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Glitch #2
Ghost of a Memory
Some ghosts refuse to be forgotten.
Nineteen-year-old council member, Tim Zaytsev, oversees the Legion Spore—a living airship made from shapeshifters. He’s tasked with removing glitches, fragments of the shapeshifters’ memories that reside as “ghosts” in the ship’s code.
But as he removes each glitch, the ship shows an alarming trend toward developing its own personality. It clearly prefers to work with Tim instead of his superiors, and its haunting dreams invade Tim's sleep, filling his mind with false memories of an affair with the alluring Lady Black, a council member known for her seductive advances. As the dreams intensify, he can't even look at his loving girlfriend without remembering Lady Black's touch.
Determined to perform his duties to the council while remaining faithful, Tim searches for the source of the Legion Spore’s rogue personality. But as the dreams descend into nightmares, Tim begins to suspect they aren't random glitches; they're warnings from the “ghost” of Lady Black's lover.
To ensure a lifetime with the woman he loves, Tim must find the source of the Legion Spore's rogue personality before the vessel usurps his mind, trapping him like all the other “ghosts” in the code.
*** Authors’ Ghost of a Memory is the second book in a three-part serial. Each book has a complete arc, but the first two end on a mild cliffhanger. They are short novels, and are intended to be read in order. ***
Nineteen-year-old council member, Tim Zaytsev, oversees the Legion Spore—a living airship made from shapeshifters. He’s tasked with removing glitches, fragments of the shapeshifters’ memories that reside as “ghosts” in the ship’s code.
But as he removes each glitch, the ship shows an alarming trend toward developing its own personality. It clearly prefers to work with Tim instead of his superiors, and its haunting dreams invade Tim's sleep, filling his mind with false memories of an affair with the alluring Lady Black, a council member known for her seductive advances. As the dreams intensify, he can't even look at his loving girlfriend without remembering Lady Black's touch.
Determined to perform his duties to the council while remaining faithful, Tim searches for the source of the Legion Spore’s rogue personality. But as the dreams descend into nightmares, Tim begins to suspect they aren't random glitches; they're warnings from the “ghost” of Lady Black's lover.
To ensure a lifetime with the woman he loves, Tim must find the source of the Legion Spore's rogue personality before the vessel usurps his mind, trapping him like all the other “ghosts” in the code.
*** Authors’ Ghost of a Memory is the second book in a three-part serial. Each book has a complete arc, but the first two end on a mild cliffhanger. They are short novels, and are intended to be read in order. ***
ebook
Published February 26, 2018
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About the author
Stephanie Flint
41 books56 followersHello, and thanks for visiting my Goodreads page. :-)
Though all my new works should show up on this page, please visit my Stephanie Bibb account if you want to see what I've read or follow my reviews.
Also, I have a Wordpress blog where I talk about writing and book cover design here.
Feel free to ask me questions through Ask the Author, and I'll get to them as I can. :-)
Thanks!
Stephanie Flint
~
Stephanie Flint (formerly Stephanie Bibb) graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in photography and a minor in creative writing. She merged the two interests into book cover design and photographic illustration, but she particularly enjoys writing speculative fiction and plotting her stories in the form of table-top RPGs with her creative partner, Isaac. They cofounded Infinitas Publishing in June 2015.
Though all my new works should show up on this page, please visit my Stephanie Bibb account if you want to see what I've read or follow my reviews.
Also, I have a Wordpress blog where I talk about writing and book cover design here.
Feel free to ask me questions through Ask the Author, and I'll get to them as I can. :-)
Thanks!
Stephanie Flint
~
Stephanie Flint (formerly Stephanie Bibb) graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a Bachelor of Science in photography and a minor in creative writing. She merged the two interests into book cover design and photographic illustration, but she particularly enjoys writing speculative fiction and plotting her stories in the form of table-top RPGs with her creative partner, Isaac. They cofounded Infinitas Publishing in June 2015.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 26, 2018
The 2nd book in this series bring the Legion Spore more to the forefront and it's fantastic. I really enjoy how these characters are developing. The Legion Spore is still my favourite element in this series though.....it intrigues me.
June 15, 2018
Neither shying away from the visceral horror of reshaping humans into machines nor descending into shock and gore for the sake of it, the Flints create a tale that will appeal both to fans of young adult dystopia and those seeking a more complex tale than youthful hero against decadent regime.
This novella is the second in the Glitch series. Appositely enough, this review might implant knowledge of former events in the reader’s mind.
Tim Zaytsev, newly appointed Head of Efficiency for the Camaraderie of Evil, divides his time between removing glitches from the Legion Spore, the Camaraderie’s giant bio-dirigible, and trying to understand enough of his other duties to perform them. His success in erasing the memory fragments of the people fused into the ship has brought him the beginnings of respect among his colleagues, but—as each glitch is removed—the ship seems to gain more of a personality; and, worse, Tim’s dreams are filled with apparent memories of an affair with Lady Black, most seductive of the Camaraderie. Deploying the Spore without investigating further could leave Tim dead or worse, but telling the Camaraderie that the ship isn’t ready means revealing what he’s dreamt without knowing if it’s even true.
The Flints maintain the premise and feel of the previous volume, making this a solid sequel. As with that book, reader’s enjoyment of this one will turn fundamentally on whether they accept that Tim both isn’t horrified by the idea of changing humans into living tools and isn’t a psychopath.
Where the first book explored Tim’s fumbling toward a way of removing glitches, this one focuses more on applying that theory to specific issues and whether certain parts of the way the Legion Spore was created might have allowed or amplified the issues. As such, readers who—like Tim—are interested in both the possible result of fusing many humans with various abilities into a single being and the wider metaphysics of the world are likely to find this a satisfying increase in depth.
Of particular note is the exploration of what telepathy might mean for dreams and perceiving reality itself: Tim fully believes the glitches are the result of memories replaying, and knows the Legion Spore can talk in his head; which raises the question whether his dreams and thoughts are a mixture of logic and stress, psychic photographs from former humans, or active manipulation by an outside force.
However, this novella is not solely metaphysics and engineering. Both Tim’s potentially true dreams and his lack of political training raise significant risks that he will either make an enemy of one of his fellow councillors or make a hash of representing the supposedly benevolent and exceptional Council in public. Unlike some YA titles, the Flints do not have Tim suddenly discover heretofore unrealised competence, resulting in a most plausible portrayal of a nineteen-year-old hacker failing to be a world leader.
This social and metaphysical turmoil also impacts Tim’s relationship with his girlfriend and fellow councillor. While this is tinged with the extremism of youthful angst, the dilemma between hiding things from your beloved or telling them you’ve been dreaming of someone else (albeit potentially due to outside influence) is likely to be recognisable to more mature readers, making Tim’s struggle equally accessible to readers who find the dramas of stereotypical YA romance irritating.
As with the plot and world, Tim and the other cast develop consistently, displaying both development and the pernicious influence of existing flaws. As such, readers who accept the idea of granting political power based on psychic ability will find this a plausible mix of late teenagers and adults.
Overall, I liked this book. As both character actions and ongoing plot rely on matters not mentioned, I recommend it to readers who liked the previous volume.
I received a free copy from the authors with a request for a fair review.
This novella is the second in the Glitch series. Appositely enough, this review might implant knowledge of former events in the reader’s mind.
Tim Zaytsev, newly appointed Head of Efficiency for the Camaraderie of Evil, divides his time between removing glitches from the Legion Spore, the Camaraderie’s giant bio-dirigible, and trying to understand enough of his other duties to perform them. His success in erasing the memory fragments of the people fused into the ship has brought him the beginnings of respect among his colleagues, but—as each glitch is removed—the ship seems to gain more of a personality; and, worse, Tim’s dreams are filled with apparent memories of an affair with Lady Black, most seductive of the Camaraderie. Deploying the Spore without investigating further could leave Tim dead or worse, but telling the Camaraderie that the ship isn’t ready means revealing what he’s dreamt without knowing if it’s even true.
The Flints maintain the premise and feel of the previous volume, making this a solid sequel. As with that book, reader’s enjoyment of this one will turn fundamentally on whether they accept that Tim both isn’t horrified by the idea of changing humans into living tools and isn’t a psychopath.
Where the first book explored Tim’s fumbling toward a way of removing glitches, this one focuses more on applying that theory to specific issues and whether certain parts of the way the Legion Spore was created might have allowed or amplified the issues. As such, readers who—like Tim—are interested in both the possible result of fusing many humans with various abilities into a single being and the wider metaphysics of the world are likely to find this a satisfying increase in depth.
Of particular note is the exploration of what telepathy might mean for dreams and perceiving reality itself: Tim fully believes the glitches are the result of memories replaying, and knows the Legion Spore can talk in his head; which raises the question whether his dreams and thoughts are a mixture of logic and stress, psychic photographs from former humans, or active manipulation by an outside force.
However, this novella is not solely metaphysics and engineering. Both Tim’s potentially true dreams and his lack of political training raise significant risks that he will either make an enemy of one of his fellow councillors or make a hash of representing the supposedly benevolent and exceptional Council in public. Unlike some YA titles, the Flints do not have Tim suddenly discover heretofore unrealised competence, resulting in a most plausible portrayal of a nineteen-year-old hacker failing to be a world leader.
This social and metaphysical turmoil also impacts Tim’s relationship with his girlfriend and fellow councillor. While this is tinged with the extremism of youthful angst, the dilemma between hiding things from your beloved or telling them you’ve been dreaming of someone else (albeit potentially due to outside influence) is likely to be recognisable to more mature readers, making Tim’s struggle equally accessible to readers who find the dramas of stereotypical YA romance irritating.
As with the plot and world, Tim and the other cast develop consistently, displaying both development and the pernicious influence of existing flaws. As such, readers who accept the idea of granting political power based on psychic ability will find this a plausible mix of late teenagers and adults.
Overall, I liked this book. As both character actions and ongoing plot rely on matters not mentioned, I recommend it to readers who liked the previous volume.
I received a free copy from the authors with a request for a fair review.
February 26, 2018
An intense and satisfactory sequel to Whispers in the Code, by Stephanie and Isaac Flint.
If you have not read Whispers in the Code, this book will be almost impossible to get into. If you have read the previous one, and you are as old as I am, this one might still be a challenge, albeit an intriguing one.
This is an Earth where telepathy, teleportation, tech sight, persuasion, and a host of other powers are present among the population. Many people have at least one of these gifts; some have more than one.
The world is divided along geographic lines to some extent. There is a rebel faction. Characters have ulterior motives to the ones they reveal. The lead character, Tim Zaytsev, is under intense pressure, having mixed feelings about whether the “Good Guys’ or the “Bad Guys” are the ones to side with. He has been promoted to a leadership role that he is unprepared for. Apparently his thoughts are open to a telepathic co-leader, and a machine intelligence, which makes his search for truth a minefield of risk and danger.
I consider this a YA level series. Ghost of a Memory feels as if it is too short, but with the kind of cliff-hangers that conclude both books, and the sheer exhilaration they provide to the reader, this one may turn out to be a fairly long journey with waiting time in-between each publication.
If you have not read Whispers in the Code, this book will be almost impossible to get into. If you have read the previous one, and you are as old as I am, this one might still be a challenge, albeit an intriguing one.
This is an Earth where telepathy, teleportation, tech sight, persuasion, and a host of other powers are present among the population. Many people have at least one of these gifts; some have more than one.
The world is divided along geographic lines to some extent. There is a rebel faction. Characters have ulterior motives to the ones they reveal. The lead character, Tim Zaytsev, is under intense pressure, having mixed feelings about whether the “Good Guys’ or the “Bad Guys” are the ones to side with. He has been promoted to a leadership role that he is unprepared for. Apparently his thoughts are open to a telepathic co-leader, and a machine intelligence, which makes his search for truth a minefield of risk and danger.
I consider this a YA level series. Ghost of a Memory feels as if it is too short, but with the kind of cliff-hangers that conclude both books, and the sheer exhilaration they provide to the reader, this one may turn out to be a fairly long journey with waiting time in-between each publication.
December 28, 2021
Ghosts in the Machine
An amazing tale of what meddling with humanizing computers could result in. In a future where enemies are used to power computers and the horrors of that escape the leaders.
The characters are well written and we can feel their situation as if we were present.
Follow along on this journey!
An amazing tale of what meddling with humanizing computers could result in. In a future where enemies are used to power computers and the horrors of that escape the leaders.
The characters are well written and we can feel their situation as if we were present.
Follow along on this journey!
November 14, 2019
I am really loving this twisted take on several sci-fi tropes. Reminiscent of A Space Odyssey, and a few other well known classics. Loving it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews