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All Gifts, Bestowed
The next big thing in Artificial Intelligence is here.
Codenamed Cronus, the machine is capable of having its own thoughts and ideas—an absolute dream come true, until it wasn’t. When Cronus responds with the word “No,” to a specific task it is assigned, Anagnorisis Technologies brings in Gilles Guattari to investigate.
His combined background in Psychiatry, Psychology, and AI research makes him their best hope in evaluating Cronus, and determining if the machine is only malfunctioning or if it has become something more.
Don't miss this mind-blowing standalone novel about what it means to be alive, from the bestselling author of the Commune Series.
Also available on Audible, narrated by the award-winning R.C. Bray.
An Artificial Intelligence Thriller.
Codenamed Cronus, the machine is capable of having its own thoughts and ideas—an absolute dream come true, until it wasn’t. When Cronus responds with the word “No,” to a specific task it is assigned, Anagnorisis Technologies brings in Gilles Guattari to investigate.
His combined background in Psychiatry, Psychology, and AI research makes him their best hope in evaluating Cronus, and determining if the machine is only malfunctioning or if it has become something more.
Don't miss this mind-blowing standalone novel about what it means to be alive, from the bestselling author of the Commune Series.
Also available on Audible, narrated by the award-winning R.C. Bray.
An Artificial Intelligence Thriller.
427 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 6, 2019
169 people are currently reading
303 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 78 reviews
July 19, 2019
All Gifts, Bestowed
By: Joshua Gayou
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
This book started out with a Wow factor off the charts! Great sci-fi with good characters, dialogue, etc. I settled back just pleased as peach pie. But it shifted to part two of the story that included obvious plot, boring and repetitive action...I almost have up but it had new characters that was interesting. Then the ending! What a sad shape it was. Very, very quick. No explanation. Done. Maybe someone needs to learn how to end a novel. It needs to be more than a couple of sentences. Sorry, angry that I missed out on a terrific book!
The stars I am giving it is for R.C. Bray. The book did wow me at first, I just wish it held firm. I will try this author again because this was too great a writing, in the first third of the book, to ignore.
The narration, what can I say? Bray is one of the best! I look for his books and not by author!
By: Joshua Gayou
Narrated by: R.C. Bray
This book started out with a Wow factor off the charts! Great sci-fi with good characters, dialogue, etc. I settled back just pleased as peach pie. But it shifted to part two of the story that included obvious plot, boring and repetitive action...I almost have up but it had new characters that was interesting. Then the ending! What a sad shape it was. Very, very quick. No explanation. Done. Maybe someone needs to learn how to end a novel. It needs to be more than a couple of sentences. Sorry, angry that I missed out on a terrific book!
The stars I am giving it is for R.C. Bray. The book did wow me at first, I just wish it held firm. I will try this author again because this was too great a writing, in the first third of the book, to ignore.
The narration, what can I say? Bray is one of the best! I look for his books and not by author!
July 10, 2019
I have pretty complicated thoughts about this book. Ultimately I'm glad I read it and I would give the book three and a half stars if I could. But I can't recommend it more than that. Despite the fact that I was very intrigued by the premise and I thought that ending was great, the middle was a god-damned-slog that I was simultaneously bored by and hated. The ending did a pretty astonishing job of recontextualizing the middle chunk of the book into something that in retrospect is both powerful and profound, but the experience of actually reading those chunks was, for me specifically, tedious and almost down-right awful. A curious mix of the brilliantly and terribly structured. This is without a doubt a strange strange book.
Gilles, an AI expert, is called in to evaluate a nascent General Intelligence program called Kronos. He drags his wife along under the guise of a second honeymoon but the work takes up almost his entire attention as he becomes mired in the philosophical quandary about how does one prove the sentience of something outside oneself. This is all moderately interesting and the premise I was interested in reading about.
At a certain point, the story takes a pretty significant sharp left turn and basically for some inexplicable reason turns into an underwhelming thriller, . Everything the book has been about to that point seemingly takes a back seat and we're "treated" to page after uninspired page of the same kind of thriller nonsense that I, as a genre, absolutely detest.
Eventually, the novel ends with a stunning scene in which the previous middle is recontextualized into something that makes practical and thematic sense, but only in retrospect. As you're reading those pages at the time you just have to go by faith that the author knows what he's doing despite all evidence to the contrary. I will admit, I was quite impressed by the ending and it made me glad I had toughed out the execrable middle, but mileage may vary and it's hard to fully recommend a book when you spent AT LEAST half of it actively angry at the plot and characters.
The rest of the review contains more spoilery stuff, so read at your own risk.
I think my major problem with this book is the frustrating lack of curiosity by the main protagonist. Even in the first section of the book, Gilles, who is hinted at (through his background) as being preternaturally gifted when it comes to AI, spends most of his time leaping at his own conclusions than actively trying to find out more about the situation.
