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The Thinking Machine Trilogy #1
Can Machines Bring Peace?
Can a machine bring peace? Or are humans built for war?
450 years after Earth was bombed back to the Stone Age, a young diplomat searches for lost human settlements. Kazimir Sakhalinsk narrowly escapes an exploration mission gone wrong and searches for ways to make future missions safer for his people. A festival introduces him to the Marvelous Thinking Machine.
A machine Kazimir believes can change everything.
For his admiral it’s nothing more than a silly fairground gimmick. But Kazimir is convinced. Convinced enough to go against orders and build one of his own. Convinced enough to think he can bring peace. Convinced enough to think humanity is worth saving. What if he’s wrong?
He asks his hikikomori sister, a retired professor filling her empty days, the owner of the festival machine and the admiral’s daughter for help. Will that be enough?
450 years after Earth was bombed back to the Stone Age, a young diplomat searches for lost human settlements. Kazimir Sakhalinsk narrowly escapes an exploration mission gone wrong and searches for ways to make future missions safer for his people. A festival introduces him to the Marvelous Thinking Machine.
A machine Kazimir believes can change everything.
For his admiral it’s nothing more than a silly fairground gimmick. But Kazimir is convinced. Convinced enough to go against orders and build one of his own. Convinced enough to think he can bring peace. Convinced enough to think humanity is worth saving. What if he’s wrong?
He asks his hikikomori sister, a retired professor filling her empty days, the owner of the festival machine and the admiral’s daughter for help. Will that be enough?
224 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2021
94 people want to read
About the author
Floor Kist
6 books116 followersFloor Kist lives in a Dutch town called Voorburg with his wife, two sons, two cats and their dog Monty. He’s interested in how AI can be used to resolve society’s big issues.
"Can Machines Bring Peace? Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age" is his first novel. He is currently working on part 2 of his Thinking Machine Trilogy.
Kathy from Town Book Reviews had this to say:
"I really enjoyed the overall plot and story here. This is a really good Sci-Fi. One that is written around the things that could someday be a reality, or at least this book makes us think about it. In fact, this story sometimes made me forget it was fiction. I found myself running to the computer to look up and/or research something the author had written about. A sci-fi book that makes it difficult to discern fact from fiction is what I’ll describe as a really good science fiction book."
"Can Machines Bring Peace? Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age" is his first novel. He is currently working on part 2 of his Thinking Machine Trilogy.
Kathy from Town Book Reviews had this to say:
"I really enjoyed the overall plot and story here. This is a really good Sci-Fi. One that is written around the things that could someday be a reality, or at least this book makes us think about it. In fact, this story sometimes made me forget it was fiction. I found myself running to the computer to look up and/or research something the author had written about. A sci-fi book that makes it difficult to discern fact from fiction is what I’ll describe as a really good science fiction book."
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 23, 2021
Books on Asia interviews Floor Kist about his book "Can Machines Bring Peace?"
Books on Asia: What’s your book’s elevator pitch?
Floor Kist: The novel is about a young diplomat who builds a Thinking Machine to bring peace, but instead, it discovers a plot for war.
BOA: Can you explain the genre of your book and what makes it stand out among its genre?
Kist: The genre of the book is hard science fiction. I’ve tried my best to base the technologies in the novel on existing ones. I also conceptualized serious reasons why the setting has a 1930s retro vibe. So, after a Final War that apparently destroyed civilization, survivors hid inside underground vaults. Only, after more than two hundred years, most of the technology ceased working. And the survivors had to revert to older more mechanical technology to keep the vaults working.
There is a lot of science fiction where (excuse the stereotyping) a former marine saves the universe from creepy aliens. And I wanted something very different. The book is about hope and how different people work together to achieve it, despite their differences. They solve their problems with their wits, not their fists.
BOA: You live in the Netherlands, right? What is your connection to Japan?
Kist: My father met Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko many years ago and Japan an ideal setting for the story I wanted to tell. The mythical origin of the Imperial family dates back more than two thousand years and I wanted to connect this deep past with four hundred years in the future.
There is something special in the look and feel of Japan in the 1930s that I saw in some old movies. I wanted a traditionalistic world with old fashioned politeness with a strong undercurrent of stiffness and resistance to change, issues that Japan is still dealing with these days.
BOA: Why are you the person to write this book?
I’m a local politician in my town (Deputy-Mayor for the Green Party), and every day I am convinced that we need to work together to deal with the big issues we’re facing. I am also an AI researcher and interested in how AI can be used to resolve society’s big issues. The idea of bringing peace and trying to bring people together is basically my daily job. The idea of designing a thinking machine to help solve big issues in society is what I’m writing my doctoral thesis on. For six years I’ve been interested in how AI will help deal with complexity.
BOA: How has the COVID-19 pandemic helped, or hindered, your writing process?
Kist: Making time to write can be challenging. There are just so many distractions. So, I really make time in my schedule to write, even if it’s just half an hour. This was an incredible lesson: plan to write. That’s the only way you will finish your novel. I know people have dealt with the COVID-19 lockdowns in different ways. I’ve seen how it affected my kids. But somehow it gave me the time and the calmness to write the novel I had been carrying around for many years.
Read the full interview on Books on Asia
Books on Asia: What’s your book’s elevator pitch?
Floor Kist: The novel is about a young diplomat who builds a Thinking Machine to bring peace, but instead, it discovers a plot for war.
BOA: Can you explain the genre of your book and what makes it stand out among its genre?
Kist: The genre of the book is hard science fiction. I’ve tried my best to base the technologies in the novel on existing ones. I also conceptualized serious reasons why the setting has a 1930s retro vibe. So, after a Final War that apparently destroyed civilization, survivors hid inside underground vaults. Only, after more than two hundred years, most of the technology ceased working. And the survivors had to revert to older more mechanical technology to keep the vaults working.
There is a lot of science fiction where (excuse the stereotyping) a former marine saves the universe from creepy aliens. And I wanted something very different. The book is about hope and how different people work together to achieve it, despite their differences. They solve their problems with their wits, not their fists.
BOA: You live in the Netherlands, right? What is your connection to Japan?
Kist: My father met Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko many years ago and Japan an ideal setting for the story I wanted to tell. The mythical origin of the Imperial family dates back more than two thousand years and I wanted to connect this deep past with four hundred years in the future.
There is something special in the look and feel of Japan in the 1930s that I saw in some old movies. I wanted a traditionalistic world with old fashioned politeness with a strong undercurrent of stiffness and resistance to change, issues that Japan is still dealing with these days.
BOA: Why are you the person to write this book?
I’m a local politician in my town (Deputy-Mayor for the Green Party), and every day I am convinced that we need to work together to deal with the big issues we’re facing. I am also an AI researcher and interested in how AI can be used to resolve society’s big issues. The idea of bringing peace and trying to bring people together is basically my daily job. The idea of designing a thinking machine to help solve big issues in society is what I’m writing my doctoral thesis on. For six years I’ve been interested in how AI will help deal with complexity.
BOA: How has the COVID-19 pandemic helped, or hindered, your writing process?
Kist: Making time to write can be challenging. There are just so many distractions. So, I really make time in my schedule to write, even if it’s just half an hour. This was an incredible lesson: plan to write. That’s the only way you will finish your novel. I know people have dealt with the COVID-19 lockdowns in different ways. I’ve seen how it affected my kids. But somehow it gave me the time and the calmness to write the novel I had been carrying around for many years.
Read the full interview on Books on Asia
November 4, 2021
I really enjoyed the overall plot and story here. This is a really good Sci-Fi. One that is written around the things that could someday be a reality, or at least this book makes us think about it. In fact, this story sometimes made me forget it was fiction. I found myself running to the computer to look up and/or research something the author had written about. A sci-fi book that makes it difficult to discern fact from fiction is what I’ll describe as a really good science fiction book.
There were a few places where I thought the writing became academic in its color. It slowed down or made a hiccup in the flow of my reading. Then again, this is a very scientific subject to write about.
A good debut novel. I hope we’ll see more from Floor Kist.
There were a few places where I thought the writing became academic in its color. It slowed down or made a hiccup in the flow of my reading. Then again, this is a very scientific subject to write about.
A good debut novel. I hope we’ll see more from Floor Kist.
April 14, 2021
A fascinatingly analytical look at the politics and technology of a post-apocalyptic expanding Japanese empire. The detail and care that the author has given to building this world and its characters draw the reader in and captures their imagination.
January 20, 2022
(I've upgraded it on Amazon because Peace is critically important. Already gave an extra +1 for indie-debut novel.)
A nice debut independent novel that DARES to ask THE most important question right now.
Here’s what I loved: Plenty of data sci-fi about incorporating data, designing the algorithm, and engineering a workable solution for the betterment of man. This is utopian sci-fi at its best. I still remember the first sci-fi I read. It inspired me to study math and science.
Here’s what was unexpected, but I liked: The sub-plot. I loved how the subplots hammered home the original point—magnified it even. Can people ever design a system to give advice about peace if they themselves are not at peace?
Only negative I had was the writing style. There was an overuse of ‘X thinks,’ ‘Y feels,’ and heavy reliance on exposition, but the novel is short, the chapters moved, and never really lagged so I will overlook them, especially for a first novel.
A nice debut independent novel that DARES to ask THE most important question right now.
Here’s what I loved: Plenty of data sci-fi about incorporating data, designing the algorithm, and engineering a workable solution for the betterment of man. This is utopian sci-fi at its best. I still remember the first sci-fi I read. It inspired me to study math and science.
Here’s what was unexpected, but I liked: The sub-plot. I loved how the subplots hammered home the original point—magnified it even. Can people ever design a system to give advice about peace if they themselves are not at peace?
Only negative I had was the writing style. There was an overuse of ‘X thinks,’ ‘Y feels,’ and heavy reliance on exposition, but the novel is short, the chapters moved, and never really lagged so I will overlook them, especially for a first novel.
May 11, 2022
Wonderful and believable
Not my usual genre. But I came across a guest post from Floor Kist and I liked what he wrote.
“Can Machines Bring Peace?” is a wonderful and believable story about passionate people working together using an AI to help bring peace. It has doubting admirals, cautious imperial advisors, wise great-aunts, gruff dads, a quirky sister, a sour professor and a dutiful empress. What’s not to like!
In his guest post, Floor Kist wrote that he didn’t plan for the romance between Kazimir and Mizuki, it just happened. And it’s so sweet and caring. I really want to know what happens with them next.
Keep up the good work.
Not my usual genre. But I came across a guest post from Floor Kist and I liked what he wrote.
“Can Machines Bring Peace?” is a wonderful and believable story about passionate people working together using an AI to help bring peace. It has doubting admirals, cautious imperial advisors, wise great-aunts, gruff dads, a quirky sister, a sour professor and a dutiful empress. What’s not to like!
In his guest post, Floor Kist wrote that he didn’t plan for the romance between Kazimir and Mizuki, it just happened. And it’s so sweet and caring. I really want to know what happens with them next.
Keep up the good work.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews