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Ryan's Robot
Ryan is a young thrill seeker; a clever, yet depressed illusionist, who turns his dark thoughts into fuel that drives his desire to entertain. His stunts are death defying, and attract large crowds. But when his mother is pulled into a riptide and swallowed up by the ocean, the world becomes too dark for fancy tricks.
The loss of his mother crushes him, forcing him to step out of the limelight.
Ryan vanishes. He's assumed dead, while Victor, his father, the world's leading expert in artificial intelligence, forges on. After building an army of human-like robots for Wardlow Technologies, he creates an artificial son in the exact likeness of Ryan.
RyN2 is a secret to the world. Creating replicas of humans is a no-no.
But Victor has big plans for RyN2. Things look promising, until he's struck by a van during an attempted kidnapping, leaving him in a coma.
Meanwhile, Ryan exorcises his demons and returns. It doesn't take the magician long to discover he's been replaced by the android. The weight of the situation forces him to prove his self worth and enter the stage once again. Ryan proclaims he will pull off the biggest event in magic history...
But in order for him to complete the act, he needs to reach far beyond the realm of magic. Ryan needs to make his doppelgänger disappear forever.
The loss of his mother crushes him, forcing him to step out of the limelight.
Ryan vanishes. He's assumed dead, while Victor, his father, the world's leading expert in artificial intelligence, forges on. After building an army of human-like robots for Wardlow Technologies, he creates an artificial son in the exact likeness of Ryan.
RyN2 is a secret to the world. Creating replicas of humans is a no-no.
But Victor has big plans for RyN2. Things look promising, until he's struck by a van during an attempted kidnapping, leaving him in a coma.
Meanwhile, Ryan exorcises his demons and returns. It doesn't take the magician long to discover he's been replaced by the android. The weight of the situation forces him to prove his self worth and enter the stage once again. Ryan proclaims he will pull off the biggest event in magic history...
But in order for him to complete the act, he needs to reach far beyond the realm of magic. Ryan needs to make his doppelgänger disappear forever.
332 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 12, 2019
4 people are currently reading
361 people want to read
About the author
Brian Kacica
2 books21 followersBrian Kacica is attempting to birth original content for the bored masses with creative minds. Grab a copy of one of his novels, if you think you're up for the challenge.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
March 23, 2020
Ryan's Robot skillfully portrays what happens when depression and intellect meet. The book is relatable to teenagers who have been misdiagnosed and to parents who find it difficult to cope. Technology—and artificial intelligence— are used as the quintessential theme that adds to a semi-dystopian future; especially at this moment. My only issue is that, while some characters add to the thrill of the story, others just don't. They function more as filler for the plot; it can be distracting. Overall, however, it is enjoyable.
November 13, 2019
Ryan’s Robot is an intricately plotted, descriptive read featuring adult subject matter and complex characters.
Kacica successfully combines fan favorite elements of classic science fiction with modern efforts in the field of Artificial Intelligence. One of the most enjoyable elements is his exploration of the relationships and interactions between various forms of A.I. and humans. There are even fun, almost human like moments between the robotic Eva’s robotic dog, Aiden, and other forms of A.I. Both Ryan and his father, Victor, are appealing characters with relatable personal issues.
It is obvious from his writing style that Kacica devoted a lot of time to creating a unique world for his characters to inhabit. The first few chapters feature strong moments of surprising action and suspense, but unfortunately it struggles to maintain the same building momentum.
Ryan’s Robots has many plot twists, but at times the narrative doesn’t clearly define or navigate readers through moments of reality from those of fantasy or hallucination. The large character count and complicated subplots hurt the novel’s pacing. While there is a strong sense of mystery surrounding some of the supporting characters, the slow reveal of exposition detracts from better identifying with or understanding certain characters. A large majority of the supporting characters are often not what they appear to be. Their true nature is more devious and malicious, their actions driven by deeply dark and self-serving motives. :Not a spoiler btw: This is most apparent in the machinations of the ruthless Kutter and Victor’s boss, Carter Wardlow.
I can’t help but wonder if Ryan’s Robot would have better benefited the reader and not felt so overwhelming if it had been broken up and published as different installments.
Kacica successfully combines fan favorite elements of classic science fiction with modern efforts in the field of Artificial Intelligence. One of the most enjoyable elements is his exploration of the relationships and interactions between various forms of A.I. and humans. There are even fun, almost human like moments between the robotic Eva’s robotic dog, Aiden, and other forms of A.I. Both Ryan and his father, Victor, are appealing characters with relatable personal issues.
It is obvious from his writing style that Kacica devoted a lot of time to creating a unique world for his characters to inhabit. The first few chapters feature strong moments of surprising action and suspense, but unfortunately it struggles to maintain the same building momentum.
Ryan’s Robots has many plot twists, but at times the narrative doesn’t clearly define or navigate readers through moments of reality from those of fantasy or hallucination. The large character count and complicated subplots hurt the novel’s pacing. While there is a strong sense of mystery surrounding some of the supporting characters, the slow reveal of exposition detracts from better identifying with or understanding certain characters. A large majority of the supporting characters are often not what they appear to be. Their true nature is more devious and malicious, their actions driven by deeply dark and self-serving motives. :Not a spoiler btw: This is most apparent in the machinations of the ruthless Kutter and Victor’s boss, Carter Wardlow.
I can’t help but wonder if Ryan’s Robot would have better benefited the reader and not felt so overwhelming if it had been broken up and published as different installments.
March 24, 2020
An AI story with a very human heart and a lot of things going on.
The premise behind the story immediately put me in mind of the television series Caprica, in that it is about a fantastic technological breakthrough born out of grief. That is very relatable to me, especially as a parent. It also makes such stories very difficult for me to watch or read, as the father of five teenagers.
I found the world of Ryan’s Robot to be very compelling. It’s obvious that the author has done extensive research into crafting a believable world of Artificial Intelligence. AI is tough to do well, and I know almost nothing of it myself, so it’s hard to tell which details were culled from cutting edge research and which were not. Regardless, the world was well put together and formed a strong background for the story.
The characters and the story felt, at times, to be the weaker elements. While the voice of the titular robot was unique, it was a bit difficult to follow at times. There were a great many POV characters, which made it a little tougher to follow and stick with the main story. There are a lot of things happening – the story gets a little muddied in the midst of the various plot elements. The elements in and of themselves are tried and true genre tropes, but with all the moving parts the narrative tends to drift a bit and doesn’t come together well.
And its heart, though, I relate to Victor in a lot of ways, and it is his story that has the most appeal. It’s in there – it just gets a little busy at times, which was distracting.
I do recommend this one, but for full enjoyment, you may need multiple reads. Luckily it is well written enough that this won’t really be a chore at all.
The premise behind the story immediately put me in mind of the television series Caprica, in that it is about a fantastic technological breakthrough born out of grief. That is very relatable to me, especially as a parent. It also makes such stories very difficult for me to watch or read, as the father of five teenagers.
I found the world of Ryan’s Robot to be very compelling. It’s obvious that the author has done extensive research into crafting a believable world of Artificial Intelligence. AI is tough to do well, and I know almost nothing of it myself, so it’s hard to tell which details were culled from cutting edge research and which were not. Regardless, the world was well put together and formed a strong background for the story.
The characters and the story felt, at times, to be the weaker elements. While the voice of the titular robot was unique, it was a bit difficult to follow at times. There were a great many POV characters, which made it a little tougher to follow and stick with the main story. There are a lot of things happening – the story gets a little muddied in the midst of the various plot elements. The elements in and of themselves are tried and true genre tropes, but with all the moving parts the narrative tends to drift a bit and doesn’t come together well.
And its heart, though, I relate to Victor in a lot of ways, and it is his story that has the most appeal. It’s in there – it just gets a little busy at times, which was distracting.
I do recommend this one, but for full enjoyment, you may need multiple reads. Luckily it is well written enough that this won’t really be a chore at all.
December 21, 2019
a unique perspective of society and robots living together. a dark but well written tale about humans and robots slowly taking over the world and seeing how humans react. we focus mainly on out storytelling, Ryan, and how he deals with the robots, and the other characters he interacts with. Not only that but we see ryans urge to entertain by doing dangerous stunts, while seeming to have a death wish.