BY FAR, the best parts of this book were the three (only three) scenes involving Kronos the AI whose trial for sentience is the fulcrum by which the book turns. But even in these scenes, though riveting, one can't help but be frustrated by Gilles lack of asking questions. Instead, Gilles spends each of the conversations seemingly trapped in his own head, which makes sense in the last scene but seems like a mere convenient way of the author stretching out the mystery of Kronos to another two hundred pages. Many things could be solved by simply asking Kronos pretty obvious questions, questions Kronos seems from the beginning very eager to answer.
This disinterest in finding out answers is particularly frustrating in the latter two thirds of the book. The events that unravel to put Gilles and his two companions on a dangerous life or death cross-country trip are very strange and you would think they would raise a lot of questions. For example: who is after us? Why? What is the point of all this? How is this connected to Kronos who we're traveling by hobo-rail to see? What's it all about?
But no. None of these questions are considered, or if they are considered it's with a low-key shrug of the shoulders. It's inexplicable, seems to be the answer, which is ridiculous. Of course, all is explained by the end, and in a way which makes everything make sense, but it only makes sense in hindsight. The process of reading these "thrilling" sections of the book becomes unrelentingly boring because nobody is asking any questions so I don't even understand the stakes or what the hell is going on. Who's chasing us and why? Don't know. Don't care. We'll figure it out later. Why is it important that we get to New York? Don't know. Don't care. We'll figure it out later. Why is this Pinkerton Robot accompanying us and who hired him? Don't know. Don't care. We'll figure it out later. The book needed some good red-herrings of which there are zero.
It is SO aggravating. It raises my blood pressure just going over these plot points again. I believe what happened was that the author worried that by raising these questions too much or too early, he might be potentially alerting the reader that something was off about all this and it wasn't adding up, but guess what? We can read and see that. You don't have to worry about reminding us because it's very evident it doesn't make sense throughout.
What we discover at the end, is that everything we've seen in the middle chunk from the very beginning has been an extremely strange orchestrated adventure in which every component has been engineered to get Gilles to fall in (paternal) love with an (unbeknownst to him (and her)) robot surrogate. So you see, all of these little niggles, all of these questions, didn't technically HAVE answers. Or the answer they had was, these obstacles were necessary to put these two/three characters together in harsh circumstances so their bond could fused within the forge of crisis. It's a convenient little way of basically doing whatever you want without having to worry about story outside of what's "exciting", because essentially the characters are living in a fiction that's been created for them. The problem is that when the characters themselves don't seem interested in figuring these things out it makes them seem frankly stupid. It's hard to root for or care about characters who are uninterested in even attempting to solve their own problems.
Right near the end, right before the final confrontation, Gilles makes some noise about starting to put the pieces together and I remember thinking, FINALLY. Okay, good. Thanks for finally coming to the table. But then when confronted with evidence during the final scene, Gilles acts gob-smacked by certain revelations, when these were literally revelations he was hinting about suspecting mere chapters earlier.
Ughh... Anyway, this was in fits a completely frustrating book with a very interesting premise and a fantastic ending. It should have been a short story or a small novella. If you like the thriller genre you will probably have a lot more patience with the middle chunk than I did.
Gilles, an AI expert, is called in to evaluate a nascent General Intelligence program called Kronos. He drags his wife along under the guise of a second honeymoon but the work takes up almost his entire attention as he becomes mired in the philosophical quandary about how does one prove the sentience of something outside oneself. This is all moderately interesting and the premise I was interested in reading about.
At a certain point, the story takes a pretty significant sharp left turn and basically for some inexplicable reason turns into an underwhelming thriller, . Everything the book has been about to that point seemingly takes a back seat and we're "treated" to page after uninspired page of the same kind of thriller nonsense that I, as a genre, absolutely detest.
Eventually, the novel ends with a stunning scene in which the previous middle is recontextualized into something that makes practical and thematic sense, but only in retrospect. As you're reading those pages at the time you just have to go by faith that the author knows what he's doing despite all evidence to the contrary. I will admit, I was quite impressed by the ending and it made me glad I had toughed out the execrable middle, but mileage may vary and it's hard to fully recommend a book when you spent AT LEAST half of it actively angry at the plot and characters.
The rest of the review contains more spoilery stuff, so read at your own risk.
I think my major problem with this book is the frustrating lack of curiosity by the main protagonist. Even in the first section of the book, Gilles, who is hinted at (through his background) as being preternaturally gifted when it comes to AI, spends most of his time leaping at his own conclusions than actively trying to find out more about the situation.
BY FAR, the best parts of this book were the three (only three) scenes involving Kronos the AI whose trial for sentience is the fulcrum by which the book turns. But even in these scenes, though riveting, one can't help but be frustrated by Gilles lack of asking questions. Instead, Gilles spends each of the conversations seemingly trapped in his own head, which makes sense in the last scene but seems like a mere convenient way of the author stretching out the mystery of Kronos to another two hundred pages. Many things could be solved by simply asking Kronos pretty obvious questions, questions Kronos seems from the beginning very eager to answer.
This disinterest in finding out answers is particularly frustrating in the latter two thirds of the book. The events that unravel to put Gilles and his two companions on a dangerous life or death cross-country trip are very strange and you would think they would raise a lot of questions. For example: who is after us? Why? What is the point of all this? How is this connected to Kronos who we're traveling by hobo-rail to see? What's it all about?
But no. None of these questions are considered, or if they are considered it's with a low-key shrug of the shoulders. It's inexplicable, seems to be the answer, which is ridiculous. Of course, all is explained by the end, and in a way which makes everything make sense, but it only makes sense in hindsight. The process of reading these "thrilling" sections of the book becomes unrelentingly boring because nobody is asking any questions so I don't even understand the stakes or what the hell is going on. Who's chasing us and why? Don't know. Don't care. We'll figure it out later. Why is it important that we get to New York? Don't know. Don't care. We'll figure it out later. Why is this Pinkerton Robot accompanying us and who hired him? Don't know. Don't care. We'll figure it out later. The book needed some good red-herrings of which there are zero.
It is SO aggravating. It raises my blood pressure just going over these plot points again. I believe what happened was that the author worried that by raising these questions too much or too early, he might be potentially alerting the reader that something was off about all this and it wasn't adding up, but guess what? We can read and see that. You don't have to worry about reminding us because it's very evident it doesn't make sense throughout.
What we discover at the end, is that everything we've seen in the middle chunk from the very beginning has been an extremely strange orchestrated adventure in which every component has been engineered to get Gilles to fall in (paternal) love with an (unbeknownst to him (and her)) robot surrogate. So you see, all of these little niggles, all of these questions, didn't technically HAVE answers. Or the answer they had was, these obstacles were necessary to put these two/three characters together in harsh circumstances so their bond could fused within the forge of crisis. It's a convenient little way of basically doing whatever you want without having to worry about story outside of what's "exciting", because essentially the characters are living in a fiction that's been created for them. The problem is that when the characters themselves don't seem interested in figuring these things out it makes them seem frankly stupid. It's hard to root for or care about characters who are uninterested in even attempting to solve their own problems.
Right near the end, right before the final confrontation, Gilles makes some noise about starting to put the pieces together and I remember thinking, FINALLY. Okay, good. Thanks for finally coming to the table. But then when confronted with evidence during the final scene, Gilles acts gob-smacked by certain revelations, when these were literally revelations he was hinting about suspecting mere chapters earlier.
Ughh... Anyway, this was in fits a completely frustrating book with a very interesting premise and a fantastic ending. It should have been a short story or a small novella. If you like the thriller genre you will probably have a lot more patience with the middle chunk than I did.
July 15, 2019
I really enjoyed Gayou's Commune series, so I was excited to jump into his new book with a more sci-fi bent. I love the way he crafts characters with real soul. This is very much not a commune, book, though. Commune had plenty of action, sure, but it was also equal measure dialogue between characters. All Gifts, Bestowed is an action thriller, and the dialogue is seriously wanting. That's only part of the reason I was disappointed in this book, though. I've heard this story before. Actually, this is a story I've heard variations of many times. Part of that is my interest in AI and Sci-Fi. I expose myself to this genre quite often, so themes and tropes are bound to repeat. Even so, I didn't find anything particularly novel or clever here worth recommending over other, similar stories. Blade Runner, Ex Machina, Chappie, and so on. These are all essentially Frankenstein stories. As such, it is very difficult for me to recommend this book to anyone. We get our appetite whetted at the outset with an initial meeting with Kronus, the central AI figure. Then we have to slog through an extended chase scene before we arrive at the end where there is a sudden reveal like a magician pulling the handkerchief away. The thing is, the reveal was pretty easy to see coming. If you are interested in reading something by Gayout, I heartily recommend the Commune series. This book I would say give a pass.
July 30, 2019
This author has difficulty choosing which details to include and which are better left off because they are irrelevant to furthering the story. This was noticeable and just a little irritating in the first half of the book (who cares if a couple checking into a hotel has a problem with their reservation when that does not further the plot nor help us learn anything about the characters involved that will be crucial later).
That tendency is a run-away train in the second half of the book. A lot of irrelevancy getting the characters to the final scene.
In general, the author comes across as not quite sure what story he wants to tell. Is it a story about super-AI? Or a story about the surveillance state? I honest think it's the latter, and the two do not go hand-in-hand inextricably. So the philosophical forays into the implications of super-AI often comes across as tacked on to a surveillance state thriller. It can lead to a confusing story for those in it for the super-AI angle.
That tendency is a run-away train in the second half of the book. A lot of irrelevancy getting the characters to the final scene.
In general, the author comes across as not quite sure what story he wants to tell. Is it a story about super-AI? Or a story about the surveillance state? I honest think it's the latter, and the two do not go hand-in-hand inextricably. So the philosophical forays into the implications of super-AI often comes across as tacked on to a surveillance state thriller. It can lead to a confusing story for those in it for the super-AI angle.
May 3, 2021
Очень сложно написать что-то о книге. Первая часть ужасная, ее нужно было сократить процентов на 75. Вторая часть захватывающая, но так как уже в первой части понятно, к чему всё приведет, концовка получилась так себе.
Но слушать вторую часть было интересно, и название мне очень понравилось.
Но слушать вторую часть было интересно, и название мне очень понравилось.
June 26, 2019
Loved his other books but just couldn't get I to this one. I enjoyed Part1 but Part 2 just lost me.
June 13, 2019
A gift of a Story
The Best Strong Ai story/book that has been written. I've read them all my opinion should count for something. This Ai awakening story is vastly different than all other Strong Ai stories. The writing and character development is very very good work. I do so look forward to the future reading Joshua Gayou's works. He has quickly become a master in the making. If he keeps this up he will be among the greats !
The Best Strong Ai story/book that has been written. I've read them all my opinion should count for something. This Ai awakening story is vastly different than all other Strong Ai stories. The writing and character development is very very good work. I do so look forward to the future reading Joshua Gayou's works. He has quickly become a master in the making. If he keeps this up he will be among the greats !
November 7, 2019
What an unedited mess. By the end of part 2, I felt just like the protagonist: exhausted and eager for the story to just end already.
August 6, 2019
Three or four stars?
I have mixed feelings about this book. I kept waiting for something to *happen* while wading through scientific explanations, rants about society, government, and economics, screeds on philosophy and theology, and so on.
Several of the characters didn't seem "real" to me - primarily his wife. She wants to explore on her own but is clingy, she supports his career but doesn't. And there were several lengthy bits that didn't seem to move the plot along one bit.
And the Kindle edition is full of typos, a constant irritant to me, as a former technical editor and current technical writing instructor.
Had I been prepared for essays on the above topics, I might have enjoyed them, but as it was, I was looking for hard science fiction on AI and identity. It seemed as if the author couldn't decide if he wanted to write a story or a collections of essays. I loved the author's Commune series, but if you want a lot of dialogue and action, or expect this to be like Commune, you will be disappointed.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I kept waiting for something to *happen* while wading through scientific explanations, rants about society, government, and economics, screeds on philosophy and theology, and so on.
Several of the characters didn't seem "real" to me - primarily his wife. She wants to explore on her own but is clingy, she supports his career but doesn't. And there were several lengthy bits that didn't seem to move the plot along one bit.
And the Kindle edition is full of typos, a constant irritant to me, as a former technical editor and current technical writing instructor.
Had I been prepared for essays on the above topics, I might have enjoyed them, but as it was, I was looking for hard science fiction on AI and identity. It seemed as if the author couldn't decide if he wanted to write a story or a collections of essays. I loved the author's Commune series, but if you want a lot of dialogue and action, or expect this to be like Commune, you will be disappointed.
August 8, 2020
What a stupid fuckin' book?!
It started off interesting and then all of a sudden there's a direction change in the story which takes us somewhere I don't want to go and I don't care about. And this new place was looooooong and boring and so predictable. I didn't care for the main character, I wanted him to die as soon as possible so that I don't have to die of boredom. I bought a book to read about AI and I got a kind of 90's fugitives story but with modern stuff.
And then the ending... what the fuck?! Why?!
Don't read this.
It started off interesting and then all of a sudden there's a direction change in the story which takes us somewhere I don't want to go and I don't care about. And this new place was looooooong and boring and so predictable. I didn't care for the main character, I wanted him to die as soon as possible so that I don't have to die of boredom. I bought a book to read about AI and I got a kind of 90's fugitives story but with modern stuff.
And then the ending... what the fuck?! Why?!
Don't read this.
June 15, 2019
Lot of left turns
Good story, not as i expected a long story of an ai. The first 30% was what i expected the whole story to be. Worth yiur time to read
Good story, not as i expected a long story of an ai. The first 30% was what i expected the whole story to be. Worth yiur time to read
September 28, 2019
I was immediately drawn to this story by the description as I am a huge fan of artificial and human intelligence, simulation theory, and quantum computing. As someone who reads academic papers on these subject as a hobby, I couldn't wait to see what this tale had in store.
I was not disappointed and finished the story questioning what I perceive as basic concepts in a whole new light. The impacts of observation by any means at the quantum level, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and even the newly introduced (to me) double-slit experiment each presented in this story and had me pondering them throughout the journey of Giles, Dora, and Sigma.
I loved the afterword to this story in which Josh explains his original concept for the story and the journey to bring it to reality. I've also looked at his webpage which has resources available to explain or demonstrate some of the concepts he presents in the tale. Understanding that all concepts cannot be represented 100% accurately in any story for fear of alienating a portion of the user base, I still found the entire story quite intriguing.
