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Sunrise Alley (Charon #1)
by
Catherine Asaro (Goodreads Author)
When the shipwrecked stranger washed up, nearly drowned, on the beach near research scientist Samantha Bryton's home, she was unaware that he was something more than human: an experiment conducted by Charon, a notorious criminal and practitioner of illegal robotics and android research. The man said his name was Turner Pascal-but Pascal was dead, killed in a car wreck. Cha...more
Mass Market Paperback, 433 pages
Published
July 25th 2006
by Baen Books
(first published 2004)
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Sam Bryton is a brilliant scientist specializing in EIs: evolving intelligences, similar to AI but with the addition of self-awareness. Through an unusual turn of events, she meets Turner Pascal, a former hotel bellboy who met an untimely death and was brought back to life via a digitally imaged version of his brain and a body that is now more machine than man. The result is that Turner is an EI who claims he is human. Oh yeah, and he's on the run from the man who created him. As Sam falls in le...more
I don't care what everyone else says-I enjoyed this book.
Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro
I picked this e-book up in the kindle version- probably from the publisher-I don't see it on Amazon. I'm familiar with Catherine Asaro and had not yet read any of her novels.
This novel reminded me of some of Heinlein's middle years - you know after the juvenile and after stranger in a strange and before the really wild stuff he wrote near the end. This is more on par with Friday.Except that the female cha...more
Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro
I picked this e-book up in the kindle version- probably from the publisher-I don't see it on Amazon. I'm familiar with Catherine Asaro and had not yet read any of her novels.
This novel reminded me of some of Heinlein's middle years - you know after the juvenile and after stranger in a strange and before the really wild stuff he wrote near the end. This is more on par with Friday.Except that the female cha...more
(no spoilers, and not a book report) I'm experienced with this sort of sci-fi tale. Not particular to the robot romance, but in general. The first half was pretty exciting. I was hooked on the adventure. Once they escaped BART, I kind of lost the sense of where we were headed and confusion set in. By the time things got all twisted up, it just became unbelievable to me. Too many things just sort of just happened. Again. That first half, our main characters were pushing the story and making it ha...more
The theme of this book is age old and timeless: What is it that makes us human?
The setting is not. This is Earth in 2033, where information and nano-technology (and probably other sciences not specifically relevant to the book) have advanced at a great pace. Dr Samantha Bryton has been a leader in her field; she works with and develops artificial intelligences.
In this book, Asaro develops the concept of two different types of artificial intelligence. The first, AI, is artificial intelligence a...more
The setting is not. This is Earth in 2033, where information and nano-technology (and probably other sciences not specifically relevant to the book) have advanced at a great pace. Dr Samantha Bryton has been a leader in her field; she works with and develops artificial intelligences.
In this book, Asaro develops the concept of two different types of artificial intelligence. The first, AI, is artificial intelligence a...more
I downloaded Sunrise Alley from the Baen Free Library, which is an awesome source for scifi e-books. I used to be a huge reader of scifi but had fallen off the wagon in recent years in favor of romances and mysteries. I found Sunrise Alley to be a nice reintroduction into the genre.
Set not all that far into the future, Sunrise Alley tackles the ethical dilemma facing a society where humans use biomechanical parts to improve quality of life in place of organ transplants, artificial limbs and eve...more
Set not all that far into the future, Sunrise Alley tackles the ethical dilemma facing a society where humans use biomechanical parts to improve quality of life in place of organ transplants, artificial limbs and eve...more
I only read this book because it was a free download from the Baen Library online, and that I am planning on reading "Alpha" (which I hear is the better of the two books... I hope so).
The general concept is okay. I like stories about robots, cyborgs, AI etc. For the most part, this book had a good mix of medium-hard sci-fi elements, mixed with decent character drama, romance, action, and suspense. I think it could have been shortened a little though. While the action prose was pretty good, it s...more
The general concept is okay. I like stories about robots, cyborgs, AI etc. For the most part, this book had a good mix of medium-hard sci-fi elements, mixed with decent character drama, romance, action, and suspense. I think it could have been shortened a little though. While the action prose was pretty good, it s...more
Feb 18, 2010
Nisha
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
readers of sci-fi who absolutely need some type of romantic relationship to be satisfied
I haven't read this genre is a while (since I've been addicted to historicals and romance), but this was a nice change. Honestly, I picked it up only after knowing there was a relationship in it.