April 2, 2020
I picked up this book because I found the initial premise to be interesting. Who doesn't love a good story about robots in a world filled with AI? The book began with some suspenseful moments, building up Ryan and his family, all the while introducing this unique, futuristic world.
However, what was intriguing quickly became confusing. This story is told in a third-person POV and I lost track of how many POVs the story was told through. There are many characters and just about all of them was the POV character at one point or another. Some chapters jumped from one mind to the next - sometimes using scene breaks, sometimes not. This made the story jarring to read and confusing to keep track of what was actually going on.
I enjoyed the overall theme with so many characters battling inner demons. Ryan was depressed and when he and his mother disappeared, Victor, his father, created RyN2 (a robot to replace his son) out of grief.
The tech-talk, AI, and the world had a genuine science fiction feel to it which was well done. I just had a hard time getting into the story because I didn't care too much for most of the characters. I think this is mostly because it's written in the third person and there were too many characters (and POVs) for me to keep track of.
Overall, if you are a fan of the third-person POV and you enjoy robots and science fiction, this is a good world to submerge yourself in with an interesting story attached. As for me, the number of characters and telling instead of showing was too much for me to keep track of.
However, what was intriguing quickly became confusing. This story is told in a third-person POV and I lost track of how many POVs the story was told through. There are many characters and just about all of them was the POV character at one point or another. Some chapters jumped from one mind to the next - sometimes using scene breaks, sometimes not. This made the story jarring to read and confusing to keep track of what was actually going on.
I enjoyed the overall theme with so many characters battling inner demons. Ryan was depressed and when he and his mother disappeared, Victor, his father, created RyN2 (a robot to replace his son) out of grief.
The tech-talk, AI, and the world had a genuine science fiction feel to it which was well done. I just had a hard time getting into the story because I didn't care too much for most of the characters. I think this is mostly because it's written in the third person and there were too many characters (and POVs) for me to keep track of.
Overall, if you are a fan of the third-person POV and you enjoy robots and science fiction, this is a good world to submerge yourself in with an interesting story attached. As for me, the number of characters and telling instead of showing was too much for me to keep track of.
April 4, 2020
This story attempts to blend science fiction and suspense together to create a narrative that gradually and epically weaves multiple plotlines into one colossal finale; however, instead of creating many subplots that should inevitably fit together like a puzzle, they instead feel dry and incomplete leaving readers instead with an anticlimactic and depleted ending. While the subplots of the many different are certainly interesting, bringing up topics more powerful than simply AI's coming into reality but of a world not entirely ready to accept them, they could've been so much more with a little more development and personality. There was a lack of emotion, even when discussing rather emotional topics, and it felt more like reading a textbook than a fictional novel. There were so many great parts of Kacica's story of Ryan and RyN2, more significant than robotics or futuristic possibilities, but of the human condition and how people of all backgrounds try to make sense and find meaning or happiness in this world, and readers would've undoubtedly seen more of this and felt it more profoundly if the dialogue was just a little more developed.
March 15, 2020
Ryan’s Robot, the latest novel from Brian Kacica, is a complex, deeply immersive slice of sc-fi that thoroughly explores the far-reaching implications of AI.
Kacica’s story revolves around the disappearance of a teenage daredevil (Ryan Westbrook) and his grieving father’s quest to recreate his missing son via a virtual clone (RyN2). What follows is an epic tale of love, loss and a touch of time travel fueled by an engaging plot and complex characters who are rarely what they seem.
Kacica leans heavily on expository prose for much of the novel, implementing an ‘everything-and-the-kitchen-sink’ approach that, at points, demands concentration (skimmers beware) and a healthy suspension of disbelief. While readers are presented with numerous twists and turns, the narrative is periodically bogged down by both the large cast and a somewhat convoluted plot.
That being said, Kacica ultimately succeeds in tying together most of the novel’s loose threads with a satisfying, action-packed third act. He writes with a fresh, distinct voice and admirably carves out new territory in what has become an increasingly crowded genre. While Ryan’s Robot may initially test your patience, Kacica’s latest work ultimately pays off.