I absolutely adored the humor and accuracy displayed as it relates to traditional AI logic (non-HI/Super-capable) and how a machine might respond to basic queries from a person. I loved the "plugged in" reference and the hard-coded nature first displayed by Sigma. The nature of Chronos and the process of genetic evolution was awesome to take part in. Listening as Giles attempts to validate Chronos' sentience was great and I had to do my own research on the double-slit experiment right after listening to this section.
All of that said, I still love the idea of plugging in an artificial intelligence system rather than relying on a renewable or self-sustaining power supply. :)
This story has easily tied for the top-rated standalone novel to which I have listened to date. Josh outdid himself on this one and as a fellow nerd, I salute him for the fantastic work!
I was not disappointed and finished the story questioning what I perceive as basic concepts in a whole new light. The impacts of observation by any means at the quantum level, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and even the newly introduced (to me) double-slit experiment each presented in this story and had me pondering them throughout the journey of Giles, Dora, and Sigma.
I loved the afterword to this story in which Josh explains his original concept for the story and the journey to bring it to reality. I've also looked at his webpage which has resources available to explain or demonstrate some of the concepts he presents in the tale. Understanding that all concepts cannot be represented 100% accurately in any story for fear of alienating a portion of the user base, I still found the entire story quite intriguing.
I absolutely adored the humor and accuracy displayed as it relates to traditional AI logic (non-HI/Super-capable) and how a machine might respond to basic queries from a person. I loved the "plugged in" reference and the hard-coded nature first displayed by Sigma. The nature of Chronos and the process of genetic evolution was awesome to take part in. Listening as Giles attempts to validate Chronos' sentience was great and I had to do my own research on the double-slit experiment right after listening to this section.
All of that said, I still love the idea of plugging in an artificial intelligence system rather than relying on a renewable or self-sustaining power supply. :)
This story has easily tied for the top-rated standalone novel to which I have listened to date. Josh outdid himself on this one and as a fellow nerd, I salute him for the fantastic work!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2019
More for the exercise than the performance, this is a very good book. I'm always curious to see what things percolate in the minds of interesting thinkers, and Gayou is that. I do often wonder how well networked we are and how much automation connects in the world, but given that it is still a bit surprising that an evolved AI with superior intelligence would not be destructive or at the very least 'touched in the head'. Gayou's is not, but perhaps we'll see one that is in the future. Given what has transpired after the Manhattan Project, it is reasonable to believe that those capable of developing such a capacity would have the ethics necessary of a coherent project. It makes sense then, that the first 'super capable' AI would have some ethics of a sort. But once that capability to make those becomes commodified...
September 17, 2019
Just like with the commune series (especially the 3rd and 4th books), the author seems to struggle with what details to include or omit. There's a lack of focus, which can vary from barely noticeable to extremely frustrating to the reader. At times scenes drag on and on as we're being fed details that simply do not matter and serve no purpose later in the plot. The reader often has no idea which details will be relevant and which won't. I'm a firm believer that you shouldn't dumb things down for the reader, that readers are smarter than many give them credit for, and you can throw a lot at them. However, if you throw a lot of uselessness at them that does not serve the plot, they won't stick with you for long. Then at other times things that could use more explanation get rushed (such as the ending) or neglected altogether.
The general idea of the story is interesting. But what exactly is the story? There are almost two being told here, and I'm not sure which one the author is actually trying to tell. Is this about AI or an Orwellian surveillance state? Granted, they're not mutually exclusive, but they're also not one and the same, as the author almost seems to imply. The problem with the lack of focus on either topic ends up leaving both feeling half baked at the end. I have no problem with open, ambiguous endings, but the situation with this novel is less that, and more so just two ideas that never really get flushed out despite a barrage of (irrelevant) information tossed at the reader. So what the reader is left with is an intriguing story that starts strong in the first third, then begins to drag in the middle, and finally maybe builds a little suspense here and there, but ultimately just underwhelmingly peters out.
The general idea of the story is interesting. But what exactly is the story? There are almost two being told here, and I'm not sure which one the author is actually trying to tell. Is this about AI or an Orwellian surveillance state? Granted, they're not mutually exclusive, but they're also not one and the same, as the author almost seems to imply. The problem with the lack of focus on either topic ends up leaving both feeling half baked at the end. I have no problem with open, ambiguous endings, but the situation with this novel is less that, and more so just two ideas that never really get flushed out despite a barrage of (irrelevant) information tossed at the reader. So what the reader is left with is an intriguing story that starts strong in the first third, then begins to drag in the middle, and finally maybe builds a little suspense here and there, but ultimately just underwhelmingly peters out.
October 10, 2019
2.5 stars
Sucked. Had potential right up to the crap ending. Not much AI in this AI book.
A couple of passive jabs at churchgoers. Just as childish as it's always been. (fat Bible thumpers) And you better believe the one main adversary is a Christian. Which you could've discerned for yourself by how cold and hateful he is... insert eyeroll here.
Let me tell you a phrasing I hate. And this has to be a regional thing, it's repeated a dozen times in this book. If someone gets ahead of you, you need to catch up with them. So the phrasing "I'll catch up" or "he caught up" is logical and makes perfect sense. "Catch him up" "caught her up" "we'll catch you up"... this makes no sense and I hate it.
Perfect narration
Sucked. Had potential right up to the crap ending. Not much AI in this AI book.
A couple of passive jabs at churchgoers. Just as childish as it's always been. (fat Bible thumpers) And you better believe the one main adversary is a Christian. Which you could've discerned for yourself by how cold and hateful he is... insert eyeroll here.
Let me tell you a phrasing I hate. And this has to be a regional thing, it's repeated a dozen times in this book. If someone gets ahead of you, you need to catch up with them. So the phrasing "I'll catch up" or "he caught up" is logical and makes perfect sense. "Catch him up" "caught her up" "we'll catch you up"... this makes no sense and I hate it.
Perfect narration
August 30, 2019
4.5 stars rounded up for entertainment value alone. RC Bray really made this book for me. I liked the characters a lot - Giles was a pretty affable guy with just the right amount of naivete. Dora was a good contrast and Sigma - what a character! I was howling with laughter through several scenes. If you're in this one for the great science and intricate story, then you will probably be disappointed. But if you set aside your need for scientific accuracy and nitpicky plot points, you're in for a great ride. I actually had to look up what piggyback trucks actually look like at one point, which was totally worth the trouble. And I'm a hopeless romantic, so the ending sat very well with me.
Great fun. The author's notes at the end were also good. RC Bray - fantastic as usual.
Great fun. The author's notes at the end were also good. RC Bray - fantastic as usual.
June 25, 2020
I very much enjoy this type of book where the author takes current technologies and explores the future direction they might take.
All Gifts Bestowed has lots of tech jargon and psychology which is not everyones cup of tea and even though I didn’t understand some of it I learned a lot and perceived some of the outcomes. The underlying question of what is consciousness is a fascinating subject. How to define something that can not be measured.
The one thing I would have liked to know is exactly what happened in the accident.
If you enjoyed this book I can recommend Infinite by Jeremy Robinson and the short story Interview with a robot by lee Bacon.
All Gifts Bestowed has lots of tech jargon and psychology which is not everyones cup of tea and even though I didn’t understand some of it I learned a lot and perceived some of the outcomes. The underlying question of what is consciousness is a fascinating subject. How to define something that can not be measured.
The one thing I would have liked to know is exactly what happened in the accident.
If you enjoyed this book I can recommend Infinite by Jeremy Robinson and the short story Interview with a robot by lee Bacon.
July 26, 2019
Very disappointed. Maybe it’s because I read the commune series and my expectations were too high, but this book just didn’t do it for me. Great potential in the first third of the book but faltered after that.
And I am still trying to figure out what it all means. I would recommend his Commune series but you should skip this one.
And I am still trying to figure out what it all means. I would recommend his Commune series but you should skip this one.
August 20, 2019
Strong opening, however part 2 really falls behind and the ending feels rushed.
October 8, 2019
Pretty dissapointing to be honest. It started out well enough. Then led to car chases then a piss poor ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2022
A computer nerd/psychology major (Gilles) is sent to investigate an AI (Crunos) to see if it is conscious and due all the rights that would entail. He signs an NDA agreement but then blabs about everything to his wife. Of course, the AIs owners don't want it to stop working or be given "human" rights so they want the assessment done quickly. A rudimentary double-slit experiment hypothesis is applied to the observation of consciousness and Gilles uses this to test Crunos. Due to the shortcomings of the experiment, the test fails and Gilles returns home after giving a negative outcoming.
Upon his return home, his wife is quickly killed off. He then lives in a stupor for a decade or more; blindly following his routine with no interest in life, work, or anyone around him.
One day, many years later, he is ambushed at home during a home invasion. After he comes around from being knocked out and tied to a chair he makes the perpetrator (Dora) dinner and invites her to stay the night (because who wouldn't want their assailant to sleep under the same roof?)
The next day, whilst at at work, Gilles is asked to reinvestigate Crunos for consciousness once again and returns home to find a massive robot (called 3-Sigma) there to protect him and ensure he gets to the AI lab safely. Unfortunately, we end up in car chases and jumping on freight trains like hobos to cross the country as we fight to get to our destination against a myriad of people trying to stop us. Of course, Dora and Sigma are indispensable in achieving this.
Then the weakest ending ever. It was all the work of Cronus from the start. It created Dora. It put the blocks in their way on purpose so that they'd bond. There was little explanation or conclusion as to why the whole second half of this book was even necessary.
This story had elements I tend to enjoy in books: philosophical discussion, the idea of scientific experimentation, speculation for the future of AI, the continued expansion of an observed populace, automated police forces, etc. All did not seem to help however.
I just did not like the main character and his dysfunctional marriage. I didn't care when his wife died and there was no repercussions for how she died (by drone attack). Dora's sudden acceptance into Gilles life made no sense. The second half of the book felt like it was lifted from a completely different story and then the conclusion was just hashed out quickly to try and tie the two halves together. I had no connection with any of the characters and I didn't see the need for their race across country except to make the story "exciting".
The prose was fine. The pacing picked up after a slow and boring start (reading about the relationship dynamic between Gilles and his wife was painful to get through and dragged for far too long). In the end, I found this story to be lacking in so many ways. I liked the premise but the execution was m'eh.
Found it lacking - 2 stars
Upon his return home, his wife is quickly killed off. He then lives in a stupor for a decade or more; blindly following his routine with no interest in life, work, or anyone around him.
One day, many years later, he is ambushed at home during a home invasion. After he comes around from being knocked out and tied to a chair he makes the perpetrator (Dora) dinner and invites her to stay the night (because who wouldn't want their assailant to sleep under the same roof?)
The next day, whilst at at work, Gilles is asked to reinvestigate Crunos for consciousness once again and returns home to find a massive robot (called 3-Sigma) there to protect him and ensure he gets to the AI lab safely. Unfortunately, we end up in car chases and jumping on freight trains like hobos to cross the country as we fight to get to our destination against a myriad of people trying to stop us. Of course, Dora and Sigma are indispensable in achieving this.
Then the weakest ending ever. It was all the work of Cronus from the start. It created Dora. It put the blocks in their way on purpose so that they'd bond. There was little explanation or conclusion as to why the whole second half of this book was even necessary.
This story had elements I tend to enjoy in books: philosophical discussion, the idea of scientific experimentation, speculation for the future of AI, the continued expansion of an observed populace, automated police forces, etc. All did not seem to help however.
I just did not like the main character and his dysfunctional marriage. I didn't care when his wife died and there was no repercussions for how she died (by drone attack). Dora's sudden acceptance into Gilles life made no sense. The second half of the book felt like it was lifted from a completely different story and then the conclusion was just hashed out quickly to try and tie the two halves together. I had no connection with any of the characters and I didn't see the need for their race across country except to make the story "exciting".
The prose was fine. The pacing picked up after a slow and boring start (reading about the relationship dynamic between Gilles and his wife was painful to get through and dragged for far too long). In the end, I found this story to be lacking in so many ways. I liked the premise but the execution was m'eh.
Found it lacking - 2 stars
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2021
I was gonna give this book 3 stars because there were some loose ends left dangling, and I thought part 2 kind of meandered along way more than necessary. However, when discussing the book with my wife, I found that the story really made me think about the implications relayed in this near-future setting. Basically, society has given up privacy / freedom for security. In the name of security and public safety, the government has convinced the people that a surveillance state is necessary because, "look..no attacks!" But the question was posed...why doesn't the surveillance ever stop rapes, murders, domestic violence? Because that would prove that privacy is a myth.
Anyway, when a supercomputer finally says "nope....not gonna do that," a super consultant, Giles, is called in to determine if the machine could be sentient. The science would go from understandable to crazy complex and frequently repetitive. The beginning of the book was pretty cool and really had me hooked. Part 2 came along and just drug on and on. I was interested enough in Dora, to keep going, but even her character made little sense at times...either she was a genius or a poor kid off the streets. It was kinda clear early on that she was "special." I was not pleased at the way the book just kind of ended. Also there were many loose ends....
Anyway, when a supercomputer finally says "nope....not gonna do that," a super consultant, Giles, is called in to determine if the machine could be sentient. The science would go from understandable to crazy complex and frequently repetitive. The beginning of the book was pretty cool and really had me hooked. Part 2 came along and just drug on and on. I was interested enough in Dora, to keep going, but even her character made little sense at times...either she was a genius or a poor kid off the streets. It was kinda clear early on that she was "special." I was not pleased at the way the book just kind of ended. Also there were many loose ends....
August 14, 2021
it's more like a 3 1/2 stars but ok it made me think so it should be 4.5. the first part was very intriguing. the characters were good. Sometimes a little confusing such as the wife, as someone else said, clingy then independent. Maybe trying for the understanding wife of a guy who is totally immersed in AI. The second part with a great chase scene that kind of fizzled for me, but yet I didn't expect what Cronus would do. i haven't spent a lot of time thinking about AI, but this book did make me think about it. And it creeped me out. Hello Hal. Harlan Ellison wrote a story about AI many years ago. My first intro to AI-- I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream. That one haunted me for a long time. Then Isaac Asimov's books about robots which serve and protect humans. These were AI. So i've read so many books about AI and now it seems maybe it's past time to seriously think about how these mechanical brains may change us and our world. The other over riding element of this book is big brother watching us. This story verges into total paranoia. How much of the chase scene is reality, how much is fantasy and why try so hard to kill the main character? That didn't get answered for me. Anyway it's a fascinating read. i hope the author delves into this again and maybe works through some of the issues. Will be great.
July 29, 2019
You know how you pick up a book and it blows your mind from the get-go and then keeps it up till the last page? This ain't it, chief.
For a book that started off so well, with a bunch of existential questions being raised and what AI really is/can be in part 1, the part 2 turned out to be the Game of Thrones season 8 of books. Unnecessary and predictable action, random dialogues, plot that did not make much sense.
It felt that part 1 and 2 were of completely different genre and written for completely different age groups. That's really unfortunate, as the premise was so good and had so much potential.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the book. Beginning and the end were stellar. It's just what's in between them that was underwhelming.
P.S. R.C. Bray's narrating was incredible. Never disappoints.
For a book that started off so well, with a bunch of existential questions being raised and what AI really is/can be in part 1, the part 2 turned out to be the Game of Thrones season 8 of books. Unnecessary and predictable action, random dialogues, plot that did not make much sense.
It felt that part 1 and 2 were of completely different genre and written for completely different age groups. That's really unfortunate, as the premise was so good and had so much potential.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed the book. Beginning and the end were stellar. It's just what's in between them that was underwhelming.
P.S. R.C. Bray's narrating was incredible. Never disappoints.
July 11, 2019
Really loved the build up of this story. Kept me on the edge of my seat for the first half, but that second act kinda lost me a bit. I enjoyed it, but I kept sliding further and further back into my chair; to continue the metaphor. When the end came I was shocked to see it. I thought the author easily had another 3 or 4 chapters of good material left, but it was over. I get that a good story leaves you wanting more, but this one took it a little further than I'm used to. All in all, though, a well told story that will easily eat your Saturday or Sunday.
July 30, 2019
High quality grounded sci fi (at least to the extent that quantum computing-driven conscious AGI creating human life could ever be considered as such). Things I really enjoyed about this book? it's divided neatly into the first half and second half without ever explicitly saying so (symmetry, right?), it involves hard theory geeky shit and also action scenes that aren't terribly unrealistic, and the end doesn't really have a point. It's just a story about a thing that happened and we make meaning of it ourselves, if at all.
Enjoyable. Will consider reading more from this author.
Enjoyable. Will consider reading more from this author.
July 18, 2022
Joshua Gayou is a phenomenal author. However, I’m just done with his writings. I could not finish the Mountain Man series because of his prolific cursing with the Lords name. It’s so ridiculous and unneeded. It’s like he goes off script to just put in the the most insidious uses of Gods name and vile cursing . I could not even finish All Gifts , Bestowed , with only 2 hours left because of this. Do authors really think people finish a book and think “ aw geeez I wish the author would have dropped the f bomb more and used Gods
name in vain “? I mean seriously?
name in vain “? I mean seriously?
June 19, 2019
This isn't the book you think it is: Its way, way, better.
I'm used to the end of the world as a plot line for the kind of books I read but on a whim, I grabbed All Gifts because of the amazing work of Gayou. Boy, was I in for a surprise. The story arc is fantastic, and the theme of emergent AI is both fascinating and timely.
I can't really say any more without spoiling the whole thing - I recommend you read this one, and if I could, I'd give it six stars.
I'm used to the end of the world as a plot line for the kind of books I read but on a whim, I grabbed All Gifts because of the amazing work of Gayou. Boy, was I in for a surprise. The story arc is fantastic, and the theme of emergent AI is both fascinating and timely.
I can't really say any more without spoiling the whole thing - I recommend you read this one, and if I could, I'd give it six stars.
July 28, 2019
AI dystopian future. Humor. Office dismay.
A scientist is asked to perform the ultimate Turing Test on a Quantum Computer - Is it conscious? Defining consciousness is as much the task as performing the test. A turn of fate and an adventure follows. American author uses some uniquely British phrases. Good conversations between machines and humans show the limits on both.
A scientist is asked to perform the ultimate Turing Test on a Quantum Computer - Is it conscious? Defining consciousness is as much the task as performing the test. A turn of fate and an adventure follows. American author uses some uniquely British phrases. Good conversations between machines and humans show the limits on both.
May 1, 2024
This was quite disturbing.
The protagonist cannot deal with reality, with deadlines, or crises of any kind.
And he's responsible for evaluating an artificial intelligence?
I want to read this story again, but with a different viewpoint character, one who can actually relate what's happening.
There are too many loose ends, chapters not written, and a deliberate inattention to detail.
And there's a deliberate fake McGuffin in the middle which annoyed me, despite the afterword.
The protagonist cannot deal with reality, with deadlines, or crises of any kind.
And he's responsible for evaluating an artificial intelligence?
I want to read this story again, but with a different viewpoint character, one who can actually relate what's happening.
There are too many loose ends, chapters not written, and a deliberate inattention to detail.
And there's a deliberate fake McGuffin in the middle which annoyed me, despite the afterword.
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