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gemmaduds's review against another edition
3.0
I thought this was a great book. It had quite a lot of scope, covered some fairly deep issues and had enough imagination to keep me turning pages. It was easy-to-read, very quick, and as one or two people have pointed out, would make a good beach read.
Fans of dystopian novels should give it a try - it won't take too much time from busy schedules. I wouldn't put it on the same standing as Orwell, but it's an entertaining read that shouldn't be dismissed lightly.
Fans of dystopian novels should give it a try - it won't take too much time from busy schedules. I wouldn't put it on the same standing as Orwell, but it's an entertaining read that shouldn't be dismissed lightly.
gavreads's review against another edition
The Holy Machine is the first novel length work by British writer Chris Beckett, a writer who hit the headlines last year when he was awarded the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for his collection The Turing Test, beating competition from the like of Anne Enright (a Booker winner) and Ali Smith (who won the Whitbread). The Holy Machine was previously published in the US by Wildside Press back in 2004. Hat's off to Corvus for bringing Beckett to the wider audience he so richly deserves. Published in hard cover in July.
"Illyria is a scientific utopia, an enclave of logic and reason founded off the Greek coast in the mid-twenty first century as a refuge from the Reaction, a wave of religious fundamentalism sweeping the planet. Yet to George Simling, first generation son of a former geneticist who was left emotionally and psychically crippled by the persecution she encountered in her native Chicago, science-dominated Illyria is becoming as closed-minded and stifling as the religion-dominated world outside...
The Holy Machine is Chris Beckett's first novel. As well as being a story about love, adventure and a young man learning to mature and face the world, it deals with a question that is all too easily forgotten or glibly answered in science fiction: what happens to the soul, to beauty, to morality, in the absence of God?"
It's hard to write a review of a book that gets under your skin and gets you thinking. Not because it's a private conversation that you're having though it is a personal reaction. It's more that it is hard to explain what nerve it hits or why. Plus you then have to wonder if it's going to have the same affect on other people.
Chris Beckett's novel The Holy Machine is one of those books. And the skin it gets under is, in some cases, artificial, in others, virtual, as well as our own real skins. Though mainly it's about the skin of one 'ASPU' - Lucy - and a man named George Simling.
The premise here is that religious tolerance and integration has broken down and various religions and their followers are no longer as accepting of others as they once were. George's mother Ruth, a scientist, had no choice but to flee during the 'Reaction', an event that happened all over the world, to the scientific city haven that is Illyria, a place where guest workers are needed but their religious views aren't encouraged or, as the story progresses, tolerated.
With all its exploration of religious extremes versus science and its insights concerning exactly how easy it might be to fall into a state where religion is once again something to be observed and feared, The Holy Machine remains essentially a love story.
George falls in love with an Advanced Sensual Pleasure Unit (ASPU) called Lucy or more accurately, he falls for a personality of Lucy which he feels he can encourage to become more than her programming. Even though she is meant to self-evolve I'm not sure George gets to the nature of what he has fallen for. And when he discovers his mistake, he is too far along on a journey that leaves a lasting effect on both himself and the reader. What I found particularly effecting was Beckett's observation that the world doesn't need to turn too much to arrive at a place where tolerance and openness is dangerous and where control of people through religious dogma is enforced. That future for some, is already here.
Beckett describes such a world where scientists are ordered to convert or face being burned or stoned or in some other way killed. Even then they might not be saved if their conversion isn't convincing enough. Becket also plays with the idea of souls and the notion of machines that are alive. There are two scenes that show events in a brothel from the point of view of the robot. We're shown their reasoning and their standard responses. It's not free thinking. It's a case of 'if this, then that' statements that can alter through experience but only in knowing that one reaction is preferred over another one.
It also illustrates George's naivety for thinking that his love for Lucy is a love for the machine under the skin of Lucy. He is in love with what he thinks Lucy is, as we find out when they escape to the religious Outlands where they burn the robots as soulless demons and George gets to know Lucy a little better outside her brothel environment.
Becket shows a battle for soul on the level of Lucy who George is trying to encourage to move beyond her programmed personalities and to find her own self. There is a battle on the level of state where Illyria wants only views and actions that scientifically assess rather than ones based on faith alone so they start to replace guest workers with robots. The trouble is that scientists have souls too and they need more than science to sustain themselves.
