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Synchronicity Trilogy #1
Insidious
Leaked stories of strange new rules and codes of behavior indicate something's gone sour in the deep space retreats of the superrich corporate execs. Some say that it's only the eccentricities of the powerful leaders of capitalistic society. But others speak of dark, twisted rituals, human slavery and illegal experiments in banned technologies.
Bren Marcken is a robot handler and strategist on a special team of the United Nations Space Force, formed to occupy the corporate space stations and seize their technological secrets. To accomplish the mission, he's been authorized to field artificial intelligences that he considers just as dangerous as the enemy.
Chris Adrastus is an aggressive young executive whose careful machinations have carried him to a high position at the powerful European Union company, Vineaux Genomix. Instead of finding satisfaction, he's become disillusioned with what he discovers at the top of the executive world.
Aldriena Niachi is a covert operative of Black Core, a Brazilian software company with a global sphere of influence. She's about to find out what Black Core will do for a technological lead. Do some kinds of knowledge come at inordinate cost, even for a supercorporation?
Bren Marcken is a robot handler and strategist on a special team of the United Nations Space Force, formed to occupy the corporate space stations and seize their technological secrets. To accomplish the mission, he's been authorized to field artificial intelligences that he considers just as dangerous as the enemy.
Chris Adrastus is an aggressive young executive whose careful machinations have carried him to a high position at the powerful European Union company, Vineaux Genomix. Instead of finding satisfaction, he's become disillusioned with what he discovers at the top of the executive world.
Aldriena Niachi is a covert operative of Black Core, a Brazilian software company with a global sphere of influence. She's about to find out what Black Core will do for a technological lead. Do some kinds of knowledge come at inordinate cost, even for a supercorporation?
- GenresScience FictionFiction
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 8, 2010
32 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Michael McCloskey
41 books115 followersI am a software engineer in Silicon Valley who dreams of otherworldly creatures, mysterious alien planets, and fantastic adventures. I'm also an indie author with over 150,000 paid sales and another 150,000 free downloads.
Visit http://www.squidlord.us for more information.
You can subscribe to announcements of my new releases here: http://eepurl.com/nExcb
Visit http://www.squidlord.us for more information.
You can subscribe to announcements of my new releases here: http://eepurl.com/nExcb
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 22, 2013
This is the first book of a trilogy, but this trilogy actually has a reason for being three books, more than that the author wanted to sell three books. What I mean to say is that it's not just one very long story. The trilogy is available for Kindle as "Synchronicity Omnibus".
I really enjoyed this series, and the author's writing style and character development is better than some of my other recent sci-fi readings. I also read his Trilisk novel. I will be reading more McCloskey in the future (note to self: keep a list of the myriad Mc authors so that I don't mistakenly buy a book by the wrong one).
This trilogy has a fascinating (yet to my mind absurd) premise: to tell you here would be a spoiler; never mind, it's fiction. Each book in the trilogy covers the same events from three different points of view; but these are not first person viewpoints, rather one is the western bloc viewpoint (with a few key characters), the second is the eastern bloc (again a few key characters), the third is the alien perspective. Sometimes the author even repeats conversations, just so we know exactly where we are in each of the respective books. The events in the books seem to unfold over the span of only a few weeks.
I only gave it 4-stars because I was disenchanted with alien view - their alternate realities were too hard to follow, and in any case I thought that part of it was absurd. I also thought that the idea that these computer systems could so quickly comprehend and suborn other systems was far-fetched - but again, it's fiction.
Good character dev, interesting society, good writing.
I really enjoyed this series, and the author's writing style and character development is better than some of my other recent sci-fi readings. I also read his Trilisk novel. I will be reading more McCloskey in the future (note to self: keep a list of the myriad Mc authors so that I don't mistakenly buy a book by the wrong one).
This trilogy has a fascinating (yet to my mind absurd) premise: to tell you here would be a spoiler; never mind, it's fiction. Each book in the trilogy covers the same events from three different points of view; but these are not first person viewpoints, rather one is the western bloc viewpoint (with a few key characters), the second is the eastern bloc (again a few key characters), the third is the alien perspective. Sometimes the author even repeats conversations, just so we know exactly where we are in each of the respective books. The events in the books seem to unfold over the span of only a few weeks.
