Reality 36 (Richard & Klein 1) by Guy Haley [Book Review]

Aug 052011

Explosive PI Meets Singularity Debut

I love new authors especially if they write science fiction. This is Guy Haley’s debut and the first Richard & Klein novel. The second part, Omega Point is scheduled for April next year. If you want to sample the book you may do so below. You may also check out a free Richard & Klein novella at Guy Haley’s home page Haley’s Comment. I wonder if this is the first book out of Angry Robot’s open submission month earlier this year.

I totally misunderstood the blurb thinking it was about an Ai with a fetish for π but it is obviously about a Private Investigator (PI) fetish. The novel is basically a murder case but evolve to a novel take on singularity. The main characters are a class Five AI, Richard and Otto Klein, a former German special operations cyborg. They have an entertaining buddy relationship with some dry humor and a lot of respect even if Otto sometimes want to kill all machines including his partner. You might think Richard is the brain and Otto is the muscles but it is not that easy. One of the more entertaining scenes is when Richard has to make a full frontal attack in a battle mech.

Each chapter has a point-of-view character.

This takes place some hundred and fifty years in the future after the AI wars. In the EU and USNA all sentients have rights including the non player characters in the gaming realms so they have been closed to gamers and the individuals in there are allowed to live their own lives without influence from human ‘gods’. There are now 36 such realms. Virtual emersion is a crime. Each chapter starts with: All members of the Community of Equals are created free and equal in dignity and rights to emphasis this rule.

One of the foremost activists for machine rights, Professor Zhang Qifang is being murdered at least twice and Richard & Klein are conned into taking the case by Hughie, the EuroPol AI. Hughie and Richard have a funny deadpan kind of dialog and an I-am-not-showing-any-feeling kind of friendship going on.

Prominent in the story are also the Professor’s assistant Veronique Valdaire and her abusive cheerful phone Chloe. There is something I really like about intelligent and witty computer companions like Chloe. She reminds me of Kris Longknife’s Nelly and Ingrid that philosophy discussing Nokia phone from the Netherworld Trilogy by Christopher Rowley. Bickering is fun especially if it is a machine that does it.

Veronique goes on the run early in the novel and we get to follow her and the detectives as they try to unravel the mystery. They also try to avoid being captured by The Virtualities Investigation Authority, VIA which sounds like soap to me but here it is the organization that protect and police the Neukinds.

Guy Haley has created a fascinating world with The People’s Dynasty hiding behind the Great Firewall of China and the United States of North America governed by the three Sams. The AIs’ have started to clean up centuries of pollution and live in a not to secure peace with humanity. Near-I and AI machines is part of life. There are no info dumps just details glimpsed. It feels believable and well thought out. It is a world I would like to learn more of.

As you understand by now I really liked Realm 36. It got a fast pace, is humorous in tone, filled with action, combat and robots a great debut. Guy Haley is a writer to watch. This is not a standalone book it ends in a cliffhanger hopefully concluded in Omega Point next spring. I warmly recommend this explosive PI meets Singularity debut.

Book Information

Reality 36 (Richard & Klein 1) by Guy Haley (Angry Robot 2011) – review copy – Amazon US | UK

Meet Richards and Klein – the Holmes and Watson of the 22nd century.

Except that Richards is a highly advanced artificial intelligence, and Klein his German ex-military cyborg partner. Their first case takes them into the renegade digital realm known as Reality 36 and through the Great Firewall of China, in search of a missing Artificial Intelligence Rights activist. What they find there will threaten every reality.

File Under: Science Fiction [ The Great Firewall | Net Profit | Don't Upload | Remurder ]

Open publication – Free publishing – More ai

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Wonder (WWW book 3) by Robert J. Sawyer [Book Review]

Books 1 Response »

May 022011

The heartwarming story of Webmind continues …

Singularity stories are in the vogue and artificial intelligences are staples in science fiction but Robert J. Sawyer has created a heartwarming trilogy about a young blind girl who through an experimental operation becomes able to see the World Wide Web. She discovers and befriends an entity there that she names Webmind. He and she learned the world in Wake and in Watch the world learned about them. Webmind survived an attempt to destroy him by the US government WATCH group at the end of Watch.

Now in Wonder the story continues. WATCH has not given up and the Chinese government whose action to close to Internet created Webmind is at it again. A great deal of the tension in the story comes from a rogue agent who tries to get a hacker to make a large-scale attack on Webmind before it is too late to stop its growth. The whole Hacker scene of the story is fun to read especially when the truth comes out.

One thing I like about it is the learning process both Webmind and Caitlyn goes through. She is growing up and learning her ropes at the same time her new friend does. Being a teenager with her first real boyfriend is hard enough and almost impossible with the media frenzy surrounding them.