The premise follow EI designer/scientist, Sam Bryton and a man she saved near her house, named Turner Pascal. The problem is, Turner Pascal is dead and the man she saved is a EI or basically a android created by an evil genius from the dead Turner Pascal's brain. Turner escapes from the evil genius know...more
The premise follow EI designer/scientist, Sam Bryton and a man she saved near her house, named Turner Pascal. The problem is, Turner Pascal is dead and the man she saved is a EI or basically a android created by an evil genius from the dead Turner Pascal's brain. Turner escapes from the evil genius know...more
Ms Asaro is a physicist and chemist with an MA,PhD etc. She also seems to boast a strong arts streak with lots of dance and literary interests. One of her novels has won a Nebula award. She has also a hat full of Romance awards though I cannot comment on how respected they are and is well published in both respected peer reviewed scientific journals and in literary SF journals. [return][return]She also writes crap. [return][return]The science in this is very poor. It is necessary not that you su...more
Sep 12, 2009
Username
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
someone with nothing else to read at hand
Shelves:
readhardsf,
e-book
I wanted to like this one. I once met Catherine and liked her a lot, but I cannot say the same of this book. The plot doesn't seem to have been thought through, just written as it came to her mind. There's a lot of chasing and escaping at the beginning in the book that don't make sense, convey no feeling of danger and doesn't help getting the reader to care for the characters. For me, at least. Maybe if I was an older woman, falling for a potential sex toy... at least some of the creepiness of i...more
1 like · like · see review
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Not bad, but not as gripping as Primary Inversion, which is the only other book I've read by this author. This one is about androids and humans, and the ways they converge and diverge, which is an interesting theme. However, the main character is not particularly well-developed, and I dislike the marysue-ish 'I don't feel I'm attractive but everyone else in the book falls for me' bit. The secondary main character had a more intriguing personality but was filtered through the first character, who...more
How much of your humanity can you retain if you replace huge swaths of your biological body with machinery? How about your brain? It's certainly a well-visited question all over SF, as is the related question of the rights one should give a truly sentient artificial intelligence. When you're telling a love story in SF trappings, you're inevitably also going to get this corollary: can I fall in love with a guy who's technically more machine than man?
In Catherine Asaro's hands, with Sunrise Alley,...more
In Catherine Asaro's hands, with Sunrise Alley,...more
Research scientist Samantha Bryton is enjoying the peace and freedom in the remote setting of her home when she notices someone in the sea. When she pulls this shipwrecked stranger from the water, she is unaware that he is something much more than human - or that he will take her back to her past she is trying desperately to forget...
I read the free e-book version downloaded from : Baen
I read the free e-book version downloaded from : Baen
This one that didn't care much for, despite wanting to really like it. The main character was fairly transparent, the plot predictable, and by the end I didn't give a damn. There's a sequel, but I'm not going there. Only for the die hard fans. Three stars only.
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Sunris...
For the longer review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/review/Sunris...
This book was kind of a mix of Borune Identity and cyberpunk'ism. As much a science fiction thriller than anything.
Over all a good book and one that I found a pretty fast read.
Note, that if read on a Kindle the RTF seems better. The mobi version has an extra line feed between paragrahs (which I hate) but the RTF (converted via @free.kindle.com) didn't. A somewhat common thing with the Baen webscriptions ebooks...
Over all a good book and one that I found a pretty fast read.
Note, that if read on a Kindle the RTF seems better. The mobi version has an extra line feed between paragrahs (which I hate) but the RTF (converted via @free.kindle.com) didn't. A somewhat common thing with the Baen webscriptions ebooks...
Fumbling plot, completely random and inconsistent characters, and an attempted twist that is yawn-worthy. The premise (are artificial intelligences that can simulate emotions and pass Turing tests to be treated as humans or slaves) was fair, but the preachy attitude is on par with Ayn Rand's novels. It'd make a movie that I'd watch just because things blow up and people run around with big guns. As long as they cut out the dumb sex scenes.
Sci/fi for chicks. I like the idea, but this didn't hit the mark. As if we haven't had enough "my boyfriend is a monster" stuff now we have to believe a love story between a women and a machine... well, of course, another example of the perfect unrealistic man. Unbelievable and a bit predictable for me. LOL'ed at some of the rediculous dialog and motivation.
"[A]n epic chase across a near-future landscape, enlivened by twists, complicated puzzles to solve, plenty of intriguing technology, and a strong element of romance." � School Library Journal
Listen to Sunrise Alley on your iPhone, desktop, or smartphone.
Listen to Sunrise Alley on your iPhone, desktop, or smartphone.
First complaint, the woman on the front looks like Little Orphan Annie all grown up. The woman describes her blonde hair in the book brushing her shoulders. Uh, what the hell! Do the cover artists not get any pertinent information or they get the gist of the story and are able to go with whatever they want.
The second thing I didn't care for were the hero and heroine constantly being tricked. Now the finally found someone to help, nope - they're working for the bad guy too. This happened over an...more
The second thing I didn't care for were the hero and heroine constantly being tricked. Now the finally found someone to help, nope - they're working for the bad guy too. This happened over an...more
1 like · like · see review
What a terrific, thought-provoking story! Great characters, and a tensely-plotted tale of intrigue and betrayal, trial and redemption, not to mention ethics and the ultimate question of how we delimit humanity. Not to be missed!
I very much enjoyed this book! It wasn't a book I devoured in a day, but it was a great secondary read. I plan on reading Alpha next - her character was trouble waiting to happen (technically did happen) I recommend it to UF, SF readers.
Light on action but interesting interaction among humans, hybrid humans, and various AIs. For more serious discussions of human and machine intelligence try The Mind's I by Hofstadter and Dennett.
Apr 28, 2011
Jamie Zalot
added it
This kind of hurt my head, A real physiological thriller. Having said that, It was great for the price. Baen has a free online library. I love that. I would highly recommend this book.
A really interesting near future novel about artificial intelligence, humanity, machine, and combinations thereof. Catherine Asaro is a new to me author and I'm glad to have found her.
Generally a good read. I loved parts of Sunrise Alley and really disliked other parts.
Good parts: the ethical debate of the difference between a human and android. If someone dies and their organs are replaced by biomech, are they still human? Or are they machines, and therefore possessions?
Bad parts: the main character is supposed to be the #1 person in her field of biomech technology but is always two steps behind her human/android boyfriend. She calls her military friends for help a lot, and...more
Good parts: the ethical debate of the difference between a human and android. If someone dies and their organs are replaced by biomech, are they still human? Or are they machines, and therefore possessions?
Bad parts: the main character is supposed to be the #1 person in her field of biomech technology but is always two steps behind her human/android boyfriend. She calls her military friends for help a lot, and...more
A well told science fiction romance where the romance forms part of the philosophical discussion of what makes us human.
http://nhw.livejournal.com/1111506.html[return][return]Didn't take long to read (300 pages, many of them blank, large print); not as awful as some of the other Asaro books I have read, but not specially outstanding either. It's a near-future story of artificial intelligence, including a robot so cute that our heroine falls straight in love with him. I found the portrayal of the military securocrats who get in the way pretty unbelievable, and likewise the psychology of the romance, but the questi...more
Really interesting ideas well presented.
Not worth reading, even as a free e-book.
from Baen free library -- space romance? to read
Sunrise Alley by Catherine Asaro (2000)
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The author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine...more
More about Catherine Asaro...
The author of more than twenty-five books, Catherine Asaro is acclaimed for her Ruby Dynasty series, which combines adventure, science, romance and fast-paced action. Her novel The Quantum Rose won the Nebula® Award, as did her novella “The Spacetime Pool.” Among her many other distinctions, she is a multiple winner of the AnLab from Analog magazine...more
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