I only gave it 4-stars because I was disenchanted with alien view - their alternate realities were too hard to follow, and in any case I thought that part of it was absurd. I also thought that the idea that these computer systems could so quickly comprehend and suborn other systems was far-fetched - but again, it's fiction.
Good character dev, interesting society, good writing.
May 5, 2013
Edit: I read the 2009 print of Insidious published by iUniverse. Apparently this was an earlier (self-published?) version and not the final edit. The author actually sent me a message asking which print I read and explaining that to me. He was very nice and courteous about it. I'm sure some of the issues that I had with the prose were addressed with the final edited version. I'm leaving my original review intact, but keep in mind as you read that this was not the final edit, and I did not know that when I wrote the review. If I had read the final edit I probably would have given it 3 stars. I suppose a drawback to indie or self-publishing is there end up being multiple versions floating around. I definitely recommend getting as new a copy as possible. My original review follows:
I love sci fi and there was a lot about Insidious that I like, but throughout most of the text the book's strengths were overshadowed by a few major impediments.
I recommend this book to fans of hard sci fi or political / corporate / espionage thrillers. The tech / futuristic / world-building aspect, and the interesting plot, were the biggest strengths. If those aspects aren't enough to grab you, the text is problematic enough that you may not enjoy it.
The concept was intriguing. The plot was developed in detail and alternated well between lulls and moments of excitement; overall it was enjoyably paced. The fictional world was developed in enough detail and cohesive enough to be plausible.
However, the prose was poor. I understand that this is hard sci fi--supposed to be cerebrally interesting because of the technology and concept, not necessarily poetic. The straightforward descriptions were more than just dry--sometimes there was more description than necessary, and sometimes it was unclear what was going on. The wording and sentence structure was often awkward. Parts in the narration seemed to have been cut and pasted without seamless integration. I noticed grammatical errors, typos, comma splices, and comma ommisions throughout the book--not enough to make me put it down but enough to be jarring and make me re-read a sentence and take me out of the story. Everyone makes typos--this is not necessarily a flaw on the author's part but possibly a product of poor or rushed editing. Based on the editor's biography I see that writing is not his primary occupation, so I understand limited budget/time for something like editing. The prose was also inconsistent--in the middle of technical descriptions there were analogies or modern-day idioms that were out of place in this future millions of miles in space.
The other major problem I had with this book is the characterization. It was all pretty shallow. Not cliche necessarily--the characters were unique and their issues their own. I give the writer kudos for coming up with the ideas in the first place, but he brought up enough interesting character traits, flaws, habits, etc. for me to want to know far more about them, but they were barely touched upon. The dialogue felt like it existed to move the plot along and didn't always sound like how real people talk, which unfortunately made the realism jarring when a character would crack a joke or have a sarcastic inner thought. Also, the perspective throughout the book was disappointingly heterosexual-male-centric (I am a heterosexual male writing this). Women were primarily described by their physical appearance and attractiveness, men by their actions/motives/etc. In a story told from the perspective of a heterosexual male, this is expected, but this was third person limited omniscient, and even in the female headspace, it was quite obvious the author was male. The main female character was a sort of covert operative who used her looks and sex appeal to her advantage, so obviously her appearance played an important role. Beyond that, however, I found the females in the book less developed and believable than the males, and more stereotypical.
Other little things bothered me. Events happened off-camera, including characters making discoveries, but it was not explained why these events happened or how these characters made these discoveries. Character relations that were minor plot threads ended abruptly and were never resolved by the end of the book. There were events that affected multiple people yet it was only revealed what happened to one of the people afterward. I got sick of repeated words for all the scale- and size-related superlatives--how *extraordinarily, astronomically* difficult it was to get resources into deep space, all the *large* and *giant* architecture and areas. It felt like the author was trying to hammer in ideas and couldn't figure out how to do it other than repetition. Every time a corporation's headquarters or space station was described, everything was described as *big*. A specific character popped up twice in the book, and both times the protagonists interacting with him had a strong negative emotional reaction. This character's motivations were not explained, nor was the reason for the protagonists' reactions.
Insidious is the first of a trilogy that tells the same story from three different perspectives. Perhaps the loose plot threads are explained in the other two books. However, I did not know this when I read it, because it was not indicated on the back cover, in the beginning before the title page, or at all. It just felt like a story with a lot of loose ends. This may be a product of indie publishing--the author perhaps did not know when he first published it if he would be able to write or release the rest.
The story is intriguing, and the world is well-developed and consistent with itself. McCloskey obviously thought it through a lot. The plot gets really gripping about halfway through. But loose ends, plain prose, and underdeveloped characters get in the way of really enjoying and getting lost in the story.
I love sci fi and there was a lot about Insidious that I like, but throughout most of the text the book's strengths were overshadowed by a few major impediments.
I recommend this book to fans of hard sci fi or political / corporate / espionage thrillers. The tech / futuristic / world-building aspect, and the interesting plot, were the biggest strengths. If those aspects aren't enough to grab you, the text is problematic enough that you may not enjoy it.
The concept was intriguing. The plot was developed in detail and alternated well between lulls and moments of excitement; overall it was enjoyably paced. The fictional world was developed in enough detail and cohesive enough to be plausible.
However, the prose was poor. I understand that this is hard sci fi--supposed to be cerebrally interesting because of the technology and concept, not necessarily poetic. The straightforward descriptions were more than just dry--sometimes there was more description than necessary, and sometimes it was unclear what was going on. The wording and sentence structure was often awkward. Parts in the narration seemed to have been cut and pasted without seamless integration. I noticed grammatical errors, typos, comma splices, and comma ommisions throughout the book--not enough to make me put it down but enough to be jarring and make me re-read a sentence and take me out of the story. Everyone makes typos--this is not necessarily a flaw on the author's part but possibly a product of poor or rushed editing. Based on the editor's biography I see that writing is not his primary occupation, so I understand limited budget/time for something like editing. The prose was also inconsistent--in the middle of technical descriptions there were analogies or modern-day idioms that were out of place in this future millions of miles in space.
The other major problem I had with this book is the characterization. It was all pretty shallow. Not cliche necessarily--the characters were unique and their issues their own. I give the writer kudos for coming up with the ideas in the first place, but he brought up enough interesting character traits, flaws, habits, etc. for me to want to know far more about them, but they were barely touched upon. The dialogue felt like it existed to move the plot along and didn't always sound like how real people talk, which unfortunately made the realism jarring when a character would crack a joke or have a sarcastic inner thought. Also, the perspective throughout the book was disappointingly heterosexual-male-centric (I am a heterosexual male writing this). Women were primarily described by their physical appearance and attractiveness, men by their actions/motives/etc. In a story told from the perspective of a heterosexual male, this is expected, but this was third person limited omniscient, and even in the female headspace, it was quite obvious the author was male. The main female character was a sort of covert operative who used her looks and sex appeal to her advantage, so obviously her appearance played an important role. Beyond that, however, I found the females in the book less developed and believable than the males, and more stereotypical.
Other little things bothered me. Events happened off-camera, including characters making discoveries, but it was not explained why these events happened or how these characters made these discoveries. Character relations that were minor plot threads ended abruptly and were never resolved by the end of the book. There were events that affected multiple people yet it was only revealed what happened to one of the people afterward. I got sick of repeated words for all the scale- and size-related superlatives--how *extraordinarily, astronomically* difficult it was to get resources into deep space, all the *large* and *giant* architecture and areas. It felt like the author was trying to hammer in ideas and couldn't figure out how to do it other than repetition. Every time a corporation's headquarters or space station was described, everything was described as *big*. A specific character popped up twice in the book, and both times the protagonists interacting with him had a strong negative emotional reaction. This character's motivations were not explained, nor was the reason for the protagonists' reactions.
Insidious is the first of a trilogy that tells the same story from three different perspectives. Perhaps the loose plot threads are explained in the other two books. However, I did not know this when I read it, because it was not indicated on the back cover, in the beginning before the title page, or at all. It just felt like a story with a lot of loose ends. This may be a product of indie publishing--the author perhaps did not know when he first published it if he would be able to write or release the rest.
The story is intriguing, and the world is well-developed and consistent with itself. McCloskey obviously thought it through a lot. The plot gets really gripping about halfway through. But loose ends, plain prose, and underdeveloped characters get in the way of really enjoying and getting lost in the story.
February 12, 2017
Good cyberpunk story, first of a trilogy I will continue for sure.
The world around is cold war-like (West vs China), IAs being a huge potential threat (Marseilles was razed to prevent one to take control) but a necessary evil in certain cases. Corporations develop their schemes in huge space stations, the United Nation Space Force tries to maintain law the best they can.
3 very different characters (UNSF, corporation spy, corporation upstart) with very different objectives get involved in a plot about... eh, that would be telling.
The book is more plot than character driven (Adrialna is the only one with a real personality, Chris is only used to funnel information to the reader) but the plot is good with a lot of action so that's not much of a problem.
If you like space cyberpunk this one's for you.
The world around is cold war-like (West vs China), IAs being a huge potential threat (Marseilles was razed to prevent one to take control) but a necessary evil in certain cases. Corporations develop their schemes in huge space stations, the United Nation Space Force tries to maintain law the best they can.
3 very different characters (UNSF, corporation spy, corporation upstart) with very different objectives get involved in a plot about... eh, that would be telling.
The book is more plot than character driven (Adrialna is the only one with a real personality, Chris is only used to funnel information to the reader) but the plot is good with a lot of action so that's not much of a problem.
If you like space cyberpunk this one's for you.
December 2, 2011
Evil AI books usually come off as far too cheesy. But I liked this one.
And the "evil" AI isn't the central story, more of an important backdrop to the main events.
Could have maybe used just a little more character development. There were some good hints of depth to them but most didn't get much camera time. Even the ones that did...
Anyway, cool little book.
Sad ending...
The one who came out of it the best is the character I dislike the most :/
And the "evil" AI isn't the central story, more of an important backdrop to the main events.
Could have maybe used just a little more character development. There were some good hints of depth to them but most didn't get much camera time. Even the ones that did...
Anyway, cool little book.
Sad ending...
The one who came out of it the best is the character I dislike the most :/
April 23, 2012
This is a pretty clever hard-scifi story that mixes several different themes - and blends them pretty well. The story develops along 3 fronts, but is not confusing. There is a military presence, but it's much more of a political thriller than a war novel. The language is consistent most of the time, with a few anachronistic references, and not overly burdened with techno-babble. The story ends abruptly, and I assume there is a sequel, which I will now hunt for.
October 30, 2022
Fun
Interesting characters, plot line, and a really creative use of super intelligent AI as a temporary weapon. A fun read.
Interesting characters, plot line, and a really creative use of super intelligent AI as a temporary weapon. A fun read.
August 25, 2015
Three intertwined stories of a corporate spy, an ambitious corporate exec, and a space force commander. There is little actual interaction between the three characters, but they are all caught up in trying to find out what the global corporations are hiding out in their deep-space stations. It all turns out to be much bigger than just getting a leg up on the competition. Good, fast paced action in a near future world where corporations have all but replaced regional governments.
There was part of the story that I had hoped would be examined in more depth than it was (perhaps in the sequels?). There is some background mentioned about an AI getting loose in France which necessitated the destruction of Marseilles to contain the (almost certain) extinction of the human race. The mechanical assault units employed to board and secure the corporate space stations have AI units that are turned off and wiped after each mission lest the AI discover how inferior their human masters are and turn on them (and even go so far as to rid Earth of that inferior race). Nice to see AI used for remote combat, but why would Man develop something that smart and dangerous? Even if we couldn't build in Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, why would we attempt to harness a tool that can think much faster than we can, can learn and evolve much faster than we can, and that might decide we were superfluous if someone said the wrong thing? I could imagine taking a risk like that for a "last resort" device, but not for a tool that is used almost everyday. Even so, this theme did help build some tension and mystery into the story.
There was part of the story that I had hoped would be examined in more depth than it was (perhaps in the sequels?). There is some background mentioned about an AI getting loose in France which necessitated the destruction of Marseilles to contain the (almost certain) extinction of the human race. The mechanical assault units employed to board and secure the corporate space stations have AI units that are turned off and wiped after each mission lest the AI discover how inferior their human masters are and turn on them (and even go so far as to rid Earth of that inferior race). Nice to see AI used for remote combat, but why would Man develop something that smart and dangerous? Even if we couldn't build in Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, why would we attempt to harness a tool that can think much faster than we can, can learn and evolve much faster than we can, and that might decide we were superfluous if someone said the wrong thing? I could imagine taking a risk like that for a "last resort" device, but not for a tool that is used almost everyday. Even so, this theme did help build some tension and mystery into the story.
May 4, 2018
A four way battle. Interwoven and told from all perspectives. AI weapons are needed to fight a superior foe but are reset before they evolve into an even bigger problem. However, the longer they are allowed evolve the more effective they are. A delicate balance is nudged ever closer to the tipping point.
One of the AI weapons, 'Meridian', has proven very effective and has proven very lucky in the survival stakes. Meridian may be dodging the reset but no one can prove it - and hey, he's winning battles in a losing war.
High tech - high stakes in the near future.
One of the AI weapons, 'Meridian', has proven very effective and has proven very lucky in the survival stakes. Meridian may be dodging the reset but no one can prove it - and hey, he's winning battles in a losing war.
High tech - high stakes in the near future.
December 31, 2014
Some very interesting Sci-Fi concepts but I felt the story was rushed and could have use a little more narrative, character and setting development. All things considered it was a fun read, and I especially enjoyed the U.N. Space Force story arc, but it fell a little short of being great. That's mostly frustrating because I think it deserved to be great. That said, I will look forward to reading the next entry in the trilogy.
April 1, 2014
This is the start of a really good series. I could hardly put it down. There are two main characters, a super spy that works for the big corporations and a space force officer that controls the heavy duty robots when they are put into action. They are working against an alien force that has taken control of a large number of deep space stations. The action is fierce and yet the book is a book of people and their emotions, not just action.
June 17, 2013
Ok read. Could need a bit more development of the characters. Would like to see more of the AIs perspective, maybe a follow up book where it could develop further? Really a three star book but I give an extra for the interesting portrayal of the AI.
Story: ***
Characters: **
Environment: ***
Novelty: ****
Tech: ****
Dialog: ***
Story: ***
Characters: **
Environment: ***
Novelty: ****
Tech: ****
Dialog: ***
August 25, 2012
This book exhibited creative and interesting world building. I also really enjoyed the characters and the different methods of combat that were described. It was a really exciting read and I could barely put it down. I am definitely looking forward to the next book in this series!
May 13, 2018
Very original story line!
Great story with many complex, moving parts. The beginning grabs you with several interesting concepts in multiple, separate locations that all come together as the story progresses. Great read and can’t wait to get into the next book!
Great story with many complex, moving parts. The beginning grabs you with several interesting concepts in multiple, separate locations that all come together as the story progresses. Great read and can’t wait to get into the next book!
August 12, 2012
Another excellent read. The universe McCloskey has created is incredibly rich and detailed and as ever has plenty to keep you guessing right up to the final chapter!
July 31, 2013
Pretty good AI story with an interesting twist.
September 14, 2013
Not bad at all. Fun with action (and sex). Some interesting.scifi concepts. I might read another of these in the future for some light fun.
October 27, 2019
Enjoyed the concepts around AI and emergence, but there are some major issues: the female characters are written very badly; the battle sequences are somehow too frequent and boring; exposition is used to tell characters what should be shocking, pivotal information, similarly the ending seems really lazy and abrupt. Looking forward to this author's later books as he seems to have potential, he just needs to refine the craft.
September 29, 2016
Okay read
Lots of act ion a lot of jumping from one key player to another which made it interesting to read. All the characters had much the same goal but each acted in a different way when faced with the challenges that make it a good read the only thing I didn't like was to many good guys with each out to fulfill their own agenda so not got a little confusing. But it did show human nature as it is
Lots of act ion a lot of jumping from one key player to another which made it interesting to read. All the characters had much the same goal but each acted in a different way when faced with the challenges that make it a good read the only thing I didn't like was to many good guys with each out to fulfill their own agenda so not got a little confusing. But it did show human nature as it is
May 19, 2014
If you like reading long and detailed descriptions of robots fighting each other, you might really like this book, as it is well written. At least, what I read was well-written. I tried twice to read this book but never got farther than 16% in. The entire first 10% was a play-by-play of robots with AI cores fighting each other to take over a space ship. I found it exceedingly boring.
July 20, 2024
Great hard scifi
McCloskey has built a world believable in its detail and stark reality simulation. Although written more than a decade ago, the portrayal of AGI still stands up to what we can imagine today.
McCloskey has built a world believable in its detail and stark reality simulation. Although written more than a decade ago, the portrayal of AGI still stands up to what we can imagine today.
March 15, 2012
there is no bionic monsters
Read
November 16, 2012nj
Read
September 25, 2013lol.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews