Reading in Science Fiction, July 2022

[chitman13]

Finished Neal Asher's Weaponized over the weekend, and it was just okay, and a bit of a grind at times (it took me three weeks to listen to it). The past/near-past/present format did not work well here, and with a couple of very minor edits this could simply have been a straight-forward start-to-finish story, and probably a novella at that given how much it felt padded out and, essentially, a lot of repeatable bits. My main fear of too much tech at the wrong point in the Polity timeline was mostly unfounded, and it did fit in well and was self-contained. I still live in hope that Asher goes either post-Polity or return to the Ownerverse in future novels as I feel that he's retreading ideas to shoe-horn them into his popular Polity time.

I moved on to a reread of the first novel in Jack Campbell's The Lost Fleet: Outlands, Boundless, in preparation to get to the second. Almost done in just two days. I do love his Lost Fleet books, though wish his publisher would let him drop the 'Lost Fleet' title (it's gone way past that now). I'll likely slip something in between this and the sequel, but very much looking forward to see where he goes with it.

 

[Diosces]

Today, I read An Unnatural Life which is an interesting novella by Erin K. Wagner that asks some serious questions about humanity and responsibility. It features a robotnick, a form of cybernetic organism, designated as 812-3. This artificial intelligence (AI) has been convicted of murdering a human coworker. He asks a lawyer who has recently immigrated to Europa to appeal his conviction. She does so reluctantly at first, but soon she goes all-in on this precedent-setting case.

The AIs have only recently been granted limited rights by the United Nations, and distant colonies like the one on Europa aren’t sure that this isn’t a bridge too far. There is serious prejudice against 812-3, and that forms the basis of the appeal. Who exactly is a jury of its peers that can sit in judgement of 812-3?

It’s an interesting novella, part courtroom drama, part space opera in the Jovan System. It really makes one think about some uncomfortable issues.

Thanks for the recommendation, is there some similarity to Bladerunner ethos?

 

[Agent Cormac]

Finished Neal Asher's Weaponized over the weekend, and it was just okay, and a bit of a grind at times (it took me three weeks to listen to it). The past/near-past/present format did not work well here, and with a couple of very minor edits this could simply have been a straight-forward start-to-finish story, and probably a novella at that given how much it felt padded out and, essentially, a lot of repeatable bits. My main fear of too much tech at the wrong point in the Polity timeline was mostly unfounded, and it did fit in well and was self-contained. I still live in hope that Asher goes either post-Polity or return to the Ownerverse in future novels as I feel that he's retreading ideas to shoe-horn them into his popular Polity time.

Interesting to note how Weaponized's back and forth structure didn't work in audio as well as print, chitman. As I've mentioned before, it should have been sorted out before it went to publication.
And now that you mention it, I think I'll read the Owner trilogy again.

 

[Prairie_Dog]

Thanks for the recommendation, is there some similarity to Bladerunner ethos?

Maybe a little. However, unlike the replicants, the robotnicks are clearly identifiable as non-human.

 

[chitman13]

Interesting to note how Weaponized's back and forth structure didn't work in audio as well as print, chitman. As I've mentioned before, it should have been sorted out before it went to publication.
And now that you mention it, I think I'll read the Owner trilogy again.

I think the main issue was the present/near-past sections as I felt they were too close together. The further past flashbacks worked well at times. Just one that seemed to miss the mark, I think.

Finished Boundless by Jack Campbell, and definitely ready for the next one in the Outlands series, Resolute.

Listening to The Temps by Andrew DeYoung now, and it's quite interesting - toxic cloud descends and turns everyone into 'furies' where they become off-the-scale violent towards everyone. The temps of the title are workers at the large office complex of Delphi Enterprises who were inside when the event happened, and stuck in the sealed building safe and sound. Some interesting characters and dynamics developing, and there's definitely something more to be discovered. Narrator is good too (Paul Heitsch), so enjoying this one.

 

[AtramentousFlux]

An Unnatural Life ... by Erin K. Wagner

I finished this one and found it quite good.

Having watched The Final Countdown again, I've got a taste for alt-history, so have started John Birmingham's Axis of Time series. Interestingly for me anyway, the author lives in my home city and wrote the series here.