Recommended for fans of modern, forward-thinking science-fiction.
Kacica’s story revolves around the disappearance of a teenage daredevil (Ryan Westbrook) and his grieving father’s quest to recreate his missing son via a virtual clone (RyN2). What follows is an epic tale of love, loss and a touch of time travel fueled by an engaging plot and complex characters who are rarely what they seem.
Kacica leans heavily on expository prose for much of the novel, implementing an ‘everything-and-the-kitchen-sink’ approach that, at points, demands concentration (skimmers beware) and a healthy suspension of disbelief. While readers are presented with numerous twists and turns, the narrative is periodically bogged down by both the large cast and a somewhat convoluted plot.
That being said, Kacica ultimately succeeds in tying together most of the novel’s loose threads with a satisfying, action-packed third act. He writes with a fresh, distinct voice and admirably carves out new territory in what has become an increasingly crowded genre. While Ryan’s Robot may initially test your patience, Kacica’s latest work ultimately pays off.
Recommended for fans of modern, forward-thinking science-fiction.
March 9, 2020
Ryans Robot Is a story that has a lot going on and plenty of characters. At times it could be hard to follow along with and I found myself going back a few times to get some of the characters straight. Still, the overall story is well told, and despite the science fiction, time travel, plot twists, etc. the story is really about depression and dealing with the loss of a loved one, which is something we all know too well and can relate.
This book also takes a fascinating look at a possible future. Many of the robots and devices in this book are nearly on the horizon, and I believe many of these things will be our reality someday. The character's actions and reactions are equally as believable.
This book features an entirely original story that's very fresh with ideas. I recommend this book to anyone who likes stories with lots of plot twists about artificial intelligence, time travel, depression, and loss.
This book also takes a fascinating look at a possible future. Many of the robots and devices in this book are nearly on the horizon, and I believe many of these things will be our reality someday. The character's actions and reactions are equally as believable.
This book features an entirely original story that's very fresh with ideas. I recommend this book to anyone who likes stories with lots of plot twists about artificial intelligence, time travel, depression, and loss.
March 17, 2020
Ryan is a bored fifteen-year-old in a sleepy coastal town, desperate for his next adrenaline rush. When his mother, Claire, is caught in a riptide, Ryan gets in the water to save her. Neither return to shore. Their disappearance intertwine with the artificial intelligence work of Ryan’s father, Victor. Victor doesn’t cope well with the loss of his family and creates a robot to replace his son. He is obsessed with making the robot as humanly perfect as possible. Victor gives RyN2 all the memories he has of his son, turning the robot into a mechanical clone of his son. All of Victor’s attempts to recreate his family doesn’t actually bring them back. Life doesn’t go back to normal like he hopes. Instead, it gets even worse.
The voice of Ryan’s Robot may be a struggle for some readers as Brian Kacica relies on telling instead of showing. There are more characters than necessary, making the plot heavy with confusing additions it doesn’t need. Overall, the premise is really unique and enjoyable, especially as readers get into the latter half of the novel.
The voice of Ryan’s Robot may be a struggle for some readers as Brian Kacica relies on telling instead of showing. There are more characters than necessary, making the plot heavy with confusing additions it doesn’t need. Overall, the premise is really unique and enjoyable, especially as readers get into the latter half of the novel.
January 28, 2020
"Ryan's Robot" by Brian Kacica is a well thought out world, bringing science fiction and AI to a relatable reality.
One thought I had while reading is the future of A.I. technology and how it has grown so much. We may not have a life-like robot like Ava walking around. But we do have robots cleaning streets and cars can park themselves. We have seen movies about things like this, and one day this might actually be our reality. What Kacica does is bring that concept to reality by using relatable things like politics, crime (mobsters), and family together.
What this book also does is discuss the concept of depression and how it effects families and the people suffering. Ryan is depressed. His parents have a hard time handling it and the only thing they can think of is medicating their son. Ryan turns to magic and thrill seeking as his way of coping. When his mother drowns, he disappears and his father, Victor, is left alone to grieve and in turn becomes depressed himself. The only thing he can do is try to recreate Ryan in the form of a robot, RyN2, with the technology he created at his job at Wardlow Technologies. The concept of coping and grieving the loss of a loved is strong throughout the book. That's what forces Victor to do the things he does.
