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The Companions
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Station Eleven meets Never Let Me Go in this debut novel set in an unsettling near future where the dead can be uploaded to machines and kept in service by the living.
In the wake of a highly contagious virus, California is under quarantine. Sequestered in high rise towers, the living can’t go out, but the dead can come in—and they come in all forms, from sad rolling cans t ...more
In the wake of a highly contagious virus, California is under quarantine. Sequestered in high rise towers, the living can’t go out, but the dead can come in—and they come in all forms, from sad rolling cans t ...more
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Start your review of The Companions
Sixteen-year-old high school girls Lilac and Nikki are best friends who go to class together, eat lunch together, hang out together, and confide in each other about everything.
The best friends, however, have a fractious relationship with the school's 'in girls', and Lilac especially dislikes the ginger-haired queen bee she calls Red.
During a keg party, Lilac is looking for a quiet spot when she comes upon Red having sex with a tall husky jock. Lilac screams in surprise, people come running, and ...more
*top 10 worst reads of 2019*
Maybe this book is not meant for me. I got so hyped up regarding the description of this one but I am hugely disappointed.
The first chapter started out good but yes, the chapters are so terribly long and it feels like the read was just dragging on and on. New character introduction and the various events described are somewhat too mundane considering it's a sci-fi dystopian kind of read. Considering the main theme tackled that is regarding quarantine, I couldn't see ...more
Maybe this book is not meant for me. I got so hyped up regarding the description of this one but I am hugely disappointed.
The first chapter started out good but yes, the chapters are so terribly long and it feels like the read was just dragging on and on. New character introduction and the various events described are somewhat too mundane considering it's a sci-fi dystopian kind of read. Considering the main theme tackled that is regarding quarantine, I couldn't see ...more
Since we are currently in the midst of a virus outbreak, I thought that this book would be timely. Actually, the virus and accompanying quarantine are pretty much irrelevant in this book. They serve only as a timing device - during quarantine/after quarantine. There is no world building that describes the virus or its impact. The book does have some interesting concepts. Upon death, your consciousness can be transferred to a new android body, of varying technological sophistication. They are pro
...more
'People haven’t yet forgotten what happened, but someday they will— they always do.'
A wonderful experience as a reader is to pick up a book you know little about, and then to be blown away by the reading experience. This happened to with Katie M. Flynn’s rather wonderful The Companions, one of the most affecting novels about androids I have read in a long time.
The book seems to have garnered lukewarm appreciation on Goodreads, which I suspect is due to the fact that not only is it a bit of a slo ...more
A wonderful experience as a reader is to pick up a book you know little about, and then to be blown away by the reading experience. This happened to with Katie M. Flynn’s rather wonderful The Companions, one of the most affecting novels about androids I have read in a long time.
The book seems to have garnered lukewarm appreciation on Goodreads, which I suspect is due to the fact that not only is it a bit of a slo ...more
The Companions by Katie M. Flynn is a dystopian science fiction novel in which the story is told by switching the point of view between multiple characters. While this one is science fiction the world that is built within actually hits a little close to home with our current pandemic situation with the world inside the novel under quarantine after a highly contagious virus outbreak.
With everyone trapped inside after the outbreak folks do tend to get a little bored being alone all the time so a c ...more
With everyone trapped inside after the outbreak folks do tend to get a little bored being alone all the time so a c ...more
Feb 22, 2020
Nenia ✨️ I yeet my books back and forth ✨️ Campbell
marked it as to-read
Shelves:
les-arcs-de-triomphes
I won a copy of this from a Goodreads giveaway!!!! Weeeeeeeeee. I'm so happy!
OK, this is being compared to two of my favorite books. I love STATION ELEVEN and I loved NEVER LET ME GO. I really, really hope this is good. ...more
OK, this is being compared to two of my favorite books. I love STATION ELEVEN and I loved NEVER LET ME GO. I really, really hope this is good. ...more
A dystopian sci-fi novel that is far too close to reality for comfort....
A pandemic sweeps through the US during which quarantines are mandated. Neither the living or the dead are allowed to leave. There are people trapped in towers who are both stir-crazy and lonely. Metis, a tech company, comes to the rescue with “companions.” Download the brain with all of its electrical currents, memories, and emotions, into a robotic body – some with skin for a more human like touch. These creations are pre ...more
A pandemic sweeps through the US during which quarantines are mandated. Neither the living or the dead are allowed to leave. There are people trapped in towers who are both stir-crazy and lonely. Metis, a tech company, comes to the rescue with “companions.” Download the brain with all of its electrical currents, memories, and emotions, into a robotic body – some with skin for a more human like touch. These creations are pre ...more
3.5 stars
Snuck this in with the other books I am currently reading because I just had to read it. I normally do not venture into Sci-fi which I ashamed to say because I'm probably missing out on some great reads but I enjoyed this. I liked the story line of this world set into the near future of human beings who die but end up having a chance to relive uploading their consciousness into machined bodies that look human. What was dead on about this was the story line involves a quarantine that eer ...more
Snuck this in with the other books I am currently reading because I just had to read it. I normally do not venture into Sci-fi which I ashamed to say because I'm probably missing out on some great reads but I enjoyed this. I liked the story line of this world set into the near future of human beings who die but end up having a chance to relive uploading their consciousness into machined bodies that look human. What was dead on about this was the story line involves a quarantine that eer ...more
3.5 stars really. It’s a jumbled mess but I mostly enjoyed the narrative. Those last chapters need a rewrite though. Way too confusing.
Having read a recent article in the SF Chronicle about how prescient and timely this book is, tackling a pandemic quarantine in The City, I thought it might prove intriguing in this shelter-at-home period. Unfortunately, the quarantine set-up is abandoned rather quickly and the majority of the book concerns what happens AFTER such.
Although the novel moved quickly, the author has this annoying habit of withholding vital information until 20 or 30 pages AFTER having that knowledge would have help ...more
Although the novel moved quickly, the author has this annoying habit of withholding vital information until 20 or 30 pages AFTER having that knowledge would have help ...more
Set in the future on the west coast of the United States, Companions have been created and leased into the mass market. Companions are machines that are given human consciousness - the human consciousness of a formerly living person. The Companions vary in quality, some being a little more than a tin can and others looking and seeming human to the untrained eye. They are “command driven” and allegedly have safeguards in place to limit their abilities and keep them from rebelling or harming their
...more
1.5 stars - I didn't like it.
An interesting concept within an extremely boring book that struggled to hold my interest. It's less than 300 pages but it felt like it was twice that length.
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First Sentence: Dahlia reclines on her bed during her regularly scheduled break, inspecting her hair for split ends.
...more
An interesting concept within an extremely boring book that struggled to hold my interest. It's less than 300 pages but it felt like it was twice that length.
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First Sentence: Dahlia reclines on her bed during her regularly scheduled break, inspecting her hair for split ends.
...more
Thank you to NetGalley for a Kindle ARC of
The Companions.
I'm not an avid reader of sci-fi dystopian but I was excited when my request was approved because...Hello! Robots! Who doesn't love 'em and who isn't waiting for them to go nuts?
** Minor spoilers ahead **
The premise is a strong but familiar one; after a virus has decimated most of the population, survivors are sequestered in their homes.
The wealthy have one reprieve, the ability to upload their consciousness before death into a 'co ...more
I'm not an avid reader of sci-fi dystopian but I was excited when my request was approved because...Hello! Robots! Who doesn't love 'em and who isn't waiting for them to go nuts?
** Minor spoilers ahead **
The premise is a strong but familiar one; after a virus has decimated most of the population, survivors are sequestered in their homes.
The wealthy have one reprieve, the ability to upload their consciousness before death into a 'co ...more
This was the third book that involves a major life altering pandemic that I’ve read during this real pandemic and like the other two, when I picked it up I had no idea that’s what it was about. I wonder what that says about me... or perhaps, I don’t want to know!
In this book the pandemic is more background than focus. All we know is that multiple pandemics have caused the world to go into quarantine for an extended period of time so people make ‘companions’ to keep them company. And if you can’ ...more
In this book the pandemic is more background than focus. All we know is that multiple pandemics have caused the world to go into quarantine for an extended period of time so people make ‘companions’ to keep them company. And if you can’ ...more
THIS SOUNDS SO GOOD. An uploaded consciousness able to defy commands goes in search of her murderer, damn
The premise is absolutely intriguing and I can see something like this happening in our future... and quite frankly, it terrifies me. Sadly though, this book just did NOT work for me.
The synopsis tells us about this deadly contagion that happens where now people are in quarantine... but the dead can come back in the form of "companions". The book touches on socio-economic status, human rights and the thought of human souls/thoughts, etc. being buried in a machine to "live on forever". But these ...more
The synopsis tells us about this deadly contagion that happens where now people are in quarantine... but the dead can come back in the form of "companions". The book touches on socio-economic status, human rights and the thought of human souls/thoughts, etc. being buried in a machine to "live on forever". But these ...more
Feb 22, 2020
Nancy
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
arc-galley,
ha-2020-a-z-challenge
I thought this was an interesting story and concept of the dead’s consciousness being uploaded into basically a computer and given a body then sent to live with either their own families or to people that request to have a companion. Sort of reminded me of AI becoming sentient beings. The story is told from 8 different viewpoints, some companions and the people they interact with. The reader gets a good sense of the challenges of the companion program, how different people feel about companions,
...more
2 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2020/04/19/...
The Companions by Katie M. Flynn gave me mixed feelings after I finished it. Even now, I find myself struggling to put my thoughts into words, but it’s probably clear from my rating this book wasn’t for me.
Set in the near future, in a dystopic quarantined California amidst a deadly virus, the story begins with an introduction to two seemingly average friends, Lilac and Dahlia, though pretty soon the full explanation behind ...more
The Companions by Katie M. Flynn gave me mixed feelings after I finished it. Even now, I find myself struggling to put my thoughts into words, but it’s probably clear from my rating this book wasn’t for me.
Set in the near future, in a dystopic quarantined California amidst a deadly virus, the story begins with an introduction to two seemingly average friends, Lilac and Dahlia, though pretty soon the full explanation behind ...more
This dystopian novel really gave me Never Let Me Go vibes. The concept is so creepy. I LIKED IT!
This book has a good premise, and parts of it are quite good, but it doesn't quite gel into a coherent whole.
The basic idea here is that a megacoroporation figures out a way to upload people's minds into computers upon death, and those minds are then put into robot bodies (of varying quality depending on how much one is willing to pay). Consciousness remains. Sounds great, right? Except that the "people" are regarded as the intellectual property of the megacorp, and are leased to living caretake ...more
The basic idea here is that a megacoroporation figures out a way to upload people's minds into computers upon death, and those minds are then put into robot bodies (of varying quality depending on how much one is willing to pay). Consciousness remains. Sounds great, right? Except that the "people" are regarded as the intellectual property of the megacorp, and are leased to living caretake ...more
I was very excited to read The Companions by Katie M. Flynn. Told from several perspectives, the book focuses on The Companions who live to entertain and serve households that are under quarantine for a nasty plague in San Francisco. The idea of uploading human consciousness so that families can keep their family member with them after they pass away was intriguing. I think the hardest part of processing this book was realizing how much the actual dying part stayed with The Companions.
The book ...more
The book ...more
Call me a masochist (I’ve been called worse) but I figured I’d give it a shot, thought maybe something that so obviously parallels our current state would either be a welcome reprieve from it, or something to help counterbalance the negative emotions it has evoked. I needn’t explain what “it” is. We all know.
And yet these are weird, weird times. I know, I know. Duh, Matt. Water is wet, Matt. Tell us something we don’t already know, Matt. That being said I wonder if I would’ve taken to Katie Fly ...more
And yet these are weird, weird times. I know, I know. Duh, Matt. Water is wet, Matt. Tell us something we don’t already know, Matt. That being said I wonder if I would’ve taken to Katie Fly ...more
📚 𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀! I finished reading 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 by Katie M. Flynn. This science-fiction book has great elements: AI intelligence, pandemic outbreak, prejudice, violence, revenge, and the desire to survive. I was hoping for a novel like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick (a.k.a. Blade Runner) or I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. It came close but did not hit the bullseye. It was a solid story, but the delivery was confusing. The ending brought everything together and save the ...more
The Companions is Katie M. Flynn's debut novel.
The premise of The Companions is intriguing. A highly contagious virus. The dead, who come in l forms - from sad rolling cans to manufactured bodies. A companionship program where the wealthy can upload their consciousness before dying. Sounds good right?
Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. While I very much enjoyed the idea of the plot I didn't find it well executed. It was difficult to follow, with the introduction of so many new character ...more
The premise of The Companions is intriguing. A highly contagious virus. The dead, who come in l forms - from sad rolling cans to manufactured bodies. A companionship program where the wealthy can upload their consciousness before dying. Sounds good right?
Unfortunately this just didn't work for me. While I very much enjoyed the idea of the plot I didn't find it well executed. It was difficult to follow, with the introduction of so many new character ...more
This book was a trip. A virus results in a social quarantine (sound familiar?... LOL). But you add to that the idea that you can live forever as a machine. There are a lot of characters, each with their own story- that connects back to one character. Overall it was kinda jumbled and a bit hard to follow. This is a strange time in life, to read a book like this (thank you COVID-19). The machine context was pretty intriguing. I want to thank @goodreads, @katie_m_flynn and @scoutpressbooks for this
...more
From the description I thought I would love this but it was a rough read. I think it was a very good idea and that it just needed a lot more working, it read a bit like an outline/rough draft. I will definitely keep an eye out for future works by this author though.
I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.
Katie M. Flynn's newest story, The Companions, is described as a dystopic combination of "Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go set in an unsettling near future where the dead can be uploaded to machines and kept in service by the living." However, The Companions never hits the mark with either comparison.
The story is about a world that has been destroyed by a crafted, highly contagious virus. Cali ...more
Katie M. Flynn's newest story, The Companions, is described as a dystopic combination of "Station Eleven and Never Let Me Go set in an unsettling near future where the dead can be uploaded to machines and kept in service by the living." However, The Companions never hits the mark with either comparison.
The story is about a world that has been destroyed by a crafted, highly contagious virus. Cali ...more
Sadly I expected so much more from this novel. The premise of this debut novel of Katie Flynn alone earns a 3 Star rating ... however, the execution leaves me with a hollow feeling. Humanity has always searched for immortality ... although not possible physically the possibility of digital immortality is extremely tantalizing.. The Metis Corporation has developed the technology to upload the brain digitally at the time of death ... not only the memories and data are retained but also miraculousl
...more
What, I come out as trans and suddenly I’m DNFing books like I don’t have a care in the world? Who even am I??
The Companions unfortunately continues my NetGalley slump. Despite being provided this lovely free review eARC, I could not bring myself to finishing Katie M. Flynn’s story of a robot with the brain of a dead girl on a journey to self-actualization. I think I got about 15% of the way through before I realized … I don’t care.
There is no centre to this book. Lilac is ostensibly the main ch ...more
The Companions unfortunately continues my NetGalley slump. Despite being provided this lovely free review eARC, I could not bring myself to finishing Katie M. Flynn’s story of a robot with the brain of a dead girl on a journey to self-actualization. I think I got about 15% of the way through before I realized … I don’t care.
There is no centre to this book. Lilac is ostensibly the main ch ...more
sometimes, a book packs an emotional punch that you don’t expect. this book did that for me, though I really should’ve expected it based on the publishers summary:
“In the wake of a highly contagious virus, California is under quarantine. Sequestered in high rise towers, the living can’t go out, but the dead can come in - and they come in all forms, from sad rolling cans to manufactured bodies that can pass for human. Wealthy participants in the "companionship" program choose to upload their cons ...more
“In the wake of a highly contagious virus, California is under quarantine. Sequestered in high rise towers, the living can’t go out, but the dead can come in - and they come in all forms, from sad rolling cans to manufactured bodies that can pass for human. Wealthy participants in the "companionship" program choose to upload their cons ...more
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“After quarantine, when kids returned to the classroom, there was a chance to start over, to make education work better, but it’s the same old impractical schedule as when Diana was a kid, and that was some eighty years ago.”
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