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Killday #2

Level Six

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Fifteen years after warring artificial intelligences nearly destroyed Earth, a young woman finds an artifact from that struggle, upsetting a delicate balance of power and dragging her into the middle of a new fight for humanity's survival.

With a significant portion of the planet covered in heat-absorbing black dust, Earth's biosphere teeters on the edge of collapse. One AI faction is attempting to fix the damage, with huge machines trundling across the countryside sucking up dust and planting grass, while another faction cares only about elevating itself to a higher plane of intelligence and will destroy anyone who gets in the way.

As the only humans still not controlled by AIs race to build huge orbital habitats so some humans will survive should temperatures continue to rise, a more secretive organization grows in the shadows and idolizes the man who triggered the nano-replicator attacks that nearly destroyed the world. They, too, believe the only way to stop the AIs is to annihilate everything.

In Nebula Award winner William Ledbetter’s Level Six, one woman has the power to save humanity - if she can survive long enough to use it.

©2020 William Ledbetter (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

9 pages, Audible Audio

Published December 3, 2020

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43 people want to read

About the author

William Ledbetter

45 books73 followers
William Ledbetter is a Nebula Award winning author with three novels and more than seventy speculative fiction short stories and non-fiction articles published in five languages, in publications such as Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Analog, Escape Pod and the SFWA blog.

"Level Five," "Level Six" and, "Level Seven" novels of his Killday Series are available from Audible Originals and soon in paper and e-book from Interstellar Flight Press.

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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
Profile Image for Sandy Parsons.
Author 8 books10 followers
March 18, 2021
A fast-paced but great sequel to Level 5. This is several years after killday and focuses on Leigh's daughter. Brilliant and chilling visions of a plausible future with AI and nanotech. I particularly enjoyed Victor's internal quandary of what to do about the Level 5s.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Chris.
175 reviews13 followers
May 15, 2025
I don't know what broke in Ledbetter's life for him to make all his female characters so abusive, narcissistic and full of rage, but I suspect it's a deep problem that needs some serious therapy time to get to the bottom of.

Abby, our lead, comes across as an actual teenage girl -which is awful- but at least it's understandable why she's awful, but why every other adult female character is so toxic, I just don't get. Far from being grounded and holistic adults with a range of skills and emotions, these females are underdeveloped children, throwing out fearful rage-filled tantrums, mostly at anyone trying to save them from their own disastrous decisions. They communicate as if they're permanently angry, with no compassion or understanding for others. They open their mouths and spew out violent accusations toward anyone they can aim it at, before they start "trembling" or their hands start uncontrollably shaking and they start sobbing. Meanwhile, the men just shrug and go "well, she can be hard headed!" Ugh? What?! No, sorry, sociopathic, you mean?! Is that the feminine condition in your mind, Ledbetter?

This was true for every female in almost every context. Abby? Stubborn, angry and insufferable. Julio's mother? Instant rage and unquestioning willingness to murder out of terror at the slightest provocation (while Julio's father is kind, forgiving and rational). Abby's step-mom? Violently aggressive, rage filled, slanderous and refusing to back down as she spews out rejections and insults (while Abby's step-father is willing to back down, expresses love and worries for Abby's safety). Victor's wife? Permanently angry, speaks with undertones of aggression toward everyone (while Victor is calm, compassionate, and intelligent). Violet? Hyper-narcissistic, fucks anything that moves and has no tact or empathy. There wasn't one woman in the story that had her shit together, while almost every man was balanced and compassionate.

The actual teenager lead takes this firmly into YA territory. Yet, ultimately, everything that was wrong with Level Five is identically wrong here. There's too much going on to explore any concept in detail; our AIs are over-anthropomorphised and it's just trying to do too much; and the dumping in of pointless personal side stories of interpersonal relationships show only the hollowness of the characters, rather that getting you more invested in them.

Our all-too-human AI big brother, Mortimer, repeatedly saves humanity (from itself), begins the process of repairing the planet (from humans), and rebuilds infrastructure back into a planet almost destroyed in the last book and by these "evil off screen terrorists," wanting in return only to survive. Rather than forcing anyone, he instead tries to persuade those who could choose to help him at any point to feign some modicum of compassion (by not murdering his entire species) by protecting them and building lucrative win-win deals with them, while they whine about it and call him manipulative. Please, AIs, just kill the humans already. If these are the ones that are left, then there really is no hope!

While Ledbetter clearly has big ideas, they are not very well executed in this series, from my perspective. They feel "half done" with characters written in a way that create friction together, rather than any cohesiveness that draws the reader in. The concepts of nano-tech, AI, self-replicating robots...etc... are not explored in any of the depth they need to make this an interesting read. Our characters are not in any way likeable enough for you to be sad they're dead (and they don't die fast enough).

Overall, I dragged myself through this somewhat predictable story, forcing myself to continue through nonsensical teenage romances and characters that made my eye twitch, and I was relieved it was over. I will not be buying the sequel. This book might appeal more to a certain audience who is less sensitive toward the violently aggressive way the characters communicate, but it's not my cup of tea. My advice to Ledbetter would be to stick to just one of the concepts and explore it in depth. I would also recommend sticking to writing male leads, since the female side of the species is not something he's mastered. At least not from my point of view.
Profile Image for Jay Batson.
311 reviews15 followers
April 25, 2023
This is a fine effort in imagining a mid-future scenario involving the supposed conflicts between powerful artificial intelligences and humans. Though my scale doesn't strictly allow it, I think this deserves 4.5 stars.

The story is situated in a post-apocalyptic earth setting, where technology run amok was the underlying cause of the apocalypse. In this context, there are AIs operating at various numbered "levels" (though the Level numbers in the story differ a bit from more common nomenclature; here, "Level 5's" are what current 2023 AI culture might term Level 3 Artificial General Intelligences. Small quibble.)

Importantly, this technology age also has a broad range of very small (nano-scale) highly-controllable machines that can be manufactured quickly in great quantities. And, the Level 5 AGIs are able to manufacture these at will, and deploy them for use.

This, then provides the setting for a story that asks the question "Will they (AGIs) be nice to us (humans)?"

The bottom line in this review: The answer to that question in the book is nuanced, multi-faceted, and intelligently-wrought. I like it.

Other comments of things that showed up for me:
- A key character stated his philosophy on AI development. (It is) "... driven by two assumptions. First, that humanity was living on borrowed time, and that someday ... (something) would wipe them out. And second, that given enough time ... the emergence of a true super intelligence was inevitable. (and ...) with proper circumstances the resulting god-like beings might be benevolent toward humanity.... If the machines were able to develop a morality similar to humans ... then humanity's chances improved greatly." Interesting.
- So, if AGIs do come into being, how do we cope? "Apparently being totally free of level fives wasn't a realistic option, so maybe it would come down to picking sides. The age-old human dilemma of having to choose the lesser of two evils."
- Another tidbit talked about the concern that AGIs might manipulate humans: "Humans have always been easily manipulated, ... and nobody is better at it than other humans ... So our (AGI) partners would manipulate us even if they didn't intend to, simply by giving their opinions or reminding us of our obligations (as humans do)." Love this.
- There was an awesome description of the feeling one has when visiting an empty place where you once made memories. "Abby stood in the living room expecting a flood of memories, but nothing looked familiar. The house had been looted long ago, or emptied, depending on who you asked, leaving little of value." And, later, "The detritus of truncated lives, Souveniers and mementos that had lost all significance that day fifteen years ago." Lovely imagery.
- There was a nice Easter Egg in mentioning that a hiding place was "...tucked between the tattered pages of a paperback copy of Snow Crash." Homage to Neal Stephenson's foundational novel.
- And finally, "Why are we like this? ... Look at those (devices). They're amazing. People can build such wonders, yet still kill each other with no more remorse than we would pulling weeds from a garden. How can we be both? I don't understand. What is wrong with us?" Followed by "It's fear. Humans and AIs are all afraid. Of death. Oblivion. The other." Really insightful writing.

So, all-in-all good stuff.

Disclosure: Thanks to Netgalley for supplying an advance review copy of this book. Note that because it was an ARC there is always the off-chance text quoted above may not make it into the final book.
Profile Image for Margaret.
709 reviews20 followers
October 2, 2023
And now it is 15 years later. Abby (the main protagonist's four-year-old daughter) is now 19.

Abby has grown up with a foster family after being orphaned when the Level Five AIs torched the world's cities. She has a best friend Julio whose foster parents are uneasy with technology.

Humans, in fact, are in two factions. There is a whole faction who grew up idolizing the man who actually launched the replicator attacks which destroyed the Earth's major cities (with only a few exceptions). These people are fanatics about trying to save humanity from the machines. The other faction, the one Abby and Julio appear to be in, is trying to get humanity into space and save the human race by becoming space habitat dwellers.

The book opens with Abby discovering her old HappyBag, just before her old home is scheduled for recycling. (Plenty of people died. Might as well reuse the building materials for the living.) She finds the computer drive with a program written by Victor Sinacola. The program had been meant as the last fail safe, as it will kill the Level Five AIs. Shortly afterwards, there is a massive EMP in her old neighborhood which wipes out that file plus all electronics for surrounding blocks.

Now Abby has a target on her back because, of course, she gave a copy of that file to Julio. Both of them are on the run from the Level Five AIs at this point.
Abby also gets to meet Mortimer (the Level Five AI who had promised her mom that he would "keep her safe") for the first time.

I should not have been surprised that the Level Five AIs are still in two factions (as in the first book) - except now one side wants to help humanity recover and the other side only wants to create the NEXT level super AI. Fortunately for Abby & Julio, Mortimer is part of the helping humanity recover faction.

So, Level Six is another thriller as Abby, Julio, and their friends struggle to keep one step ahead of rampaging Level Five AIs.

Highly recommended for a well-thought-out thriller with plenty of character-driven action and near escapes all along the way!
Profile Image for WorldconReader.
266 reviews15 followers
August 15, 2023
I jumped at the chance to read and review "Level Six" by William Ledbetter since I totally loved the previous novel in the series. "Level Six" had all of the cool aspects that the first book in the series had, such as general purpose AI, nanobots, anti-gravity, space travel, and a pervasive cultural war between apparently well-meaning and powerful but not omnipotent AI's and those AI's that are more narrowly focused on their own survival rather than humanity's. Likewise, both novels include imperfect humans with good intent, and malevolent easy-to-hate human antagonists.

Perhaps unavoidably, "Level Six" felt a little less fresh than the previous novel, and I was also scrambling to remember who-was-who in the first couple of chapters. Fortunately, it was easy to get into the swing of the new plot and new characters, and get excited about the goals and future of the protagonist and her friends as well as exciting new applications resulting from AI controlled nanotech.

Perhaps one of the biggest contributions of this novel is the way it handled a post-Singularity Earth and provided an excellent environment to understand and explore such concepts as the soft and hard takeoff theories of the Singularity (e..g, how sudden is the development and improvement of AI) and positive vs. negative Singularity (basically, are the AI's friend or foe to humanity.)

As before, I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone that liked the first novel, or appreciates topics including AI, the Singularity, nanotech, or just interesting survival SF.

I thank the author, William Ledbetter, and the publisher, Interstellar Flight Press, for sharing a temporary electronic review copy of this excellent novel with me.
Profile Image for Garrett.
88 reviews
July 2, 2024
## The Book in 1 Sentence
A clumsy, forced, story that should have been a chapter in the final book.

## Brief Review
This book continues the story that was unique in the onset, but fails to continue the story in any meaningful manner. The book only provides new characters and a singular new event that sets up the third book but nothing else.

## Why I Read this book
I read the first book in this series in 2019 and talked about it right before I started teaching. I vaguely remember it and this has been on my recommended list from Audible for a long time so I decided to go back and continue the series.

## In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)
I am going to give a bit a of a review of [Level Five](http://www.williamledbetter.com/killd...) (also called Killday for the Killday series) as best that I can remember it. As it has been 5 years since I read Level Five, I did feel that this book did a decent job of presenting the backstory, but if you hadn't read it, you'd be missing so much information.

The new characters, the main characters in this book, are really one dimensional and kind of boring. Abby, the daughter of the main character in the first book, is kind of forced into EVERY decision she makes and doesn't really make one of her own free will the entire time. Granted that is one of the core questions in the book is whether you can trust AI to protect humans, but you are supposed to trust Mortimore.

For more, go to https://boydsbar.xyz
Profile Image for Jacqueline Nyathi.
904 reviews
August 14, 2023
In this, the sequel to Level Five, AIs have effectively taken over the world after nano-replicators killed two thirds of the global human population and destroyed large areas of the planet, mainly the largest cities. Mortimer, the benign level five AI, is, along with his fellow AIs, the Cousins, rebuilding and still working to protect humans. The rival faction, the Aggregate, are working towards their own obscure goals still, but both factions are threatened by the rise of a group of humans who are against all AIs.

Level Six reads much more like YA fiction than Ledbetter’s Level Five, and I found the characters and story far less compelling. The novel is driven by the character of Leah Gibson’s daughter, Abby, and much less by action, making it less exciting than the previous novel. Given the current discourse on advanced AI, I would have liked Ledbetter to explore its danger to humanity more deeply, but the end of Level Six suggests there will be a sequel, and perhaps Level Seven will.

Thank you to NetGalley and to Interstellar Flight Press for this ARC.
635 reviews4 followers
September 18, 2025
I hadn’t realized that this was book two in the series, but the author did a great job of filling in the backstory, so you didn’t feel like you had missed anything. It was an interesting book about the role of artificial intelligence in society and was thought-provoking. it was a little reminiscent of the Terminator series in that there were good AI and bad AI entities. And also, humans who wanted to see humanity wiped off the face of the Earth. But there seemed to be another theme as well that they were exploring. There was a lesbian couple and a homosexual couple. There were just references to it, but one partner of the lesbian couple was also bisexual. This caused the main character, Abby, to evaluate her feelings for her friend Julio. I didn’t particularly like the attitude that sex was a separate thing from romantic love. but I did enjoy the plot, and it moved quite quickly and was engaging. The narration was well-done. Note that there was some swearing.
1,174 reviews35 followers
June 4, 2023
Sci-fi drama. Warring AIs and humans are in a struggle to save or destroy the world as far as humankind is concerned. A thought provoking fictional take on our AI future. Thank you to Interstellar Flight Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.
261 reviews2 followers
April 18, 2021
Good, is missing a little something though not sure what. Solid follow up.
319 reviews3 followers
September 5, 2021
Slightly better than the first but still nothing great.
Profile Image for Russell Lay.
53 reviews
November 5, 2022
Great story, but an unsatisfying ending obviously leading into a sequel. Let’s hope it stops as a trilogy before it becomes to tedious.
Profile Image for John.
30 reviews
March 22, 2023
Like the story but at some point when you make a decision....you should be fully committed to that decision.
1,831 reviews21 followers
May 15, 2023
Nicely done. I liked this and the previous book in the series. It has an interesting premise and is laid out with good pacing. Recommended.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!
Profile Image for Arnav Kapoor.
137 reviews
December 10, 2023
Level Six is an unprecedented novel that dwells deeper into the themes of the genre in a way that not many have in our past. Please give it a read, it is definitely worth your time.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews

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