
vN
The First Machine Dynasty
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Narrated by:
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Christina Traister
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By:
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Madeline Ashby
About this listen
For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother’s past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks them, young Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive.
Now she’s on the run, carrying her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive. She’s growing quickly, and learning too. Like the fact that in her, and her alone, the failsafe that stops all robots from harming humans has stopped working… Which means that everyone wants a piece of her, some to use her as a weapon, others to destroy her.
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Critic reviews
The characters are well written and loved the exploration of humanity between human characters and the artificial ones. I loved the artificial person's struggle with what is real feelings, emotions, and love and what is just part of the program.
But I didn't love the story. There where parts where I wondered if I was reading a dream sequence rather that was going to revert back to earlier parts of the story because of some things that transpired were frankly not very plausible. You know those parts in Blade Runner were you are confused if it is a dream or reality? Like that.
The ending was quite a surprise. That can be good and bad in that it presenting some interesting and original ideas, that reminded my of the original Ghost in the Shell work, but was so poorly stitched into the rest of the novel the conclusion could have been a short story on its own.
Interesting Concepts
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Prior to dipping my toes below the spoiler line, however, I also want to commend Christina Traister's narration. As I typically do, I went between the Kindle and Audible versions relying on Whispersync for Voice to keep me on track. I would think this book would be a bit of a challenge to narrate. Amy needs to be young whilst quickly becoming a full, somewhat jaded woman. Javier is a Hispanic-based model. Portia is wacked. The terminology is a bit eclectic, to wit "...but her spirit was as strong as the titanium sheathing her graphene coral bones, her personal integrity as impermeable as the silicone skin overlaying the polymerdoped memristors embedded there, her wit as quick as the carbon aerogel currents wafting through and shaping the musculature of her body." Say that fives times fast. Ms. Traister handles it all with aplomb. Her phrasing and pacing are spot on. Her characters are believable and the tone of her voice matches them and their context. She is easy to understand. Lovely work. Seriously good reads; I highly recommend both books (but start with vN).
An Imaginative Novel of Robots, Control & Chaos
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Meh… Vore isn’t my thing.
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Would you listen to vN again? Why?
no because i rember it. but maybe years after nowWho was your favorite character and why?
they all are good. amy is the main. good and crazy AIWhich scene was your favorite?
humm idk alot of themWas this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
yea but i had to sleeep eat and work and drive.Any additional comments?
you will like this book. if you like sifi and ai stuffTHIS IS IT.
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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?
Not really - it was frustrating experience.Would you be willing to try another book from Madeline Ashby? Why or why not?
Probably not. There were compelling ethical questions but no answers or hints that the author even knew what questions the book raised.How could the performance have been better?
For some reason, the speaker pronounced Javier with a 'D'. Very odd and took you out of the narrative spell repeatedly.If this book were a movie would you go see it?
Sure - Hollywood would turn it into a sci-fi action flick much like 'I, Robot'. It would be a fun way to pass the time with some popcorn.Any additional comments?
I really wanted to like it - the description sounded right up my alley.Not as good as I thought it could be
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in a genre repleat with recycled content, vN does a great job of being original, entertaining, and thought provoking. Gender, sexuality, and individuality are all explored in the midst of an action story.
An exploration of sentience and AI emotions
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Pinocchio on the run
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loved it. fascinating science fiction.
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vN is about evolution of artificial 'life', designed as help and entertainment, constrained by Asimov's Laws of Robotics and programmed limits to morality. They reproduce by iteration, which is as much of self-replicating as human children are replicas of their parents. Ultimately, that’s the moral of the story – we are more than we’re made to be and that restrictions, limitations and expectations will not in the end hold us back. The same goes for robots.
The writing is tight, the characters likable, and the story is compelling. The book is is fairly low on technobabble, and it’s character-driven as well as idea-driven.
Not your average 'Pinocchio' AI Sci-Fi
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the cool parts lack inspiration.
Sloppy fruit salad of ideas.
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