Kacica was able to create a world of characters and settings that are real and relatable. At some points, the story line gets confusing as to how these characters fit together, but as you continue on it begins to all make sense. Every character has a reason for being there and the back stories are well thought out.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction and A.I.
One thought I had while reading is the future of A.I. technology and how it has grown so much. We may not have a life-like robot like Ava walking around. But we do have robots cleaning streets and cars can park themselves. We have seen movies about things like this, and one day this might actually be our reality. What Kacica does is bring that concept to reality by using relatable things like politics, crime (mobsters), and family together.
What this book also does is discuss the concept of depression and how it effects families and the people suffering. Ryan is depressed. His parents have a hard time handling it and the only thing they can think of is medicating their son. Ryan turns to magic and thrill seeking as his way of coping. When his mother drowns, he disappears and his father, Victor, is left alone to grieve and in turn becomes depressed himself. The only thing he can do is try to recreate Ryan in the form of a robot, RyN2, with the technology he created at his job at Wardlow Technologies. The concept of coping and grieving the loss of a loved is strong throughout the book. That's what forces Victor to do the things he does.
Kacica was able to create a world of characters and settings that are real and relatable. At some points, the story line gets confusing as to how these characters fit together, but as you continue on it begins to all make sense. Every character has a reason for being there and the back stories are well thought out.
I recommend this book to anyone who likes science fiction and A.I.
November 20, 2019
Ryan’s Robot
By Brian Kacica
Ryan Westbrook seems like your average teenager, except he’s no. He lives with clinical depression and seems to have a death wish.
His alter ego, Zar, performs death defying acts, for fun, and it scares his parents so much. Ryan disappears when one of his performances goes terribly wrong. Ryan’s mother also dissapears as she tries to save her son.
This twist takes the book in a whole other direction as we learn about Ryan’s father Victor now devoting his life to further his work in artificial intelligence.
There are a lot of plot twists in this book as well conspiracy theories and some gruesome mafia style action sequences. Then we add in time travel.
This was a challenging read for me becausethwre were so many different characters and it was difficult at times to keep everyone straight and some of the names were so similar. The book began with a very slow pace and it wasn’t until I was almost 40 % into the book that I really had an understanding of what was happening.
To the credit of this author, the writing style was captivating and held my curiosity through the more challenging parts. I was surprised at the heart warming parts of this story and ultimately won over by them.
Sci- fi is not my usual genre, but I have to admit, once I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. I kind of wish this book had been broken up into at least two installments. That might have helped me keep the plot sorted. Overall though, this was a very good reading .
By Brian Kacica
Ryan Westbrook seems like your average teenager, except he’s no. He lives with clinical depression and seems to have a death wish.
His alter ego, Zar, performs death defying acts, for fun, and it scares his parents so much. Ryan disappears when one of his performances goes terribly wrong. Ryan’s mother also dissapears as she tries to save her son.
This twist takes the book in a whole other direction as we learn about Ryan’s father Victor now devoting his life to further his work in artificial intelligence.
There are a lot of plot twists in this book as well conspiracy theories and some gruesome mafia style action sequences. Then we add in time travel.
This was a challenging read for me becausethwre were so many different characters and it was difficult at times to keep everyone straight and some of the names were so similar. The book began with a very slow pace and it wasn’t until I was almost 40 % into the book that I really had an understanding of what was happening.
To the credit of this author, the writing style was captivating and held my curiosity through the more challenging parts. I was surprised at the heart warming parts of this story and ultimately won over by them.
Sci- fi is not my usual genre, but I have to admit, once I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. I kind of wish this book had been broken up into at least two installments. That might have helped me keep the plot sorted. Overall though, this was a very good reading .
November 9, 2019
Ryan’s Robot is a sci-fi novel focusing on Artificial Intelligence and the creation of the perfect robot, one that is indistinguishable from a human. The start of the book beautifully lays the ground for one grieving man’s motive to create something so advanced and ground-breaking, creating a 'plastic' indistinguishable from a human and taking technology to a new level. Linked to this we have the usual power hungry bad guys whose motives are pretty corrupt.
Initially, I didn’t find the book an easy read or the narrative easy to follow. The author’s writing style seemed over complex and a little jumbled to me and I often found myself needing to reread a paragraph or page to clarify what was going on. There were a lot of characters and the various story lines that at first frustrated me in their complexity. However, it was satisfying when things started to connect together as I got deeper into the story.
I am glad that I stayed the course as it was well worth it, so I recommend sticking with it as it get easier in the second half. I love how novels such as this one raise many questions about our real future with AI.
Initially, I didn’t find the book an easy read or the narrative easy to follow. The author’s writing style seemed over complex and a little jumbled to me and I often found myself needing to reread a paragraph or page to clarify what was going on. There were a lot of characters and the various story lines that at first frustrated me in their complexity. However, it was satisfying when things started to connect together as I got deeper into the story.
I am glad that I stayed the course as it was well worth it, so I recommend sticking with it as it get easier in the second half. I love how novels such as this one raise many questions about our real future with AI.
November 11, 2019
The Review
A well written, complex and sophisticated plot plays out throughout the entirety of this novel. A slow buildup over a lengthy novel, the story showcases the nature of grief, loss and family in the midst of a powerful sci-fi plot with robots becoming part of human society and A.I. growing more in depth and complexity.
The author does a great job of creating a vast cast of characters that each inhabit their own space within the context of the novel’s plot, choosing to focus on an ensemble character development rather than just a singular point of view. While readers may notice the vast amount of plot points and changing character views at first, the novel begins to piece together these plot points and create a cohesive world that speaks to the author’s mythology and world building talents.
The Verdict
This is a must read sci-fi epic. A true testament to the author’s powerful voice in this genre, the story expertly crafts personal and emotional relationships into the fabric of a action packed, sci-fi heavy story that will keep readers invested throughout the lengthy novel’s entirety. Be sure to grab your copy of Ryan’s Robot by Brian Kacica today!
A well written, complex and sophisticated plot plays out throughout the entirety of this novel. A slow buildup over a lengthy novel, the story showcases the nature of grief, loss and family in the midst of a powerful sci-fi plot with robots becoming part of human society and A.I. growing more in depth and complexity.
The author does a great job of creating a vast cast of characters that each inhabit their own space within the context of the novel’s plot, choosing to focus on an ensemble character development rather than just a singular point of view. While readers may notice the vast amount of plot points and changing character views at first, the novel begins to piece together these plot points and create a cohesive world that speaks to the author’s mythology and world building talents.
The Verdict
This is a must read sci-fi epic. A true testament to the author’s powerful voice in this genre, the story expertly crafts personal and emotional relationships into the fabric of a action packed, sci-fi heavy story that will keep readers invested throughout the lengthy novel’s entirety. Be sure to grab your copy of Ryan’s Robot by Brian Kacica today!
November 12, 2019
This is a brilliant book for brilliant, forward thinking, technologically-savvy minds. Unfortunately, mine isn’t one of those so i struggled to persevere through time shifts, present to past to future to very far future, though i enjoyed contemplating the possibilities presented of a future world where AI produces androids with skins so human-like it was hard to tell which was human. I also found the concepts of how, despite being be beneficial in many situations, such androids and their creators would be disdained by ordinary humans seeing themselves becoming redundant.
I loved the Ryan we met in first few chapters and appreciated the author’s skill with dialogue and characterization. I admire how conversant and familiar he is with the scientific and technological aspects of his novel. I’m just disappointed that my mind, and perhaps those of many readers aren’t as advanced as the author’s. But those who are will love Ryan’s Robot.
I loved the Ryan we met in first few chapters and appreciated the author’s skill with dialogue and characterization. I admire how conversant and familiar he is with the scientific and technological aspects of his novel. I’m just disappointed that my mind, and perhaps those of many readers aren’t as advanced as the author’s. But those who are will love Ryan’s Robot.
