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After Intelligence #1
The Hidden Sequence
Technology simply cannot be uninvented. It can, however, be contained.
Cognation Academy's invisible passages, floating buildings, and treetop hideaways appear to be powered by magic. Tech giant Cognation Industries, however, doesn't need magic to make the impossible a reality.
In her second year at the Academy, Charlotte Blythe comes face to face with Cognation's latest creations in the form of ten new students who are alarmingly real - but not exactly human. This experiment will challenge everything Charlotte thought she believed about her world and force her to make unimaginable decisions as she searches for the hidden truth.
Cognation Academy's invisible passages, floating buildings, and treetop hideaways appear to be powered by magic. Tech giant Cognation Industries, however, doesn't need magic to make the impossible a reality.
In her second year at the Academy, Charlotte Blythe comes face to face with Cognation's latest creations in the form of ten new students who are alarmingly real - but not exactly human. This experiment will challenge everything Charlotte thought she believed about her world and force her to make unimaginable decisions as she searches for the hidden truth.
- GenresScience Fiction
316 pages, Paperback
First published June 17, 2020
20 people are currently reading
104 people want to read
About the author
Nicole Marie
3 books15 followersThough it’s impossible to know for sure, Nicole Marie is fairly certain that she is not in fact an android. She is, however, a former English teacher who loves literature and believes that stories have the power to change the world.
Nicole is also co-founder of Tandemental, a publishing and consulting company focused on literature, education, and design.
Nicole is also co-founder of Tandemental, a publishing and consulting company focused on literature, education, and design.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 19, 2020
An incredible read. The Hidden Sequence might be the first book that Nicole Marie has published, but I find it hard to believe that it is the first book she has written. From the first chapter, I was pulled into a futuristic world, that while unique, felt so real that I could just step in. Short chapters keep the pace humming along and made it difficult to put down. Interconnected themes of privacy, trust, and prejudice make The Hidden Sequence relevant to today’s world, but are developed in a way that doesn’t seem reactive or on-the-nose to the real world.
In short - I highly recommend this book.
In short - I highly recommend this book.
January 16, 2021
This book is set in a futuristic, utopian society. We meet Charlotte, a 15yo in her second year at a prestigious technology-focused boarding school in the Pacific Northwest. Passionate about innovation, she is ecstatic to learn that the first ever android teenagers will attend her school. Not everyone shares her enthusiasm, however. Their government has strictly limited A.I. until now out of caution.
When Charlotte agrees to play guide to one such android, Isaac, she finds herself wondering whether humans can ever really trust androids. Grappling with friendships, old and new, her second year promises to challenge her in more than academics!
This book was addictive! The premise, characters and setting sucked me right into the story. The sci-fi/fantasy world building was immersive. Quite aside from the suspenseful plot, I enjoyed slipping into Charlotte’s school routine. Charlotte is believable as a self-conscious teen and a loyal friend. She is an inspirational mc, taking on leadership, speaking her mind and trusting her own intuition.
I thought Nicole Marie approached the advanced utopia concept in an interesting way. It is observed early on that sexism and racism are history. Then in a satirical way, we find that the head of the school is the “first man” to take on this position. We the readers are made aware of what the characters are not - this is no utopia.
I was binging the Twilight series when I found this book, (feeling a little exhausted might I add!) and I was hoping for a refreshing stand-alone novel. But finding that a sequel might follow makes me HAPPY! I could get into this world like I do with Harry Potter, imagining infinite secrets and possibilities for Charlotte and her crew.
Lovers of sci-fi, fantasy and young adult - must read!
When Charlotte agrees to play guide to one such android, Isaac, she finds herself wondering whether humans can ever really trust androids. Grappling with friendships, old and new, her second year promises to challenge her in more than academics!
This book was addictive! The premise, characters and setting sucked me right into the story. The sci-fi/fantasy world building was immersive. Quite aside from the suspenseful plot, I enjoyed slipping into Charlotte’s school routine. Charlotte is believable as a self-conscious teen and a loyal friend. She is an inspirational mc, taking on leadership, speaking her mind and trusting her own intuition.
I thought Nicole Marie approached the advanced utopia concept in an interesting way. It is observed early on that sexism and racism are history. Then in a satirical way, we find that the head of the school is the “first man” to take on this position. We the readers are made aware of what the characters are not - this is no utopia.
I was binging the Twilight series when I found this book, (feeling a little exhausted might I add!) and I was hoping for a refreshing stand-alone novel. But finding that a sequel might follow makes me HAPPY! I could get into this world like I do with Harry Potter, imagining infinite secrets and possibilities for Charlotte and her crew.
Lovers of sci-fi, fantasy and young adult - must read!
January 6, 2021
Amazing book-series is off to a great start! The descriptions in this set in the future technologies development campus were fantastic and yet you could envision it all. You meet a small cast of characters and the book mostly focuses on their interactions with newly created androids that are being integrated with the students. There are some mishaps and a mystery begins to unfold.
There are clues on several levels and I think I have a major one figured out, but I won’t leave it here lest I’m right and it becomes a spoiler in book two.
It’s interesting, poses all sorts of technology and ethics questions and is pretty fast paced-especially the second half. Can’t wait for book two!
There are clues on several levels and I think I have a major one figured out, but I won’t leave it here lest I’m right and it becomes a spoiler in book two.
It’s interesting, poses all sorts of technology and ethics questions and is pretty fast paced-especially the second half. Can’t wait for book two!
June 18, 2020
Enjoyed this book so much and look forward to the next.
February 1, 2021
This was a fantastic find: a fun exploration through a futuristic but not dystopian (yet!) world of science, tech, and androids that walk among us, as the characters discover what it means to be human.
A lot of academy/school based books claim to be comparable to Hogwarts. As far as I know, this one doesn't. Yet it truly holds the only worthy title in my reading experiences so far, having the requisite form-changing and oddly located buildings, eccentric teachers, and sinister plots bubbling beneath daily campus life. Cognation Academy is the science to Hogwarts' magic, but it doesn't make it any less wondrous.
The author did an odd thing where she used semi colons instead of colons or em dashes, which was distracting but hardly fatally so. The writing was strong, the dialogue slightly less so but not horrible, the ideas were intriguing, and the action was tense. It was disconcerting to start a book series that ran for the duration of the character's second year at school: while I certainly understand the choice, as the story would have been overly complex if the MC had been discovering the Academy at the same time as the actual plot, it's so unusual that it caught me by surprise and had me double checking that there wasn't an earlier book dedicated to her first year. How many books have I read about starting a new school? Literally hundreds. How many where we meet the character as she returns for a second year? Literally one: this one.
After Intelligence tried to be serious and yet came off as fun, it attempted to offer powerful twists that barely packed a punch...yet it was still a great book that was thoroughly enjoyable to read. I loved the world and the characters and will eagerly be keeping an eye out for any other books by this debut author.
A lot of academy/school based books claim to be comparable to Hogwarts. As far as I know, this one doesn't. Yet it truly holds the only worthy title in my reading experiences so far, having the requisite form-changing and oddly located buildings, eccentric teachers, and sinister plots bubbling beneath daily campus life. Cognation Academy is the science to Hogwarts' magic, but it doesn't make it any less wondrous.
The author did an odd thing where she used semi colons instead of colons or em dashes, which was distracting but hardly fatally so. The writing was strong, the dialogue slightly less so but not horrible, the ideas were intriguing, and the action was tense. It was disconcerting to start a book series that ran for the duration of the character's second year at school: while I certainly understand the choice, as the story would have been overly complex if the MC had been discovering the Academy at the same time as the actual plot, it's so unusual that it caught me by surprise and had me double checking that there wasn't an earlier book dedicated to her first year. How many books have I read about starting a new school? Literally hundreds. How many where we meet the character as she returns for a second year? Literally one: this one.
After Intelligence tried to be serious and yet came off as fun, it attempted to offer powerful twists that barely packed a punch...yet it was still a great book that was thoroughly enjoyable to read. I loved the world and the characters and will eagerly be keeping an eye out for any other books by this debut author.
March 17, 2021
I enjoyed this, even though I am way out of the target audience.
As a result, the teenage drama was a little tedious.
But for the YA audience, it's probably fine.
In fact, it's would be a pretty good Asimov robot story.
It even refers to one to explain something about androids.
There were some interesting concepts in the book, like the idea of a corporation also being a school.
Not a private school but imagine if there was an Apple University where people were sort of both students and employees.
I'm curious as to what happens next, so I'll put the next book somewhere on my to-read list.
As a result, the teenage drama was a little tedious.
But for the YA audience, it's probably fine.
In fact, it's would be a pretty good Asimov robot story.
It even refers to one to explain something about androids.
There were some interesting concepts in the book, like the idea of a corporation also being a school.
Not a private school but imagine if there was an Apple University where people were sort of both students and employees.
I'm curious as to what happens next, so I'll put the next book somewhere on my to-read list.
June 7, 2021
i absolutely need more books that take place on futuristic, nature-y boarding school campuses. what i wouldn’t give to listen to presentations while sitting in what are essentially the branches of a giant tree.
i will now be adding the academy to the ongoing list of fictional schools i wish i could visit.
all in all this was a pretty fun sci-fi and i can’t believe it was the author’s debut! i’m excited for the sequel! :)
| i read this as “a book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads” for the 2021 popsugar reading challenge! |
i will now be adding the academy to the ongoing list of fictional schools i wish i could visit.
all in all this was a pretty fun sci-fi and i can’t believe it was the author’s debut! i’m excited for the sequel! :)
| i read this as “a book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads” for the 2021 popsugar reading challenge! |
January 23, 2023
Overall rating: 3.5/5 stars
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this book once I got into it. I enjoyed the premise and ethics it posed regarding human interaction with androids and their capabilities. I was invested in the plot development very much so until about the last 20% of the book. I feel it got muddled with many unanswered questions and general confusion. I know this is possibly a cliffhanger tactic for the next book, but whether it was enough to make me want to read the next book is a different matter that has yet to be determined.
I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this book once I got into it. I enjoyed the premise and ethics it posed regarding human interaction with androids and their capabilities. I was invested in the plot development very much so until about the last 20% of the book. I feel it got muddled with many unanswered questions and general confusion. I know this is possibly a cliffhanger tactic for the next book, but whether it was enough to make me want to read the next book is a different matter that has yet to be determined.
March 31, 2021
For a first time author Nicole Marie did a awesome job with this book. After Intelligence: The Hidden Sequence was definitely a page-turner full of emotions, tensions, conflicts (both personal and between the characters), and and a lot of twist along the.
Although this book has 54 chapters, the chapters are remarkably short o highly recommend this book.
Although this book has 54 chapters, the chapters are remarkably short o highly recommend this book.
December 6, 2024
2.5 stars
The story was ok, but it felt YA in a condescending way.
I was not expecting it to be a series, so my low rating is likely also based on feelings about it not wrapping up at the end of the book.
The story was ok, but it felt YA in a condescending way.
I was not expecting it to be a series, so my low rating is likely also based on feelings about it not wrapping up at the end of the book.
March 30, 2025
An exciting tale
An exciting story with some very realistic characters, some likeable some not so. A futurist story set to make you consider lots of options are available. A fantastic twist.
An exciting story with some very realistic characters, some likeable some not so. A futurist story set to make you consider lots of options are available. A fantastic twist.
January 16, 2021
Great first book of a series. Reminded me of IRobot. It is a YA book. This one was clean. Moved along pretty good.
February 3, 2021
A wonderful YA read about future technology and the possible use of androids in everyday life. Cannot wait for the sequel.
January 3, 2025
⭐️ 3.8 stars!
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October 12, 2021A fascinating look at what future tech could evolve to, with a teenage girl taking part in a program to work with androids at her school. What starts as an exciting opportunity, soon turns Charlotte's world upside down. An entertaining read for young adult fans. I would recommend it.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews