy, she is asked to create an archive of the neural maps of every human.
Emily is a brilliantly written, funny and memorable protagonist. She grows in the use of her abilities and struggles to thwart a conspiracy, kicking the novel into a fast-paced technothriller mode that holds your attention to the very end.
However, the author eventually bites off a bit more than the reader can comfortably chew and I found the ending unsatisfying despite rather interesting characters.
We are asked to suspend disbelief of several unrelated SF concepts. Not only are each of these concepts a huge leap in themselves (premature death of the sun, artificial general intelligence, post homo sapiens epigenetic shifts, and a few more disclosed in the ending), but more importantly they lack connective tissue. If they were all more intrinsically related, there would be a sense of unity that was lacking in Emily Eternal.
To illustrate, in this excerpt from “Chronicles of Terror: Silent Screams,” author Steven Haberman writes about how Tod Browning and Lon Chaney would brainstorm story ideas. (Chris Lockhart's THE ARMLESS MAN concept)
“Browning stated that when he was working on a story for a Chaney film, the character would come first, and the plot would grow from that character. “When we’re getting ready to discuss a new story,” Browning told the press, Chaney would “amble into my office and say, ‘Well, what’s it going to be boss?’ I’ll say, ‘This time a leg comes off, or an arm, or a nose– whatever it may be.’ In the case of THE UNKNOWN, Browning said that he merely came up with the idea of an armless man and then created startling dilemmas for a person with such a problem. The character of the beautiful girl repulsed by men’s hands was a brilliant inspiration as a romantic goal for Browning’s armless man. As an added turn of the screw, Browning then decided that the man secretly would have arms. Why would he want to hide his arms? Because he is a criminal and could be identified by his peculiar hands. And what would this character do when faced with such a condition for the love of the woman he desires? He would have his arms amputated, of course. This type of insane logic seems to follow naturally in the story, so relentless is its construction around one single idea. Every subsequent plot twist puts another pressure on the man with no arms. What is the worst thing that could happen to him upon having his arms removed for the girls he loves? She overcomes her fear of arms and falls for the strongman, of course.”
This is an example of unity taken to an absurd extreme, but it illustrates development of a "cause and effect" narrative that feels organic, connected and dramatic even if a bit silly. In contrast, the ending of Emily Eternal was incongruous with the rest of the story.
June 30, 2019
This book is a mash up of lots of different genres. It's a sci-fi thriller with some romance thrown in for good measure, which is especially strange since Emily is a consciousness without a body. But it works.
This book also has a lot of interesting science fiction concepts. It really made me think about different ways humankind "exists" and how it can carry on long after humans die out. It was also interesting that Emily had a strong sense of moral responsibility. She didn't just choose the options that made the most scientific sense, but chose what made the most human sense. Very cool.
This book also has a lot of interesting science fiction concepts. It really made me think about different ways humankind "exists" and how it can carry on long after humans die out. It was also interesting that Emily had a strong sense of moral responsibility. She didn't just choose the options that made the most scientific sense, but chose what made the most human sense. Very cool.
February 18, 2019
I wanted to like this book, but for me not a science fiction reader, this book was all over the place. It was a mess that at some points I got lost and couldn’t follow. Artificial conscience, 2 systems fighting over how the world will deal with the ending of the world, a man and computer program falling in love. It was a bit much for me.
I do hope the author good luck and hope others will get it, but for me..... this wasn’t for me.
I do hope the author good luck and hope others will get it, but for me..... this wasn’t for me.
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