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Robot Geneticists #1
Extinction Reversed
These days, even the humans are built by robots.
Charlie7 is the progenitor of a mechanical race he built from the ashes of a dead world—Earth. He is a robot of leisure and idle political meddling—a retirement well-earned. Or he was, until a human girl named Eve was dropped in his lap.
Geneticists have restored Earth’s biome and begun repopulation. But primate cloning is in its infancy; human cloning is banned.
Far from a failed genetics experiment, Eve is brilliant, curious, and heartbreakingly naïve about her species’ history. But Eve’s creator wants her back and has a gruesome fate planned for her. There is only one robot qualified to protect her. For the first time in a thousand years, Charlie7 has a human race to protect.
A.I. didn’t destroy humanity.
It didn’t save us, either.
The robots we built in our final days preserved human minds. They survived the end of life on Earth and embarked on the greatest single project in all recorded history.
They rebuilt.
The result of 1,000 years of genetic engineering, terraforming, and painstaking toxic cleanup has resulted in the ultimate achievement of the Post-Invasion Age: a healthy human.
Her name is Eve14.
Don’t ask about the 13 Eves before her.
Or do, because that’s the reason why she’s in danger, and why one brave robot puts his millennium-long life on the line to save her.
Welcome back to the Golden Age of science fiction, when scientists had planet-sized dreams and robots were robots.
Grab your copy while there’s still an Earth left to read it on.
Charlie7 is the progenitor of a mechanical race he built from the ashes of a dead world—Earth. He is a robot of leisure and idle political meddling—a retirement well-earned. Or he was, until a human girl named Eve was dropped in his lap.
Geneticists have restored Earth’s biome and begun repopulation. But primate cloning is in its infancy; human cloning is banned.
Far from a failed genetics experiment, Eve is brilliant, curious, and heartbreakingly naïve about her species’ history. But Eve’s creator wants her back and has a gruesome fate planned for her. There is only one robot qualified to protect her. For the first time in a thousand years, Charlie7 has a human race to protect.
A.I. didn’t destroy humanity.
It didn’t save us, either.
The robots we built in our final days preserved human minds. They survived the end of life on Earth and embarked on the greatest single project in all recorded history.
They rebuilt.
The result of 1,000 years of genetic engineering, terraforming, and painstaking toxic cleanup has resulted in the ultimate achievement of the Post-Invasion Age: a healthy human.
Her name is Eve14.
Don’t ask about the 13 Eves before her.
Or do, because that’s the reason why she’s in danger, and why one brave robot puts his millennium-long life on the line to save her.
Welcome back to the Golden Age of science fiction, when scientists had planet-sized dreams and robots were robots.
Grab your copy while there’s still an Earth left to read it on.
343 pages, ebook
First published April 21, 2017
591 people are currently reading
1100 people want to read
About the author
J.S. Morin
187 books604 followersI am a creator of worlds and a destroyer of words. As a fantasy writer, my works range from traditional epics to futuristic fantasy with starships. I have worked as an unpaid Little League pitcher, a cashier, a student library aide, a factory grunt, a cubicle drone, and an engineer--there is some overlap in the last two.
Through it all, though, I was always a storyteller. Eventually I started writing books based on the stray stories in my head, and people kept telling me to write more of them. Now, that's all I do for a living.
I enjoy strategy, worldbuilding, and the fantasy author's privilege to make up words. I am a gamer, a joker, and a thinker of sideways thoughts. But I don't dance, can't sing, and my best artistic efforts fall short of your average notebook doodle. When you read my books, you are seeing me at my best.
My ultimate goal is to be both clever and right at the same time. I have it on good authority that I have yet to achieve it.
Through it all, though, I was always a storyteller. Eventually I started writing books based on the stray stories in my head, and people kept telling me to write more of them. Now, that's all I do for a living.
I enjoy strategy, worldbuilding, and the fantasy author's privilege to make up words. I am a gamer, a joker, and a thinker of sideways thoughts. But I don't dance, can't sing, and my best artistic efforts fall short of your average notebook doodle. When you read my books, you are seeing me at my best.
My ultimate goal is to be both clever and right at the same time. I have it on good authority that I have yet to achieve it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 121 reviews
April 29, 2018
Extinction Reversed
Robot Geneticists, Book 1
By: J. S. Morin
Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
This book is just amazing! The world building alone is totally incredible. Androids with the memories of people, that live for centuries with only a handful of people that are in labs. Android scientists are trying to make humans to make bodies to put their minds in instead of Android bodies now. This story is about two escaped humans and Androids that are helping them and those trying to get them. Very intriguing, suspenseful, thought-provoking, and mind blowing. Loved it!
The narrator was perfect! I forgot it was a male narrator, he performed all voices so well! Great job! This book goes in my favorite file!!!
Robot Geneticists, Book 1
By: J. S. Morin
Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia
This is an audible book I requested and the review is voluntary.
This book is just amazing! The world building alone is totally incredible. Androids with the memories of people, that live for centuries with only a handful of people that are in labs. Android scientists are trying to make humans to make bodies to put their minds in instead of Android bodies now. This story is about two escaped humans and Androids that are helping them and those trying to get them. Very intriguing, suspenseful, thought-provoking, and mind blowing. Loved it!
The narrator was perfect! I forgot it was a male narrator, he performed all voices so well! Great job! This book goes in my favorite file!!!
May 9, 2017
This story was better than the three stars implies. One star is withheld because it's a series and there is no end to this story. It did leave off at a great place for a series but I can't understand how an unfinished story can get five stars. The next star was withheld for a reason I'll get to in a minute.
So, the plot of this story is that there was an alien invasion that wiped out all the humans. Twenty seven scientists managed to upload themselves to robots so they could carry on and save the planet. They have been in robot form for over a thousand years and now humanity is returning, whether the robots are ready for it to happen or not.
One of the things that apocalypse lovers like myself enjoy are the very complicated details of the collapse of the planet/humanity/whatever it was. It doesn't matter what went wrong, only that it did and now I want to hear all about it. That is where this book went wrong, star-losing wrong. There were some details but they were vague and told more in passing. I only know about the alien virus because it was in the synopsis. The story doesn't make mention of it. Since robots are planting trees and making animals in the lab, I assume pretty much everything was gone, but I want to read about these things, not assume. I'm hoping there will be more details in the second book but probably not. We've now really gone past that point.
I'll tell you where the author went very right. The robots. A lot of authors never write their robots correctly. They have all this personality and act like people, but they should be analytical and uncaring. They may or may not understand how humans behave but are unable to do this themselves. Think Data from Star Trek TNG. Now in this case, humans didn't just create robots but they uploaded themselves to those robots. They can be all powerful, live forever AND act like people.
I have no idea how long this series will be. And I hate to recommend a series when it's so new but this was fun to read and I really think sci-fi readers will like it. It's not hard sci-fi but it is lacking in details. Still worth it.
So, the plot of this story is that there was an alien invasion that wiped out all the humans. Twenty seven scientists managed to upload themselves to robots so they could carry on and save the planet. They have been in robot form for over a thousand years and now humanity is returning, whether the robots are ready for it to happen or not.
One of the things that apocalypse lovers like myself enjoy are the very complicated details of the collapse of the planet/humanity/whatever it was. It doesn't matter what went wrong, only that it did and now I want to hear all about it. That is where this book went wrong, star-losing wrong. There were some details but they were vague and told more in passing. I only know about the alien virus because it was in the synopsis. The story doesn't make mention of it. Since robots are planting trees and making animals in the lab, I assume pretty much everything was gone, but I want to read about these things, not assume. I'm hoping there will be more details in the second book but probably not. We've now really gone past that point.
I'll tell you where the author went very right. The robots. A lot of authors never write their robots correctly. They have all this personality and act like people, but they should be analytical and uncaring. They may or may not understand how humans behave but are unable to do this themselves. Think Data from Star Trek TNG. Now in this case, humans didn't just create robots but they uploaded themselves to those robots. They can be all powerful, live forever AND act like people.
I have no idea how long this series will be. And I hate to recommend a series when it's so new but this was fun to read and I really think sci-fi readers will like it. It's not hard sci-fi but it is lacking in details. Still worth it.
August 25, 2024
This was really very good! An exciting dystopian world, completely extinct of humans, until Eve! An interesting idea, well written, good levels of tension & action at times, I did really like a couple of the main characters & found it to be a really fun, robot read! I will look for more by this writer & I do recommend!
June 12, 2019
This book....wow. So unlike anything I have read in a long time. I found the characters and the storyline, the pace..... just everything to equal a very engaging, interesting read
June 12, 2020
Humanity as we know it is no more and the robots have taken over. But the robots are not quite as unfeeling as one would think. Before the end of everything, twenty-seven of the most brilliant minds were scanned as part of a project known as Project Transhuman. Every robot that now exists is made up of an amalgam of those human minds. Everything those humans knew and thought and felt are a part of the robots – all of their jealousies, their ambitions, their hopes and dreams. All were saved and used to create a whole new world.
Extinction Reversed is a unique take on the whole ‘robots taking over after the end of the world’ trope. At one point in time it was a popular story idea and was explored in numerous different ways before eventually falling out of public consumption. J.S. Morin has brought it back in a way with his six part series titled Robot Geneticists with Extinction Reversed being the first in the series.
The characters that Morin has created for the series are an interesting bunch. The robots are all based on the same twenty-seven individuals; depending on what kind of a person is needed, pieces of three minds mixed together using a process that is never quite fully explained. This creates an individual who is both unique but also has a known quotient about them. They are human in that they have feelings and emotions yet they are in metallic bodies.
The few humans that we meet on the other hand are quite diverse. Eve, the main female character, is more like a robot than the robots she encounters. Born and raised in a lab, at 16 years old she is experiencing everything for the first time. The robot who created her made her perfect in every way and raised her in a very sterile environment. Having never been exposed to anything such as movies or books or art, she is almost akin to a living, breathing, computer.
On the other side of the human coin is Plato. The main male character, he too was created by a robot in a lab somewhere. He, however, is the complete opposite of Eve. He is temperamental, gets angry quickly, and while he is quite smart he often rushes in to situations head first. He is far from perfect and only when it is revealed that while physically he is an adult male, his mind is of a 12 year old boy, does some of his actions make sense.
Overall, I liked reading Extinction Reversed. It was interesting watching the dichotomy between robots and humans play out. Especially as it was the robots who were acting out the most. The writing can be a bit awkward at times and while the first half of the book was a little slow, it definitely picked up in the second half. I especially liked the short story at the end that revealed exactly how humanity met its end and the robots came to be.
Readers who enjoy stories based around robots taking over will likely also enjoy Extinction Reversed. Personally, I’ve already added the rest of the series to my To Be Read list and will slowly but surely be making my way through them.
May 14, 2018
An Alien virus wiped out mankind, but a few scientist were able to upload their minds to robots they had created. 1000 years has passed and these scientist have tried, and failed, many times to bring humans back. The humans they have managed to create were all deeply flawed and the process of trying was regulated. But Charlie7 is shocked when he is tasked with looking after Eve14. She is human but her "creator" has kept a lot from her and Charlie7 has his hands full. Charlie realises what Eve14's Creator wants with her and knows he has to keep her safe no matter what.
There was an awful lot to like about this book and upon finishing it I felt like it was hovering between a 4 and 5 star, with it coming closer to a 5 star. But I always take time after reading to think upon the book and plot before I write a review and this one came in at a 4 star because there was one thing that bothered me about it that I couldn't overlook. The main thing was that we don't get a clear idea of what happened the humans! The only way I knew it was from an alien virus was because of the blurb. I wanted a little back story on the how and why. I'm also unsure whether all the plants and animals disappeared too. I felt like it was a major gap in the story. I also felt like the story dragged in places. It felt like there was a lot of unnecessary scenes which just made the overall story too long.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. It was a unique idea for the apocalypse and I loved what the author did with the robots! As with anything, upgrades will happen, and the robots have to upgrade themselves all the time. So what they did was mix parts of robots with other robots so it could be some Charlie with Timothy. They were able to recognise each robot instantly and know which was mixed with which. I've never read something like that before and I loved it!
I really liked Charlie7 and Eve14. Both were well written and developed and were easy to like. Eve14 was raised by her Creator and was given mental tasks and puzzles to do everyday, as well as physical exercise. She was never shown love so her behaviour is reminiscent of what a robot is like. But she is still human and has a natural curiosity about everything. She finds it hard but will do it none the less.
In all, this was a good read. It was unique and entertaining and I devoured it once I started. I'm really looking forward to the next!!
The narrator is new to me and he did a good job with this. He had a lot of tones and voices and it was easy to distinguish the characters. I liked how he portrayed the robots too!
I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.
There was an awful lot to like about this book and upon finishing it I felt like it was hovering between a 4 and 5 star, with it coming closer to a 5 star. But I always take time after reading to think upon the book and plot before I write a review and this one came in at a 4 star because there was one thing that bothered me about it that I couldn't overlook. The main thing was that we don't get a clear idea of what happened the humans! The only way I knew it was from an alien virus was because of the blurb. I wanted a little back story on the how and why. I'm also unsure whether all the plants and animals disappeared too. I felt like it was a major gap in the story. I also felt like the story dragged in places. It felt like there was a lot of unnecessary scenes which just made the overall story too long.
Other than that, I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. It was a unique idea for the apocalypse and I loved what the author did with the robots! As with anything, upgrades will happen, and the robots have to upgrade themselves all the time. So what they did was mix parts of robots with other robots so it could be some Charlie with Timothy. They were able to recognise each robot instantly and know which was mixed with which. I've never read something like that before and I loved it!
I really liked Charlie7 and Eve14. Both were well written and developed and were easy to like. Eve14 was raised by her Creator and was given mental tasks and puzzles to do everyday, as well as physical exercise. She was never shown love so her behaviour is reminiscent of what a robot is like. But she is still human and has a natural curiosity about everything. She finds it hard but will do it none the less.
In all, this was a good read. It was unique and entertaining and I devoured it once I started. I'm really looking forward to the next!!
The narrator is new to me and he did a good job with this. He had a lot of tones and voices and it was easy to distinguish the characters. I liked how he portrayed the robots too!
I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.
September 6, 2017
Extinction Reversed exemplifies both the best and the worst of the online publishing model. There's a lot of potential here, but the plot needs to be refined and expanded to tell a complete story with a fully fleshed out world. Currently it seems to exist as a creative writing exercise packaged to sell cheap ebooks.
Morin's story is built on a unique, imaginative world. Robots with human souls have spent the last millennium restoring the Earth after the total annihilation of all life. The one thing they haven't been able to accomplish is the restoration of human life. Until Eve14 that is. But with human souls comes the inescapable reality of evil, Eve's "Creator" is very evil.
The writing is whimsical. The characters are rich. The philosophical questions poignant.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book just doesn't follow through. The author's decision that the androids cannot truly understand art, literature, religion, or any of the other things that make us human, the universe feels small-minded and stereotyped—especially given that they practice politics, philosophy, and storytelling. I would hope that after 1000 years, the genius minds rebuilding the universe would at least rediscover the importance of mental health. Clearly, that is not the case. The big bad's reasoning is a mess of contradiction, much like the world building becomes. The plot collapses to a spitting match between the two male protagonists. The climax feels forced, if not straight up dumb. The hook for book two is cheap and hardly makes me want to read more.
If the entire planned series was written as a single book and given a good, thorough editing, I'd be willing to try it again, but the second book will not make my reading list.
Morin's story is built on a unique, imaginative world. Robots with human souls have spent the last millennium restoring the Earth after the total annihilation of all life. The one thing they haven't been able to accomplish is the restoration of human life. Until Eve14 that is. But with human souls comes the inescapable reality of evil, Eve's "Creator" is very evil.
The writing is whimsical. The characters are rich. The philosophical questions poignant.
Unfortunately, the second half of the book just doesn't follow through. The author's decision that the androids cannot truly understand art, literature, religion, or any of the other things that make us human, the universe feels small-minded and stereotyped—especially given that they practice politics, philosophy, and storytelling. I would hope that after 1000 years, the genius minds rebuilding the universe would at least rediscover the importance of mental health. Clearly, that is not the case. The big bad's reasoning is a mess of contradiction, much like the world building becomes. The plot collapses to a spitting match between the two male protagonists. The climax feels forced, if not straight up dumb. The hook for book two is cheap and hardly makes me want to read more.
If the entire planned series was written as a single book and given a good, thorough editing, I'd be willing to try it again, but the second book will not make my reading list.
May 16, 2018
I really wanted to like this book but ultimately found it impossible to sustain disbelief. And I am saying this as someone who love the Galaxy Outlaws Black Ocean Moebius series with its oddball crew of wizards, primates and giant sentient security feline.
The premise is good, A thousand years after humanity was wiped out by an alien invasion, robots are rebuilding the world in preparation for humanity's return from extinction. Rogue robot geneticists are secretly experimenting with growing humans in the lab; the majority of which are dismal failures destined to live out their short painful lives on Easter Island, known colloquially as the Scrapyard. But then a healthy intelligent girl known as Eve14 emerges.
A major problem with this book is that the supposed robots seem to operate with the same emotions, petty jealousies, rivalries and unreliability of the humans they were first based on while Eve14 displays the rigid and literal mindset one would expect from a robot.
It is unclear why, given she was raised in isolation by a robot known as the Creator, she so readily accepts and trusts other robots she has just met, particularly given their desire to remove her from the only person she ever knew.
We also meet another proto-human known as Plato who is hellbent on 'rescuing' Eve14 from her creator, who she also quickly accepts, trusts and follows. It is impossible to understand how another successfully grown human, one with super-human physique hellbent on delivering vigilante justice to unethical robot geneticists, could have lived for years under the radar.
As the book went on, the writing seemed to become more and more cliche-ridden. I finally gave up halfway through, unable to care about the ultimate fate of any of the characters or even humanity.
The premise is good, A thousand years after humanity was wiped out by an alien invasion, robots are rebuilding the world in preparation for humanity's return from extinction. Rogue robot geneticists are secretly experimenting with growing humans in the lab; the majority of which are dismal failures destined to live out their short painful lives on Easter Island, known colloquially as the Scrapyard. But then a healthy intelligent girl known as Eve14 emerges.
A major problem with this book is that the supposed robots seem to operate with the same emotions, petty jealousies, rivalries and unreliability of the humans they were first based on while Eve14 displays the rigid and literal mindset one would expect from a robot.
It is unclear why, given she was raised in isolation by a robot known as the Creator, she so readily accepts and trusts other robots she has just met, particularly given their desire to remove her from the only person she ever knew.
We also meet another proto-human known as Plato who is hellbent on 'rescuing' Eve14 from her creator, who she also quickly accepts, trusts and follows. It is impossible to understand how another successfully grown human, one with super-human physique hellbent on delivering vigilante justice to unethical robot geneticists, could have lived for years under the radar.
As the book went on, the writing seemed to become more and more cliche-ridden. I finally gave up halfway through, unable to care about the ultimate fate of any of the characters or even humanity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2017
This is a refreshing, original story. Humans perished from the earth over 1000 years ago. Over that time, robots have endeavoured to cleanse the environment and rebuild the resources and structures to make it habitable once again. Even with all their progress, they have not yet reached the technological level where they are able to successfully clone people. That has not stopped a number of rogue scientists robots from trying and failing until one experiment, Eve 14 escapes from the lab.
The story then follows Eve as she ventures into the world outside and experiences much that we kept from her by her creator. It is not a happy go lucky life on a reborn earth, but rather a race for Eve to escape the clutches of her crazed creator.
I totally enjoyed this take. It was unique from other robot stories I've read and nothing much like the cute cartoon movie Wall-E (which I loved). The evolution oft he robot society wand hierarchy is well done. With 1000 years for them to work, it's not surprising that their world would be so rich and detailed.
This story did have a few ah-ha moments I didn't see coming, though I knew how it had to end and I enjoyed following it's path.
Book 2 : The Brain Recyclers is due out June 2, 2017
#IndigoEmployee
The story then follows Eve as she ventures into the world outside and experiences much that we kept from her by her creator. It is not a happy go lucky life on a reborn earth, but rather a race for Eve to escape the clutches of her crazed creator.
I totally enjoyed this take. It was unique from other robot stories I've read and nothing much like the cute cartoon movie Wall-E (which I loved). The evolution oft he robot society wand hierarchy is well done. With 1000 years for them to work, it's not surprising that their world would be so rich and detailed.
This story did have a few ah-ha moments I didn't see coming, though I knew how it had to end and I enjoyed following it's path.
Book 2 : The Brain Recyclers is due out June 2, 2017
#IndigoEmployee
October 11, 2019
It's not that I felt this book, or this story was bad... the 'but' being it felt bland. It wasn't a book that I neglected in favor of other books, but it also wasn't a book a rushed to experience at every free moment. I read other books concurrently and finished this one in a long-ish amount of time - but I -did- finish it.
My biggest gripe was with Plato. I wanted to like him, but his character strongly stretched the limits of realism for what he was/represented. I especially felt he was too conveniently smart when it was needed.
It was like reading an epic adventure, but across a vast landscape in which 90% of what the characters do is walk, and 90% of what you read is them walking. The exciting bits get lost in the mundane. There's no real character growth, but a couple of jarring character reversals. There are also a couple of dated-feeling culture references that may not even be especially relevant to younger readers.
The best part about the story was the cliffhanger at the end (not a spoiler - this is a series, after all). The rest of it didn't really stick out for me. All in all, I was disappointed. I wanted to like this series - it's a long one! Unsure if I'll pick up the next installment.
My biggest gripe was with Plato. I wanted to like him, but his character strongly stretched the limits of realism for what he was/represented. I especially felt he was too conveniently smart when it was needed.
It was like reading an epic adventure, but across a vast landscape in which 90% of what the characters do is walk, and 90% of what you read is them walking. The exciting bits get lost in the mundane. There's no real character growth, but a couple of jarring character reversals. There are also a couple of dated-feeling culture references that may not even be especially relevant to younger readers.
The best part about the story was the cliffhanger at the end (not a spoiler - this is a series, after all). The rest of it didn't really stick out for me. All in all, I was disappointed. I wanted to like this series - it's a long one! Unsure if I'll pick up the next installment.
April 17, 2019
I was so excited by the unique premise of this book that I put it on the very top of my reading pile. It took me a while to admit how bored I really was.
After humanity is extinguished by aliens, a group of sentient robots create a society, and eventually try to restore humanity. One succeeds, and Eve steps onto the page. After that, there is a whole lot of "so what?" My brain kept searching for the backbone holding the story together, but never found it. Is this a Pinocchio story about caretaker Charlie's longing to be human? Is this about Eve discovering her humanity in a society of robots? Is this a countdown to figuring out how to deal with the aliens before they wreck everything again? Is this a chase story about Charlie finding Eve's creator before she recaptures Eve? All these things are hinted at in the background, but none take center stage, take the reigns, and drive the story forward. There are a lot of mundane scenes that serve little purpose. It should have been a dead giveaway when the the summary just establishes the characters, and the summary content is burned through in 1 chapter. It was unfortunately, a mushy pile of blah. I did not finish it.
After humanity is extinguished by aliens, a group of sentient robots create a society, and eventually try to restore humanity. One succeeds, and Eve steps onto the page. After that, there is a whole lot of "so what?" My brain kept searching for the backbone holding the story together, but never found it. Is this a Pinocchio story about caretaker Charlie's longing to be human? Is this about Eve discovering her humanity in a society of robots? Is this a countdown to figuring out how to deal with the aliens before they wreck everything again? Is this a chase story about Charlie finding Eve's creator before she recaptures Eve? All these things are hinted at in the background, but none take center stage, take the reigns, and drive the story forward. There are a lot of mundane scenes that serve little purpose. It should have been a dead giveaway when the the summary just establishes the characters, and the summary content is burned through in 1 chapter. It was unfortunately, a mushy pile of blah. I did not finish it.
June 7, 2018
I received a copy in a giveaway here on GR in exchange for an honest review. It was the first ebook I won here, so I promptly forgot about it. Thank heavens GR prompted me, it would have been embarrassing and so much less fun had I not read it. Full disclosure, yes I cry when good robots die. The fourth star represents the pleasure of the read. I hope this can be maintained through the rest of the series. Sometimes when robots are too human, it can be a flaw, but the story supports this from the get go, and then the end oh. Like some other reviewers, more of the back story would fun....looks like it might be out there. So if you are into this sort of read, I think you will find this a nice escape.
June 25, 2017
This book was surprising and refreshing, but by the end I was unable to award it 5 stars.
Morin did a great job at coming up with an original story and unique characters. The first 80% of the book was impeccably edited. The story even felt complete and ready for another book. The timing was great throughout the book too.
Then the editing fell apart a little and a major cliffhanger was left. There were a few unanswered questions, but that is to be expected in a series.
The biggest disappoint was to go from a complete story to a major cliffhanger. I would continue the series, but I might look for others before.
However, this was a fantastic sci-fi read!
Morin did a great job at coming up with an original story and unique characters. The first 80% of the book was impeccably edited. The story even felt complete and ready for another book. The timing was great throughout the book too.
Then the editing fell apart a little and a major cliffhanger was left. There were a few unanswered questions, but that is to be expected in a series.
The biggest disappoint was to go from a complete story to a major cliffhanger. I would continue the series, but I might look for others before.
However, this was a fantastic sci-fi read!
March 26, 2021
What a different idea! I couldn’t put this book down. Literally did the “stayed up too late reading even though I have work tomorrow” thing.
Action-packed, fast-paced, yet heartwarming.
I ate up this book in only 2 sittings. I enjoyed the ride, especially the ending. I didn’t see that coming. I also really felt like I got to know and care about our characters. So much so, that I am hooked and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Bravo to Morin! I am definitely purchasing the rest of this series and have started book 2 already.
I highly recommend you grab this book, sit back, get comfortable and ready for a great read.
Action-packed, fast-paced, yet heartwarming.
I ate up this book in only 2 sittings. I enjoyed the ride, especially the ending. I didn’t see that coming. I also really felt like I got to know and care about our characters. So much so, that I am hooked and I can’t wait to find out what happens next.
Bravo to Morin! I am definitely purchasing the rest of this series and have started book 2 already.
I highly recommend you grab this book, sit back, get comfortable and ready for a great read.
July 27, 2017
I was hoping for Sci-Fi
This book had an interesting start, but never reach the potential I was looking for. The characters are robots with a couple of exceptions. There is a lot of traveling, but none of it important to the story. In a world of robots there should be more going on. Perhaps in a second book we will learn about the scientists, the development of robots, and the invasion the sets the story.
This book had an interesting start, but never reach the potential I was looking for. The characters are robots with a couple of exceptions. There is a lot of traveling, but none of it important to the story. In a world of robots there should be more going on. Perhaps in a second book we will learn about the scientists, the development of robots, and the invasion the sets the story.
June 30, 2019
Quit around chapter 30. The inconsistency between the robot's ability to feel emotion at different times was too much for me to overlook. Sometimes they have emotion, sometimes not.
It's a great concept, and some people would probably love it.
But I like my sci fi hard and internally consistent, and this stretched it too much.
It's a great concept, and some people would probably love it.
But I like my sci fi hard and internally consistent, and this stretched it too much.
Read
April 30, 2017Absolutely brilliant book, well worth picking up, cant wait for the next one!
May 29, 2018
I enjoyed this post-apocalyptic robot story. I listened to the audio version and the narrator, Paul Michael Garcia, is excellent.
July 14, 2018
I like very much.
July 31, 2019
Amazing storytelling. Somewhat predictable but non the less enjoyable. Recommended if you are into sci-fi.
April 26, 2019
3,5 stars. I'm only 'marking' it for now with 3 stars even though it's better than most 3-star books on my list but still not at the 4-star level of others. Having said that, this was not an easy one to judge for a number of reasons, not least of which is that it seems to be a looooooong series where book 1 obviously only scratches the surface.
Oh before I forget: I got this book (and others) for free from the author by subscribing to his newsletter, so that was very cool! Thank you, JS.Morin! It also includes after the book is done a very short story featuring Charlie (the human), Toby (also still fleshy) and Charlie2, the first of all of them. I hate to say it, but this story's placement wound up DETRACTING from the main book in that this was suddenly an origin tale that caught my attention on so many levels. Seriously, alien invasion, destruction of ALL life on Earth, revenge, rebirth and goodness knows what else? OK, so I assume these are going to be explained in more depth later. Maybe. Who knows? For me, that's a tad bit irritating in that I hate the 'book 0.5' approach too many authors use.
But to 'Extinction Reversed': this is a fairly well-written book that flows for the most part at a good pace although it does tend to drag at points, particularly when we get too much repetition about the nature and/or roles in society of each 'core' character. I would also argue that since we focus so much on a 14-year old character (and her insanely large 12-year old rescuer) that it is no surprise that a lot of the prose seems to border on YA format rather than 'solid' science fiction. If you're keeping notes at home: no cursing, no sex, not even any fleshy kersplatting to complain about.
However, THE point that above all else was quite muddlesome (is that a word?) to me is that we learn the motivations of the antagonist(s) very early in the book (granted, it wouldn't have been hard to deduce but still). Gosh, who'd a thunk it that some of the robots are for all intents and purposes evil? So the rest of the story HAS to either let that happen or fight against it, there's no option. As such, there's very little tension even if the end is technically a 'cliff-hanger' albeit again with no real 'shock' value if you want to call it that.
I did enjoy Morin's take on 'robots' and/or 'AI' in general, which reminded me in some ways of the 'Bobiverse' books by Dennis E. Taylor. Still, there are some HUGE plot questions that again I see as being unnecessarily either pushed into sequels (read: dragged out) or even not being explained at least to my satisfaction at this stage. Case in point: why is so much food being processed? Not animal feed, I'm talking about very obvious 'for human consumption' activities (and no, the Scrapyard supplies can not explain this). And if there are only so many robots or even automatons around (and by 'around' I mean in the entire Universe) why do all the factories have to be so unimaginably huge? Wouldn't this be something the robots would have solved by now in their inherent push to efficiency? There's a lot of such examples that have me scratching my head but not so much in a 'I can't wait to find out why' way but more of a 'am I the only one that this bothered' kind of way.
Bottom line: Morin has written an intriquing story with some flaws but also a very interesting premise. He has achieved his sales and marketing target of making me curious about the next installments. I'll probably give books 2 & 3 a look in the coming weeks and then decide if the '2nd trilogy' still deserves a read. Let's see.
Oh before I forget: I got this book (and others) for free from the author by subscribing to his newsletter, so that was very cool! Thank you, JS.Morin! It also includes after the book is done a very short story featuring Charlie (the human), Toby (also still fleshy) and Charlie2, the first of all of them. I hate to say it, but this story's placement wound up DETRACTING from the main book in that this was suddenly an origin tale that caught my attention on so many levels. Seriously, alien invasion, destruction of ALL life on Earth, revenge, rebirth and goodness knows what else? OK, so I assume these are going to be explained in more depth later. Maybe. Who knows? For me, that's a tad bit irritating in that I hate the 'book 0.5' approach too many authors use.
But to 'Extinction Reversed': this is a fairly well-written book that flows for the most part at a good pace although it does tend to drag at points, particularly when we get too much repetition about the nature and/or roles in society of each 'core' character. I would also argue that since we focus so much on a 14-year old character (and her insanely large 12-year old rescuer) that it is no surprise that a lot of the prose seems to border on YA format rather than 'solid' science fiction. If you're keeping notes at home: no cursing, no sex, not even any fleshy kersplatting to complain about.
However, THE point that above all else was quite muddlesome (is that a word?) to me is that we learn the motivations of the antagonist(s) very early in the book (granted, it wouldn't have been hard to deduce but still). Gosh, who'd a thunk it that some of the robots are for all intents and purposes evil? So the rest of the story HAS to either let that happen or fight against it, there's no option. As such, there's very little tension even if the end is technically a 'cliff-hanger' albeit again with no real 'shock' value if you want to call it that.
I did enjoy Morin's take on 'robots' and/or 'AI' in general, which reminded me in some ways of the 'Bobiverse' books by Dennis E. Taylor. Still, there are some HUGE plot questions that again I see as being unnecessarily either pushed into sequels (read: dragged out) or even not being explained at least to my satisfaction at this stage. Case in point: why is so much food being processed? Not animal feed, I'm talking about very obvious 'for human consumption' activities (and no, the Scrapyard supplies can not explain this). And if there are only so many robots or even automatons around (and by 'around' I mean in the entire Universe) why do all the factories have to be so unimaginably huge? Wouldn't this be something the robots would have solved by now in their inherent push to efficiency? There's a lot of such examples that have me scratching my head but not so much in a 'I can't wait to find out why' way but more of a 'am I the only one that this bothered' kind of way.
Bottom line: Morin has written an intriquing story with some flaws but also a very interesting premise. He has achieved his sales and marketing target of making me curious about the next installments. I'll probably give books 2 & 3 a look in the coming weeks and then decide if the '2nd trilogy' still deserves a read. Let's see.
April 22, 2017
A robot with a human soul, and a human raised by robots. What ever will they talk about?
A light-hearted sci-fi tale about some rather interesting people... and "people." Morin does a great job of voicing the narration to suit each (very different) viewpoint character. As for the post-extinction future of human kind: well, it's complicated.
I received a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It's definitely original; I've never come across a setting nor a situation quite like these. Like all good sci-fi, it explores the implications of some of today's leading scientific developments. The read is fun and fast-paced. I can't wait to see what else this series brings. Recommended!
A light-hearted sci-fi tale about some rather interesting people... and "people." Morin does a great job of voicing the narration to suit each (very different) viewpoint character. As for the post-extinction future of human kind: well, it's complicated.
I received a free advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. It's definitely original; I've never come across a setting nor a situation quite like these. Like all good sci-fi, it explores the implications of some of today's leading scientific developments. The read is fun and fast-paced. I can't wait to see what else this series brings. Recommended!
December 22, 2017
The book was ok but kind of ... flat. The characters seemed seemed sculpted using quite broad brushes. There's an attempt to explain this in the robots ennui and the sameness of their lives making other robots predictable but it was boring, unconvincing. It ended on a cliffhanger but I only vaguely care about reading the follow up. If it comes up in KindlePrime or on Kindle for 99p then I might get it. I can't see myself seeking it out.
That said it was an easy book to keep track of what was happening when on my commute.
That said it was an easy book to keep track of what was happening when on my commute.
October 10, 2021
Read for 2021 SPSFC
Overall Thoughts
I love stories about the future of human consciousness and the singularity, so I may be biased on this review, but I very much enjoyed this book. It’s more so the first of the above, though you could interpret it a bit as a post-singularity as well. This is well written, has interesting characters, and has no one you can label as “bad” even though people do nefarious things, so this pretty much pushes all my buttons. Plus this is the start of a series, and I’m very much interested in where it goes from here. This is definitely a series I would pick up on my own outside a reading competition, so just from that it gets high marks.
Plot
Let’s dig into things (without too many spoilers). Humanity has been dead a thousand years from a vague alien attack, but what matters is that robots have taken over. Though the book uses this label, I’d say they are more androids (artificial human replicas) or cyborgs (human consciousness with bionic parts) because all robots come from mixes of the original twenty-seven humans who were uploaded in a transhuman program before they all died. The book concerns how these robots are bringing the Earth back to live, repopulating plants and animals, but until now, no one has successfully made a fully-operating human. Well, now someone has, and the entire (robot) world will be thrown into chaos once it’s revealed that a “real” human exists again. There are some fun twists as well, which I won’t spoil, on what the real reasons are for bringing humans back, but regardless, there’s a solid, enjoyable story here. There’s nothing profound and it’s perhaps a little predictable, but it’s also a good story.
Setting
There’s mention of robots in space, but all the action takes place on Earth, and we see the various forms of reconstruction and restoration on human locations. Since these robots are derived from specific humans with wants and needs, there is a whole lot of humanity still in them, and they still do and remember a lot of human things despite not being able to enjoy sensory inputs. It’s poignant and sad, and really puts the robot characters into perspective. In fact, a lot of the fun of the book is seeing a post-scarcity society piddling about with projects and wondering what human intellects with literally no restrictions (and fairly good moral motivations) will do.
Character
The main characters really make this story, from Charlie7, a mysterious robot with a lot of buried mysteries, who seems to be one of the oldest of his kind, to Eve14, the new human who’s never experienced the world, to a few others I won’t spoil. It’s very cool to see that a human raised in a lab environment and fed very specific inputs reacts more as an automaton than a robot/android/cyborg with a thousand years’ experience and scraps of human memories—enough to know how the world works. Putting these two together plays around with how we think of ourselves as humans, what the concept of intellect really means, and what use you would put it to if you had infinite time. I’m very interested to see what the next book holds and how a robot society changes once a human is thrown back in the mix.
Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
Temporary score until more books in the contest are read: Really nothing to complain about. Good story, good characters, some great philosophical questions. The plot is maybe predictable, but overall a darn good time. 9/10.
Overall Thoughts
I love stories about the future of human consciousness and the singularity, so I may be biased on this review, but I very much enjoyed this book. It’s more so the first of the above, though you could interpret it a bit as a post-singularity as well. This is well written, has interesting characters, and has no one you can label as “bad” even though people do nefarious things, so this pretty much pushes all my buttons. Plus this is the start of a series, and I’m very much interested in where it goes from here. This is definitely a series I would pick up on my own outside a reading competition, so just from that it gets high marks.
Plot
Let’s dig into things (without too many spoilers). Humanity has been dead a thousand years from a vague alien attack, but what matters is that robots have taken over. Though the book uses this label, I’d say they are more androids (artificial human replicas) or cyborgs (human consciousness with bionic parts) because all robots come from mixes of the original twenty-seven humans who were uploaded in a transhuman program before they all died. The book concerns how these robots are bringing the Earth back to live, repopulating plants and animals, but until now, no one has successfully made a fully-operating human. Well, now someone has, and the entire (robot) world will be thrown into chaos once it’s revealed that a “real” human exists again. There are some fun twists as well, which I won’t spoil, on what the real reasons are for bringing humans back, but regardless, there’s a solid, enjoyable story here. There’s nothing profound and it’s perhaps a little predictable, but it’s also a good story.
Setting
There’s mention of robots in space, but all the action takes place on Earth, and we see the various forms of reconstruction and restoration on human locations. Since these robots are derived from specific humans with wants and needs, there is a whole lot of humanity still in them, and they still do and remember a lot of human things despite not being able to enjoy sensory inputs. It’s poignant and sad, and really puts the robot characters into perspective. In fact, a lot of the fun of the book is seeing a post-scarcity society piddling about with projects and wondering what human intellects with literally no restrictions (and fairly good moral motivations) will do.
Character
The main characters really make this story, from Charlie7, a mysterious robot with a lot of buried mysteries, who seems to be one of the oldest of his kind, to Eve14, the new human who’s never experienced the world, to a few others I won’t spoil. It’s very cool to see that a human raised in a lab environment and fed very specific inputs reacts more as an automaton than a robot/android/cyborg with a thousand years’ experience and scraps of human memories—enough to know how the world works. Putting these two together plays around with how we think of ourselves as humans, what the concept of intellect really means, and what use you would put it to if you had infinite time. I’m very interested to see what the next book holds and how a robot society changes once a human is thrown back in the mix.
Score out of 10 (My personal score, not the final contest score)
Temporary score until more books in the contest are read: Really nothing to complain about. Good story, good characters, some great philosophical questions. The plot is maybe predictable, but overall a darn good time. 9/10.
December 28, 2019
Audiobook review
Fans of the book “Prototype D” will enjoy this book, I think. Where as in PD, the main characters are human adult scientists, wacko military leaders, and a gang of rebels trying to build a robot army, in Extinction Reversed, it’s robot scientists, wacko renegade geneticists, and the very loose robot leadership attempting to bring back humans 1000 years after an alien race destroyed all of Earth’s humans.
For a century a small number of robots have been attempting to get the world back into working order for the eventual return of the human race. Thanks to the 27 human scientists who made copies of themselves into robots, the robot leadership has approved many robots built and made with mixes of the 27 different personalities. A 30% Charles/34% Toby/36% Evelyn will give a completely different set of traits, personality, and ambitions as a 35% James/12% Victoria/53% Charles. Completely different. The oversight committee only allows certain mixtures of the human brains that were saved before the fall of humans, so while they have many of the same attributes, they are not the same.
Charlie7 is possibly the oldest robot alive. Because of all his heroics during the downfall of humans and then the major part he had during the initial rebuilding period, has given him a sort of “retirement” status that he issues to meddle in gov/counsels affairs. Everyone knows him, and many owe him favors. When A Toby requests some private time with Charlie7, he sprints a HUMAN child on him. Not knowing what to do, Charlie7 accepts responsibility to keep her safe, call in some favors. He can’t remember the last time he saw a human that wasn’t “broken” - poorly engendered in secret labs by criminal scientist robots. The broken humans that are found, get sent to the “scrap yard” which is actually a living compound community on Easter Island.
16 year old Eve14, human, doesn’t know what to think about being outside of her room. When she was taken from her rooms at the laboratory where “Creator” made her, she never dreamed that she’s been lied to about her end purposes. With a giant of a man-child, an old knowledgeable and guilt drive robot, the 3 find themselves in a race of time, games of cat and mouse, and also risk being exposed - taking the fall for something they are only trying to get away from, not participate in. They sure as hell don’t want the Creator to transfer her “data” into Eve14’s brain, taking over her newly found life!
I loved this book. Going to get the next one as well. The narration was great, and the audio is crisp & clean. I cannot wait to hear more.
This AudioBook was given to me by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Fans of the book “Prototype D” will enjoy this book, I think. Where as in PD, the main characters are human adult scientists, wacko military leaders, and a gang of rebels trying to build a robot army, in Extinction Reversed, it’s robot scientists, wacko renegade geneticists, and the very loose robot leadership attempting to bring back humans 1000 years after an alien race destroyed all of Earth’s humans.
For a century a small number of robots have been attempting to get the world back into working order for the eventual return of the human race. Thanks to the 27 human scientists who made copies of themselves into robots, the robot leadership has approved many robots built and made with mixes of the 27 different personalities. A 30% Charles/34% Toby/36% Evelyn will give a completely different set of traits, personality, and ambitions as a 35% James/12% Victoria/53% Charles. Completely different. The oversight committee only allows certain mixtures of the human brains that were saved before the fall of humans, so while they have many of the same attributes, they are not the same.
Charlie7 is possibly the oldest robot alive. Because of all his heroics during the downfall of humans and then the major part he had during the initial rebuilding period, has given him a sort of “retirement” status that he issues to meddle in gov/counsels affairs. Everyone knows him, and many owe him favors. When A Toby requests some private time with Charlie7, he sprints a HUMAN child on him. Not knowing what to do, Charlie7 accepts responsibility to keep her safe, call in some favors. He can’t remember the last time he saw a human that wasn’t “broken” - poorly engendered in secret labs by criminal scientist robots. The broken humans that are found, get sent to the “scrap yard” which is actually a living compound community on Easter Island.
16 year old Eve14, human, doesn’t know what to think about being outside of her room. When she was taken from her rooms at the laboratory where “Creator” made her, she never dreamed that she’s been lied to about her end purposes. With a giant of a man-child, an old knowledgeable and guilt drive robot, the 3 find themselves in a race of time, games of cat and mouse, and also risk being exposed - taking the fall for something they are only trying to get away from, not participate in. They sure as hell don’t want the Creator to transfer her “data” into Eve14’s brain, taking over her newly found life!
I loved this book. Going to get the next one as well. The narration was great, and the audio is crisp & clean. I cannot wait to hear more.
This AudioBook was given to me by the author, narrator, or publisher in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
May 9, 2017
The human race has been extinct for 1000 years. Robots rule in their place. What have these robots been doing all that time? Rebuilding the world, of course. And, critical to the plot of this novel, perfecting their cloning skills.
Enter Eve14, a 16-year-old human female clone, who at times seems more like a 12-year-old, and at other times seems more like a robot herself (she was raised in a genetics lab, so her social skills and emotional development are a bit subpar. Either that or this author hasn't spent much time with 16-year-old girls). She runs into Charlie7, who is something of an elder statesman among robots, and he shifts into nanny mode.
And also private detective mode, because where the hell did Eve14 come from in the first place? It's an ominous mystery. But only a little ominous, apparently, because Charlie7 has no qualms about leaving Eve14 alone in his home (which is inside the Arc de Triomphe because why not) where she is re-kidnapped. And the chase is on!
It's an intriguing concept to say the least. The world without humans! It brings up so many questions. At times, this novel presents clever and insightful answers -- like a congregation of robots singing hymns in Notre-Dame Cathedral -- and at times it ducks the issues. In particular the emotional experience of Eve14 is not fully developed.
That's my main complaint with this novel. It feels a bit lightweight. It provides an exciting adventure and some intriguing concepts, but it is sailing in deep waters and is content to just skim the surface.
Rating: 4 stars
Length: 140,000 words
Violence: Some
Sex: No
Drugs: No
Enter Eve14, a 16-year-old human female clone, who at times seems more like a 12-year-old, and at other times seems more like a robot herself (she was raised in a genetics lab, so her social skills and emotional development are a bit subpar. Either that or this author hasn't spent much time with 16-year-old girls). She runs into Charlie7, who is something of an elder statesman among robots, and he shifts into nanny mode.
And also private detective mode, because where the hell did Eve14 come from in the first place? It's an ominous mystery. But only a little ominous, apparently, because Charlie7 has no qualms about leaving Eve14 alone in his home (which is inside the Arc de Triomphe because why not) where she is re-kidnapped. And the chase is on!
It's an intriguing concept to say the least. The world without humans! It brings up so many questions. At times, this novel presents clever and insightful answers -- like a congregation of robots singing hymns in Notre-Dame Cathedral -- and at times it ducks the issues. In particular the emotional experience of Eve14 is not fully developed.
That's my main complaint with this novel. It feels a bit lightweight. It provides an exciting adventure and some intriguing concepts, but it is sailing in deep waters and is content to just skim the surface.
Rating: 4 stars
Length: 140,000 words
Violence: Some
Sex: No
Drugs: No
January 2, 2020
Honestly, I wasn't a fan. I almost DNF'd this book, but I spent money on it. Even so, I really dragged my feet getting through this one.
I found the plot repetitive, the logic flawed, tons of small and large plot holes, and a few of the characters entirely empty (and not just because they were robots). Some of the premises of the world were fantastic, and I mostly liked the main character - Charlie7 - but so much was just... awful.
The writing overall was ok, and the book didn't have many typo-esque errors, but there were several paragraphs that I read multiple times and still didn't understand what it was trying to convey.
I decided I didn't like the plot pretty early on (the first third of the book was just Charlie trying to get Eve fed by flying all over the world), but I saw it as irreconcilably bad when Plato showed up. The entire premise of the book up until then was that Eve14 was the only human, and here we have Plato who has been a robot murderer by trade, is literally a 12 year old mutant, and has never been caught before? I called nonsense on that.
The only character worth its salt was Charlie7. He was the pure copy of Charles Truman, the doctor who discovered the brain transfer mechanisms so a mechanical person could exist. Charlie7 was the world's most popular robot, and a bit of a lazy, narcissistic asshat at times. At the same time, he was the only one whose motivations were clearly not 'I want to use/rape/do terrible things to Eve.'
I found the plot repetitive, the logic flawed, tons of small and large plot holes, and a few of the characters entirely empty (and not just because they were robots). Some of the premises of the world were fantastic, and I mostly liked the main character - Charlie7 - but so much was just... awful.
The writing overall was ok, and the book didn't have many typo-esque errors, but there were several paragraphs that I read multiple times and still didn't understand what it was trying to convey.
I decided I didn't like the plot pretty early on (the first third of the book was just Charlie trying to get Eve fed by flying all over the world), but I saw it as irreconcilably bad when Plato showed up. The entire premise of the book up until then was that Eve14 was the only human, and here we have Plato who has been a robot murderer by trade, is literally a 12 year old mutant, and has never been caught before? I called nonsense on that.
The only character worth its salt was Charlie7. He was the pure copy of Charles Truman, the doctor who discovered the brain transfer mechanisms so a mechanical person could exist. Charlie7 was the world's most popular robot, and a bit of a lazy, narcissistic asshat at times. At the same time, he was the only one whose motivations were clearly not 'I want to use/rape/do terrible things to Eve.'
May 13, 2018
A simple yet effective story
This book was given to me as part of a giveaway.
No spoilers. 5 stars not because thus was a literary masterpiece (it isn't), but 5 stars because it was a fun read. I hadn't read any of J.S. Morin's work when I won this book in a giveaway. The title was intriquing and it wasn't a very long book, so I racked it up next in line. I'm glad I did. It isn't a complex story, with only one plotline to follow, but it was fun to read nonetheless. After reading some lengthy space operas recently, this was a nice change of pace. At first, however, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. There was some cringeworthy dialog in the opening chapters and maybe it was a bit heavy on puns, but as the story unfolded it all made sense. I also appreciated how short each chapter was, it made it easier to end at a natural stopping point when I had to close my Kindle to step off the train each morning.
Well, this book is the first of a series, and there is a classic cliffhanger at the end, so I will be picking up the next book soon.
This book was given to me as part of a giveaway.
No spoilers. 5 stars not because thus was a literary masterpiece (it isn't), but 5 stars because it was a fun read. I hadn't read any of J.S. Morin's work when I won this book in a giveaway. The title was intriquing and it wasn't a very long book, so I racked it up next in line. I'm glad I did. It isn't a complex story, with only one plotline to follow, but it was fun to read nonetheless. After reading some lengthy space operas recently, this was a nice change of pace. At first, however, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. There was some cringeworthy dialog in the opening chapters and maybe it was a bit heavy on puns, but as the story unfolded it all made sense. I also appreciated how short each chapter was, it made it easier to end at a natural stopping point when I had to close my Kindle to step off the train each morning.
Well, this book is the first of a series, and there is a classic cliffhanger at the end, so I will be picking up the next book soon.
June 6, 2018
I actually got this book in a Goodreads giveaway, which was pretty exciting in itself.
I really enjoyed the original take on robot sentience presented in this book. The comments on the difficulty of creating new works, when everyone in society is the product of twenty seven minds from a thousand years ago, none of whom (it's implied) we're particularly artistic were interesting food for thought.
That said, this work did have some flaws. The cause of humanity's extinction was never properly explained, particularly what motivations the aliens responsible could have had that resulted in the destroyed but not unsalvageable planet the robots inherited, required me to suspend my disbelief.
I did like the main characters, and the general world building done with robot society. Evelyn seemed a bit like a caricature of a villain, although some efforts were made to 'humanize' her character.
Overall, a solid, enjoyable read for a relaxing summer vacation. And not a hint of cliched romance or awkward forced relationship building, which is often an issue in similarly fun reads.
I really enjoyed the original take on robot sentience presented in this book. The comments on the difficulty of creating new works, when everyone in society is the product of twenty seven minds from a thousand years ago, none of whom (it's implied) we're particularly artistic were interesting food for thought.
That said, this work did have some flaws. The cause of humanity's extinction was never properly explained, particularly what motivations the aliens responsible could have had that resulted in the destroyed but not unsalvageable planet the robots inherited, required me to suspend my disbelief.
I did like the main characters, and the general world building done with robot society. Evelyn seemed a bit like a caricature of a villain, although some efforts were made to 'humanize' her character.
Overall, a solid, enjoyable read for a relaxing summer vacation. And not a hint of cliched romance or awkward forced relationship building, which is often an issue in similarly fun reads.
February 12, 2018
The Good: Gripping novel, fascinating world, some likeable characters.
The best trope was that robots were copies of living humans, but quirky, like people with autism, or from an exotic tribe with weird customs, despite them being copies of our own contemporary culture.
I'm strongly tempted to read the next book.
The Gripes: It needed about 100 pages cut. It has many chase scenes where the villain has the hero in their clutches & the hero escapes inexplicably or implausibly.
Some information travelled too fast (i.e. the true motives of the villain were known to everyone mid story long before the villain could tell everyone), some information spread too slow, (the hero didn't call this world's police or for any backup & was generally secretive for no clear reason other than to keep other characters from cluttering the story).
And finally, Plato was a deus-ex-machina character with too much power to fix problems for an escaped lab animal.
The best trope was that robots were copies of living humans, but quirky, like people with autism, or from an exotic tribe with weird customs, despite them being copies of our own contemporary culture.
I'm strongly tempted to read the next book.
The Gripes: It needed about 100 pages cut. It has many chase scenes where the villain has the hero in their clutches & the hero escapes inexplicably or implausibly.
Some information travelled too fast (i.e. the true motives of the villain were known to everyone mid story long before the villain could tell everyone), some information spread too slow, (the hero didn't call this world's police or for any backup & was generally secretive for no clear reason other than to keep other characters from cluttering the story).
And finally, Plato was a deus-ex-machina character with too much power to fix problems for an escaped lab animal.
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