November 19, 2019
I was looking forward to reading this book. I love AI stories and this one sounded like it would fit well alongside Netflix's Extinction that also had robots that were indistinguishable from humans (and who believed they were in fact human). But the story was difficult to get through. The voice was stale and choppy. There was also a tremendous amount of telling that I could never get sucked into the world or care about the characters. Plus, the character development was very shallow. It becomes hard to root for a book, the world, and the characters when you aren't connected and invested in them. Even when there are personal issues that everyone can relate to. The pacing also suffers in this book. While it starts out quick eventually it slows to a saggy middle and never recovers, not to mention the huge cast with all the twists actually causes loss of focus and more confusion that it hurts the story overall rather than helping it.
November 21, 2019
Brian Kacica certainly succeeded in creating a world filled with thrill-seeking magic, grief, depression and assorted real (and not so real) life problems along with the intriguing arena of artificial intelligence which I found most interesting. Overall, the characters lose their momentum when Kacica starts "telling" more than showing readers his fascinating take on a definitely unique plot. This book is for certain an original piece of work and not more of the same old type of sci-fi plot. I enjoyed how the author showcased a wide range of emotions and took some risks with plot twists. However, I wished those twists came together sooner rather than later. This could have made for a faster-paced read. In the end, it was a novel worth reading because of the interesting and creative ideas the author presented.
November 7, 2019
Brian Kacica, the author of Ryan's Robot, certainly succeeded in having a unique storyline to present to readers. However, as the story moved along it became a bit too convoluted to follow in a concise way. At the outset, I was really intrigued and found myself relating to Ryan and his struggle with thrill-seeking and grief, but as the story went on too many various threads and characters were introduced that I got a little lost, and, subsequently, bored with the whole thing.
One thing I did love about this book, though, was the way it was written lent itself to great imagery. I imagine this book would have made a great graphic novel. This book is definitely a solid read and serves a purpose. I can absolutely see how a young adult might connect with it more than I did.
One thing I did love about this book, though, was the way it was written lent itself to great imagery. I imagine this book would have made a great graphic novel. This book is definitely a solid read and serves a purpose. I can absolutely see how a young adult might connect with it more than I did.
November 12, 2019
Brian Kacica’s latest novel, Rryan’s Robot, is a unique and imaginative story that follows the of Ryan a thrill-seeking stunt expert who risks everything for the audience. But his mother’s disappearance in the ocean causes him to suffer deep depression and mood swings. The author does an excellent job describing his characters and spinning a new tale. But the novel’s progression becomes more confusing and less entertaining. Using an outline would have helped the character arc and plot development.
November 14, 2019
While I enjoyed the overall premise of this book and thought it was very well written, I found parts of it a little confusing and thought that even though it was written in the third person it jumped around to too many viewpoints. I think if the author had chosen less character viewpoints the story would have flowed much better for me. But if you are someone who enjoys that about 3rd person POV you'll enjoy this book. The author has a lot of interesting ideas about AI and grief and magic that will appeal to sci fi fans. And fans of the movie AI will totally dig this book.
February 12, 2020
I thought this was a very detailed and well-developed science fiction that also dealt with depression and the impact it has on families. Ryan is depressed and after his mom drowns, he disappears. But after Ryan disappears, his father creates a robot in the form of Ryan in order to handle the loss. The book was a bit of a slow start for me initially, but overall, I really got attached to the characters. Also, there are a lot of characters in this book, but overall, this was a great read and I'm glad I read it. Definitely recommend!
October 30, 2019
So this was definitely an interesting read. The story was probably the most original I've read in a while, but at times it was a bit much for me. There's a lot of dialogue, a lot of characters and a lot of action. I enjoyed it but I found myself a little lost and bored at times. Really cool concept and story though.
January 6, 2020
This book draws you in from page one, and the action hardly ever lets up. This is a fast paced plot, but not one that's hard to follow. The author has given us twists and turns that will keep the reader riveted without giving them whiplash.
All of the characters as well as the story are very well written. They are all well developed and unique.
This was a great read, I highly recommend it.
All of the characters as well as the story are very well written. They are all well developed and unique.
This was a great read, I highly recommend it.
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