Beckett shows also that to be human is a mix of the known and unknown and also that artificial intelligence could move a machine from a cold, calculating, analytical and concrete entity to one empathising with concepts that religion is supposed to help us with.
The saddest story here though isn't George or Lucy though they both have lessons to teach us as they go on their journeys, but the story of Ruth, who withdraws from the real world into the virtual world of SenSpace. It's a safe place for her. When she has to leave and come back to reality George often has to carry her from her all-in-one suit and feed her drugs before watching her cry herself to sleep. But the question is what would happen if you didn't have to leave that virtual space?
I did wonder why Corvus Books had decided to reprint a six year old novel that previously had a US release in 2004 by an independent US publisher. And after reading it I know why.
Chris Beckett has told a science fiction story that deals with the important things that could happen in the future and it's not about exploring space or meeting aliens (though they are fun and exciting things to read!).
The Holy Machine is about how we might cope with a future where science has advanced sufficiently so that our various religions need to reassert themselves as forces of control.
Highly recommended for those that think that science fiction can't be literature or literature can't be science fiction as well as to anyone that wonders what the future of humanity could hold.
"Illyria is a scientific utopia, an enclave of logic and reason founded off the Greek coast in the mid-twenty first century as a refuge from the Reaction, a wave of religious fundamentalism sweeping the planet. Yet to George Simling, first generation son of a former geneticist who was left emotionally and psychically crippled by the persecution she encountered in her native Chicago, science-dominated Illyria is becoming as closed-minded and stifling as the religion-dominated world outside...
The Holy Machine is Chris Beckett's first novel. As well as being a story about love, adventure and a young man learning to mature and face the world, it deals with a question that is all too easily forgotten or glibly answered in science fiction: what happens to the soul, to beauty, to morality, in the absence of God?"
It's hard to write a review of a book that gets under your skin and gets you thinking. Not because it's a private conversation that you're having though it is a personal reaction. It's more that it is hard to explain what nerve it hits or why. Plus you then have to wonder if it's going to have the same affect on other people.
Chris Beckett's novel The Holy Machine is one of those books. And the skin it gets under is, in some cases, artificial, in others, virtual, as well as our own real skins. Though mainly it's about the skin of one 'ASPU' - Lucy - and a man named George Simling.
The premise here is that religious tolerance and integration has broken down and various religions and their followers are no longer as accepting of others as they once were. George's mother Ruth, a scientist, had no choice but to flee during the 'Reaction', an event that happened all over the world, to the scientific city haven that is Illyria, a place where guest workers are needed but their religious views aren't encouraged or, as the story progresses, tolerated.
With all its exploration of religious extremes versus science and its insights concerning exactly how easy it might be to fall into a state where religion is once again something to be observed and feared, The Holy Machine remains essentially a love story.
George falls in love with an Advanced Sensual Pleasure Unit (ASPU) called Lucy or more accurately, he falls for a personality of Lucy which he feels he can encourage to become more than her programming. Even though she is meant to self-evolve I'm not sure George gets to the nature of what he has fallen for. And when he discovers his mistake, he is too far along on a journey that leaves a lasting effect on both himself and the reader. What I found particularly effecting was Beckett's observation that the world doesn't need to turn too much to arrive at a place where tolerance and openness is dangerous and where control of people through religious dogma is enforced. That future for some, is already here.
Beckett describes such a world where scientists are ordered to convert or face being burned or stoned or in some other way killed. Even then they might not be saved if their conversion isn't convincing enough. Becket also plays with the idea of souls and the notion of machines that are alive. There are two scenes that show events in a brothel from the point of view of the robot. We're shown their reasoning and their standard responses. It's not free thinking. It's a case of 'if this, then that' statements that can alter through experience but only in knowing that one reaction is preferred over another one.
It also illustrates George's naivety for thinking that his love for Lucy is a love for the machine under the skin of Lucy. He is in love with what he thinks Lucy is, as we find out when they escape to the religious Outlands where they burn the robots as soulless demons and George gets to know Lucy a little better outside her brothel environment.
Becket shows a battle for soul on the level of Lucy who George is trying to encourage to move beyond her programmed personalities and to find her own self. There is a battle on the level of state where Illyria wants only views and actions that scientifically assess rather than ones based on faith alone so they start to replace guest workers with robots. The trouble is that scientists have souls too and they need more than science to sustain themselves.
Beckett shows also that to be human is a mix of the known and unknown and also that artificial intelligence could move a machine from a cold, calculating, analytical and concrete entity to one empathising with concepts that religion is supposed to help us with.
The saddest story here though isn't George or Lucy though they both have lessons to teach us as they go on their journeys, but the story of Ruth, who withdraws from the real world into the virtual world of SenSpace. It's a safe place for her. When she has to leave and come back to reality George often has to carry her from her all-in-one suit and feed her drugs before watching her cry herself to sleep. But the question is what would happen if you didn't have to leave that virtual space?
I did wonder why Corvus Books had decided to reprint a six year old novel that previously had a US release in 2004 by an independent US publisher. And after reading it I know why.
Chris Beckett has told a science fiction story that deals with the important things that could happen in the future and it's not about exploring space or meeting aliens (though they are fun and exciting things to read!).
The Holy Machine is about how we might cope with a future where science has advanced sufficiently so that our various religions need to reassert themselves as forces of control.
Highly recommended for those that think that science fiction can't be literature or literature can't be science fiction as well as to anyone that wonders what the future of humanity could hold.
jessgracetaylor's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://www.infinityplus.co.uk/nonfiction/holymachine.htm[return][return]This is Beckett's first published novel, and it is a promising start. George Simling is a translator in the near-future city of Illyria, one of the few parts of the world that has not succumbed to the religious Reaction against all forms of technology. He falls in love with a sex robot which has started to develop autonomous intelligence beyond its programming, but ends up getting much more than he bargained for.[return][return]I normally hate "cute robot" stories with a deep deep loathing. This is not one of those stories. Although Lucy the robot's sluttish software is what George falls in love with, it becomes clear to us (and to him, though he has difficulty in facing up to it) that her emerging consciousness is something very different indeed. And at the same time as Lucy is making a transition from program to personality, George's mother, addicted to virtual reality, is going in the other direction.[return][return]Illyria, George's home, is no utopia; where many an author would have automatically wanted us to side with the scientists against the wild-eyed fundamentalists, Beckett has taken a more subtle approach. Surrounded by religious statelets, the city has elevated rationalism to the point of a state cult; discussions of religion and spirituality are forbidden, and George gets sucked into the subversive Army of the Human Spirit. When the authorities start to brain-wipe the most advanced of their robots, George and Lucy flee across a fractured Balkan landscape to a destiny that includes transformation and destruction.[return][return]The story is set in a part of the world I know fairly well, and I thought I picked up nods towards the national stereotypes of the isolated Macedonians, the laid-back Montenegrins, and so on. The fictional future city-state of Illyria obviously owes a certain debt of inspiration to the historical city-state of Dubrovnik, though it is two countries further south. A reference to "Lake Shkroda" is presumably a misprint for "Shkodra". My one serious cavil is that the oppressively hot Balkan climate is barely mentioned--indeed one character wears an unlikely "floppy white jumper".[return][return]A couple of touches I liked: the Illyrian subversives meet under the cover of the "Mountain Club" which sounds rather like the "Sierra Club" in the infamous role-playing game "Paranoia". Lucy the robot's gaffes as she tries to be human are reminiscent of the Buffy-bot in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I did feel that Beckett over-egged the pudding at one or two points: perhaps it's believable that George has never been kissed before he encounters Lucy, but it seems most implausible that his conception was the only sexual act of his mother's life.[return][return]But in general, this is an interesting tale well told in Beckett's sparse prose, and nicely presented by Wildside Press. Recommended.
mw2k's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting take on the question of faith. It questions the superficiality of it all, not always successfully. The world the author creates isn't always easy to believe in either. Thought-provoking in its own better than average way.
gerhard's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. What an incredibly affecting novel this is about what it means to be human. It is also one of the best novels about robots I have ever read.
The main protagonist is George Simling, upstanding citizen of Illyria, a bastion of rationality and science in a sea of fractured states and religious fundamentalism.
Illyria has an underclass of human-like robots performing its most menial tasks ... and displacing real workers from desperately-needed jobs, which creates an undercurrent of resentment and class rebellion. Ultimately, this leads to violent revolution, raising the question of just how liberal and forward-thinking Illyria really is.
Meanwhile, George thinks he has fallen in love with a robot sex worker, while his mother whiles away her life in the virtual realms of SenSpace. Both are deeply disconnected human beings who have been disenfranchised from their humanity by technology.
And then Lucy the robot sex worker (there is much riffing on the phrase 'I love Lucy!') shows a spark of self-awareness, which is the greatest sin against humanity in secular Illyria, leading George to a profound, and terrible, choice.
What happens is quite unpredictable and tragic. Ultimately, however, this is an uplifting novel about the meaning of faith and the faith we place in the importance of meaning in our lives. This is science fiction at its provocative and entertaining. Fantastic.
My only quibble: the Kindle version is littered with typos and errors that detract from the reading experience. A book of this calibre needs more attention paid to the editing.
The main protagonist is George Simling, upstanding citizen of Illyria, a bastion of rationality and science in a sea of fractured states and religious fundamentalism.
Illyria has an underclass of human-like robots performing its most menial tasks ... and displacing real workers from desperately-needed jobs, which creates an undercurrent of resentment and class rebellion. Ultimately, this leads to violent revolution, raising the question of just how liberal and forward-thinking Illyria really is.
Meanwhile, George thinks he has fallen in love with a robot sex worker, while his mother whiles away her life in the virtual realms of SenSpace. Both are deeply disconnected human beings who have been disenfranchised from their humanity by technology.
And then Lucy the robot sex worker (there is much riffing on the phrase 'I love Lucy!') shows a spark of self-awareness, which is the greatest sin against humanity in secular Illyria, leading George to a profound, and terrible, choice.
What happens is quite unpredictable and tragic. Ultimately, however, this is an uplifting novel about the meaning of faith and the faith we place in the importance of meaning in our lives. This is science fiction at its provocative and entertaining. Fantastic.
My only quibble: the Kindle version is littered with typos and errors that detract from the reading experience. A book of this calibre needs more attention paid to the editing.
mikewhiteman's review against another edition
2.0
Lots of big Themes in this one, religion versus science, artificial intelligence, simulated realities as opposed to the real world. So much of this quite short novel is taken up with broad strokes, "Isn't it strange how people can kill each other over one word of difference in a book?", "Yes, but science can also be bad!" type discussions.
The story would have been stronger if the the focus been more on the juxtaposition of Lucy's awakening to consciousness and Ruth's experiences as Little Rose. These are the most interesting parts and would benefit from a little more time spent with each of them to flesh out their characters.
Less interesting: awkward guy who is afraid of girls falls in love with a robot prostitute; all the religions get their own country (including science) then immediately go back to being farmers who can't maintain cars (except team science, who develop AI); awkward guy finds out that the beautiful girl he was afraid of just thinks he's cooler than her and he learns to love non-android women.
The final third feels like it's rushing to get to the finale and the Holy Machine of the title, so we barely see any of Lucy learning about the world and her sense of self. George becomes slightly more engaging following the betrayal but quickly falls back to being carried along by events. I would have happily traded all the religious back-and-forth for another hundred pages of character development.
The story would have been stronger if the the focus been more on the juxtaposition of Lucy's awakening to consciousness and Ruth's experiences as Little Rose. These are the most interesting parts and would benefit from a little more time spent with each of them to flesh out their characters.
Less interesting: awkward guy who is afraid of girls falls in love with a robot prostitute; all the religions get their own country (including science) then immediately go back to being farmers who can't maintain cars (except team science, who develop AI); awkward guy finds out that the beautiful girl he was afraid of just thinks he's cooler than her and he learns to love non-android women.
The final third feels like it's rushing to get to the finale and the Holy Machine of the title, so we barely see any of Lucy learning about the world and her sense of self. George becomes slightly more engaging following the betrayal but quickly falls back to being carried along by events. I would have happily traded all the religious back-and-forth for another hundred pages of character development.
stephend81d5's review against another edition
3.0
interesting novel about machines, nature, nuture. based in the near future and if machines have souls or not and one man journey with a sex machine and escape the rational city and enter the outlands where machines are executed as demons and how he reacts to it all.
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