Caitlin, Hobo and Webmind are the stars of the show and the characters you root for but the other characters also come across real. It is also refreshing to see ‘bad’ guys with reasonable motivations.

The earlier books had more technology and science in them here the main subject is ethics. I like the way Robert J. Sawyer brings up ethical questions. What is right to do when defending yourself? How do we treat other intelligent creatures? In this instance exemplified by Hobo the ape and Webmind.

This is a well executed ending to the trilogy. It has some good ideas, likeable characters and a heartwarming story. You have to take it for the YA it is. I recommend it to young and adults alike.

Book Information

Wonder (WWW book 3) by Robert J. Sawyer – Ace (2011) – Bought from Amazon US | UK

Webmind-the vast consciousness that spontaneously emerged from the infrastructure of the World Wide Web-has proven its worth to humanity by aiding in everything from curing cancer to easing international tensions. But the brass at the Pentagon see Webmind as a threat that needs to be eliminated.

Caitlin Decter-the once-blind sixteen-year-old math genius who discovered, and bonded with, Webmind-wants desperately to protect her friend. And if she doesn’t act, everything-Webmind included-may come crashing down.

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Up Against It by M. J. Locke [Book Review]

Books 1 Response »

Apr 042011

Promising Hard SF debut

Up Against It is my most anticipated debut this year. M. J. Locke paints a picture of space colonization in a not to far future in this thrilling story of a criminal takeover attempt of Phocaea, a strategic and independent asteroid colony.

There are two main characters Geoff and Jane. Geoff is coming of age as he and his young rocketbike-riding friends become central to the events. He witnesses how his beloved brother Carl is killed in the mysterious accident that destroys the colony’s supply of methane and water. Jane is the city administrator in charge of supplies and she soon discovers that there is more to the accident and starts to suspect the Martian Mafia is behind it all, since they conveniently have the only load in range to save the colony. She also has been through it all before on Vesta when the Mafia took over there. Jane has to struggle both with the Mafia and her fellow administrators.

The tale follows the two main characters as they in their own ways try to save the colony. There is some teen love, a mysterious trans-human cult, lots of action on the asteroid and in space, kidnappings, and a fleet of thugs on their way. The accident also spawns a feral AI that complicates things.

The world building is good and quite interesting. We get glimpses here and there that hints at the greater universe. Earth is a refugee camp after an ecological breakdown and people in space have a better life but life outside the atmosphere is dangerous as the events here show. Life in the colonies are televised to earth by small mobile cameras that are everywhere, the colony managements have an allotment of privacy minutes every week.

I really like the characters and the world building and I hope M. J. Locke is going to write more in this world. It is a straightforward hard sf read where the mysteries and characters keep you interested. It reads a bit like classic science fiction but with modern ideas and people. It is a standalone novel but it has many interesting people and events that leave the range open for sequels I really want to read.

I give Up Against it a strong recommendation.

Book information

Up Against It by M. J. Locke (Tor March 2011) - Amazon US | UK – Bought it myself

Geoff and his friends live in Phocaea, a distant asteroid colony on the Solar System’s frontier. They’re your basic high-spirited young adults, enjoying such pastimes as hacking matter compilers to produce dancing skeletons that prance through the low-gee communal areas, using their rocket-bikes to salvage methane ice shrapnel that flies away when the colony brings in a big (and vital) rock of the stuff, and figuring out how to avoid the ubiquitous surveillance motes that are the million eyes of ‘Stroiders, a reality-TV show whose Earthside producers have paid handsomely for the privilege of spying on every detail of the Phocaeans’ lives.

Life isn’t as good as it seems, though. A mysterious act of sabotage kills Geoff’s brother Carl and puts the entire colony at risk. And in short order, we discover that the whole thing may have been cooked up by the Martian mafia, as a means of executing a coup and turning Phocaea into a client-state. As if that wasn’t bad enough, there’s a rogue AI that was spawned during the industrial emergency and slipped through the distracted safeguards, and a giant x-factor in the form of the Viridians, a transhumanist cult that lives in Phocaea’s bowels.

In addition to Geoff, our story revolves around Jane, the colony’s resource manager — a bureaucrat engineer in charge of keeping the plumbing running on an artificial island of humanity poised on the knife-edge of hard vacuum and unforgiving space. She’s more than a century old, and good at her job, but she is torn between the technical demands of the colony and the political realities of her situation, in which the fishbowl effect of ‘Stroiders is compounded by a reputation economy that turns every person into a beauty contest competitor. Her manoeuverings to keep politics and engineering in harmony are the heart of the book.

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Grail (Jacob’s Ladder 3) Elizabeth Bear (Spectra) [Books for 2011]

Books 2 Responses »

Nov 182010

I am taking a look at the releases for next year in preparation for my pick for 2011 to be published later. You will see more posts now and then up to when I publish the list.

Elizabeth Bear have written some intriguing and fantastic science fiction lately. I hear her fantasy is good too but I have only read a short story or two of that. Jacob’s Ladder is pure science fiction with a lot of fantasy references. I enjoyed the previous books Dust and Chill so this is very likely one of my books for next year.

Title: Grail
Series: Jacob’s Ladder
Author: Elizabeth Bear
Genre: Generation Ship Space Opera
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Spectra Books (February 22, 2011)

Order from: RandomHouse | Amazon US | UK | B&N

No blurb yet but Elizabeth has an Epigraph:

And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.

You Might also want to check out the Jenny Casey Series by Elizabeth Bear.
1. Hammered
2. Scardown
3. Worldwired

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Sun of Suns (Virga 1, Omnibus Virga: Cities of Air) by Karl Schroeder [Book Review]

Books 5 Responses »

Nov 152010

In many respect Steamapunk is the new black. That is true in general but Karl Schroeder brings his own unique post singularity angle to it.

Space Opera with feudal castles and wooden ships, ancient compasses, old revolvers, and frothing beakers on on hand, and flying bikes, space travel, and cyborgs on the other.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) sums it up up pretty well. The story take place inside Virga, a spherical world filled with air and floating rocks, artificial suns, and nations with a central sun Candesce – the Sun of Suns.

The migrating nation of Slipstream has subjugated Hayden Griffin’s home, Aerie and denied them a sun of their own. The opening scene of the book depicts how his mother attempts to light a sun for their home and the brutal response. He swear revenge on the man he believe responsible Admiral Chaison Fanning.

The story continues with Venera Fanning wife of the admiral. She is heading a network of secret informants and security agents and seems to be a force to be reckoned with in Slipstream. A dying scout bring photos and information to her that a rival nation, Falcon Formation is building a huge dreadnought, almost 3 km long in preparation for an attack on Slipstream. Her page for the day impresses her with his knowledge as he glimpses the photo and explains how he knows its size. That page is Hayden trying to get at the Admiral.

The Admiral is ordered to attack the nation in Slipstreams path knowing that the Falcon Formation is contemplating an ambush of the capital while the fleet is away. He and his wife develop an extensive plan to defeat the ambush involving travel to the skin of Virga, finding a legendary treasure and using it to sneak up on the enemy.

The plan takes them and Hayden on an epic tour through the sunless countries and the central nations of Virga that involves pirate attacks, mountain dropping, fleet battles and running through airless patches. It is all a great adventure remembering of the high seas.

This is a story about fundamental ideas even if it at first glance is a wonderful romp on the high seas, sorry airs with compelling characters. Hayden befriends many new characters in his travels among them Aubri Mahallan a woman from outside Virga. From her he learns that the outside world is governed by Artificial Nature, sort of like a hive mind that has lost its creativity in artificial reality. But Candesce, Virga’s largest sun, disrupt Artificial Nature and prevent it from entering Virga so this is in many respects the last place where you can find true humans. The series works with this conflict between integrated artificial reality gone to far and ‘primitive’ humans in the real world.

Sun of Suns is a wonderful, fast paced adventure story with airships, pirates and artificial suns with one of the most compelling and impressive world buildings I have ever seen. My only complaint is that it is a bit short. All the books in the Virga universe are standalone with tie ins to previous books. I can recommend it to hard science fiction readers as well as to the steampunk adventure audience.

This is part one of my reviews of Virga: Cities of the Air. Expect part two Queen of Candesce next week.

Information

Title: Sun of Suns
Series: Virga book 1
Omnibus: Virga: Cities of Air (Sun of Suns, Queen of Candisce)
Author: Karl Schroeder (kschroeder.com)
Genre: Retro futuristic steam punk
Paperback: 296 (592) pages
Publisher: Tor (Omnibus 2010, First 2006)
Excerpt: Chapter 1-3

Order from: Amazon US | UK | B&N | sfbok

It is the distant future. The world known as Virga is a fullerene balloon three thousand kilometers in diameter, filled with air, water, and aimlessly floating chunks of rock. The humans who live in this vast environment must build their own fusion suns and “towns” that are in the shape of enormous wood and rope wheels that are spun for gravity. Young, fit, bitter, and friendless, Hayden Griffin is a very dangerous man. He’s come to the city of Rush in the nation of Slipstream with one thing in mind: to take murderous revenge for the deaths of his parents six years ago. His target is Admiral Chaison Fanning, head of the fleet of Slipstream, which conquered Hayden’s nation of Aerie years ago. And the fact that Hayden’s spent his adolescence living with pirates doesn’t bode well for Fanning’s chances…

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