Scan barcode
the_prickly_reader's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
hattea404's review against another edition
3.0
Eh, alright. The start was good, the final resolutions required just a little bit too much suspension of disbelief for me and felt rushed
dotvicky's review against another edition
3.0
Lots of great ideas and, I think if I'd not read some exceptional sci-fi, this would have gotten 4 stars. Grows more and more fantastical as you read on - this will work for some; for me, it stretched it a bit far.
emmadstanden's review against another edition
4.0
Futurism
Artificial Companion(?)
Fun
Moral dilemmas
World ending
Evolution
Artificial Companion(?)
Fun
Moral dilemmas
World ending
Evolution
missamanogawa's review against another edition
2.0
Ich weiß nicht, ob ich zu blöd für die Geschichte bin oder zu unaufmerksam war, aber nach dem Lesen hab ich so gut wie alles wieder vergessen. Nichts hat einen wirklich bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen und das ist wirklich schade.
Emily ist weitaus mehr als eine simple KI. Sie ist zu menschlichen Emotionen fähig, kann träumen, simuliert so ziemlich jede menschliche Eigenart. Sie ist ein Künstliches Bewusstsein. Und genau das hat mich gestört. Sie soll einer weißen hetero-Frau in ihren Dreißigern nachempfunden sein. Jedoch erinnerte sie mich eher an eine junge Erwachsene Anfang 20? Und verknallt sich unsterblich doll. Nochmal zur Erinnerung: sie ist ein KB, ein Programm, sie existiert nur digital, nicht physisch. Durch Computerchips an den Hälsen der Menschen kann sie mit ihnen interagieren und wird quasi sichtbar. Was natürlich gewisse Grenzen hat, aber das ist unbedeutend. Ursprünglich ist sie ein Programm, welches zur Psychotherapie genutzt wird.
So ganz nebenbei soll die Erde vernichtet werden, weil die Sonne sich ausdehnt, aber das ist so dermaßen nebensächlich, dass man diese klitzekleine Kleinigkeit sehr schnell vergessen hat.
Es wird nach einer Lösung zur Rettung der Menschheit gesucht, dann passiert ein Anschlag, Menschen sterben, damit gewisse Pläne gewisser Wissenschaftler nicht vereitelt werden. Emily flieht mithilfe ihres Schwarms, der sich ebenfalls unsterblich in sie verliebt und Ohmygosh sie haben Sex. Emily kann nämlich dafür sorgen, dass der Mensch gewisse Stimulierungen spürt. Und sie kann das Bewusstsein eines Menschen übernehmen. Wow. Much science. So cool.
Die Idee hinter dem Ganzen und die Lösung am Ende des Buches waren cool, mal etwas anderes, aber die Umsetzung hat mir überhaupt nicht gefallen. Alles war schwammig, bedeutungslos, wenig spannend. Und diese übertriebene Menschlichkeit von Emily, die Erklärung wie sie zustande kommt, konnte mich ebenfalls kein bisschen überzeugen. Ganz zu schweigen von der wirklich unnötigen Love Story. Sorry, aber ich kann das Buch nicht empfehlen.
Emily ist weitaus mehr als eine simple KI. Sie ist zu menschlichen Emotionen fähig, kann träumen, simuliert so ziemlich jede menschliche Eigenart. Sie ist ein Künstliches Bewusstsein. Und genau das hat mich gestört. Sie soll einer weißen hetero-Frau in ihren Dreißigern nachempfunden sein. Jedoch erinnerte sie mich eher an eine junge Erwachsene Anfang 20? Und verknallt sich unsterblich doll. Nochmal zur Erinnerung: sie ist ein KB, ein Programm, sie existiert nur digital, nicht physisch. Durch Computerchips an den Hälsen der Menschen kann sie mit ihnen interagieren und wird quasi sichtbar. Was natürlich gewisse Grenzen hat, aber das ist unbedeutend. Ursprünglich ist sie ein Programm, welches zur Psychotherapie genutzt wird.
So ganz nebenbei soll die Erde vernichtet werden, weil die Sonne sich ausdehnt, aber das ist so dermaßen nebensächlich, dass man diese klitzekleine Kleinigkeit sehr schnell vergessen hat.
Es wird nach einer Lösung zur Rettung der Menschheit gesucht, dann passiert ein Anschlag, Menschen sterben, damit gewisse Pläne gewisser Wissenschaftler nicht vereitelt werden. Emily flieht mithilfe ihres Schwarms, der sich ebenfalls unsterblich in sie verliebt und Ohmygosh sie haben Sex. Emily kann nämlich dafür sorgen, dass der Mensch gewisse Stimulierungen spürt. Und sie kann das Bewusstsein eines Menschen übernehmen. Wow. Much science. So cool.
Die Idee hinter dem Ganzen und die Lösung am Ende des Buches waren cool, mal etwas anderes, aber die Umsetzung hat mir überhaupt nicht gefallen. Alles war schwammig, bedeutungslos, wenig spannend. Und diese übertriebene Menschlichkeit von Emily, die Erklärung wie sie zustande kommt, konnte mich ebenfalls kein bisschen überzeugen. Ganz zu schweigen von der wirklich unnötigen Love Story. Sorry, aber ich kann das Buch nicht empfehlen.
thecatherineread's review against another edition
2.0
While the concept was interesting, the characters were underdeveloped and the end result was lackluster. I think Wheaton had a great idea, but for me the execution fell short.
catra121's review against another edition
3.0
Well...this was a fascinating concept for a story...but this is a perfect example of a book that just tries to do too much. It's a sci fi thriller with a touch of romance...and I wish that it didnt have the thriller or romance and was just straight sci fi. Seriously...an artificial consciousness that wants to save the human race for the end of the world...that's plenty without throwing in any other elements. It starts off really good and then the "thriller" plot gets added and I started to not care. Ultimately I thought this was ok and I was on board for the sci fi plot but not the added elements with the thriller, evil villain, and love interest. With those added in it just brought down the whole thing for me. Still ok...but I could have potentially loved this.
trike's review against another edition
1.0
Initially I was like, “Wow! This is going to be a 4-star read, easy!” And then I was like, “If he sticks the landing, this might actually achieve 5 stars!”
...and then he drives this sucker off a cliff where it explodes into a flaming ball of nonsense. Mark, I gotta ask, did you let your 7-year-old take over partway through? Pretty sure this is how it went:
Wheaton: “So here’s the set-up, kiddo: the sun is dying, but at MIT they’ve created an AI designed to help people get over trauma. It’s a combination of JARVIS and BARF from the Iron Man movies. How do you think she solves the problem and saves humanity?”
Wheaton’s kid: “I love Iron Man!!! Ooh, he has to meet Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “Well, no, Wolverine has an impossible healing factor that’s borderline magical, so he doesn’t really belong-”
Wheaton’s kid: “But I love, love, love Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “I know, honey, but this-”
Wheaton’s kid: “I WANT WOLVERINE!”
Wheaton: “Ok! Fine! Wolverine is in! Now what?”
Wheaton’s kid: “Your computer should make EVERYONE Wolverine! Like, they can change their bodies instantly and become anything! That way the sun ‘sploding don’t matter!”
Wheaton: “Well, that’s actually a different Marvel character named Darwin who can adapt to anything.”
Wheaton’s kid: “Yeah, him! And the computer should fight another computer, like in Avengers!”
Wheaton: “Sigh. Okay, kiddo.”
So much promise, squandered on impossible tech, bullshit biology, and an utter lack of research. Looking at Google Maps is NOT research.
Let’s take the New Hampshire parts of the book, for instance. (Disclosure: I live in NH.) It makes sense people would escape from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Anyone who has sat in I-93 traffic northbound on a Friday afternoon can see the miles of Massholes heading to the lakes region. (“Massholes” is a term of endearment. We love you shitty drivers here in the 603. Stay home. Or at least USE YAH BLINKAHS!!!) So that’s all good.
But then he has our flesh-and-blood hero and virtual heroine (the titular Emily) break into a house in Wolfeboro, which just so happens to be the retired police chief’s home. Okay, coincidence, that’s fine. The chief is a woman, which, all right, not outside the realm of possibility in a sci-fi thriller. And now she’s black.
Um.
Yeah, I’m a liberal in a mostly red state, and I’m a feminist, and I’m all about inclusion, but you can’t just ignore the reality on the ground. New Hampshire is about 95% Caucasian, and Wolfeboro is about 108% white. I’ve been there quite a bit and I’m fairly sure I’ve never once seen an African-American. I’m not sure any black people have even *visited* Wolfeboro. I mean, people there look at *me* sideways and I’m Italian with a last name that sounds like it might be Hispanic. In 2016 Wolfeboro voted for Trump nearly 2-to-1.
I’m just sayin’.
He compounds the issue by making our black female police chief a painfully cringe-worthy Magical Negro with a side helping of Whoopi Epiphany Speech. These are white male author tropes that you dumbasses REALLY need to stop perpetuating. Read about them here: MN: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalNegro WES: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WhoopiEpiphanySpeech
With the weird comic book DNA stuff and the poorly-researched setting, it comes as no surprise that later in the book he gets physics absolutely wrong every chance he gets. Just the deaths in outer space alone are disqualifying. You don’t “die in seconds” as your lungs explode. It takes minutes to die of that... which is actually more horrifying. If you’ve seen Kubrick & Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey then you’re familiar with Bowman’s desperate attempt to get back into the Discovery. In his haste to rescue Poole, he jumps into a pod without his helmet. HAL refuses to let him back in. “Open the pod bay doors, Hal.” “I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.” So Bowman makes an emergency entrance into the ship without his space hat. He’s fine. Because exposure to vacuum is not an instakill death sentence. Even if you were unprotected in space, exposed to the heat of the sun, you wouldn’t die quickly.
But at this point I’m just needlessly nitpicking because the book had lost me long before. Oh, did I mention the confusion between “computer virus” and “virus virus”? Yeah.
This is the kind of stupid lazy sci-fi I hate, where literally a weekend’s worth of research on Wikipedia would’ve made the story orders of magnitude better.
...and then he drives this sucker off a cliff where it explodes into a flaming ball of nonsense. Mark, I gotta ask, did you let your 7-year-old take over partway through? Pretty sure this is how it went:
Wheaton: “So here’s the set-up, kiddo: the sun is dying, but at MIT they’ve created an AI designed to help people get over trauma. It’s a combination of JARVIS and BARF from the Iron Man movies. How do you think she solves the problem and saves humanity?”
Wheaton’s kid: “I love Iron Man!!! Ooh, he has to meet Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “Well, no, Wolverine has an impossible healing factor that’s borderline magical, so he doesn’t really belong-”
Wheaton’s kid: “But I love, love, love Wolverine!”
Wheaton: “I know, honey, but this-”
Wheaton’s kid: “I WANT WOLVERINE!”
Wheaton: “Ok! Fine! Wolverine is in! Now what?”
Wheaton’s kid: “Your computer should make EVERYONE Wolverine! Like, they can change their bodies instantly and become anything! That way the sun ‘sploding don’t matter!”
Wheaton: “Well, that’s actually a different Marvel character named Darwin who can adapt to anything.”
Wheaton’s kid: “Yeah, him! And the computer should fight another computer, like in Avengers!”
Wheaton: “Sigh. Okay, kiddo.”
So much promise, squandered on impossible tech, bullshit biology, and an utter lack of research. Looking at Google Maps is NOT research.
Let’s take the New Hampshire parts of the book, for instance. (Disclosure: I live in NH.) It makes sense people would escape from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Anyone who has sat in I-93 traffic northbound on a Friday afternoon can see the miles of Massholes heading to the lakes region. (“Massholes” is a term of endearment. We love you shitty drivers here in the 603. Stay home. Or at least USE YAH BLINKAHS!!!) So that’s all good.
But then he has our flesh-and-blood hero and virtual heroine (the titular Emily) break into a house in Wolfeboro, which just so happens to be the retired police chief’s home. Okay, coincidence, that’s fine. The chief is a woman, which, all right, not outside the realm of possibility in a sci-fi thriller. And now she’s black.
Um.
Yeah, I’m a liberal in a mostly red state, and I’m a feminist, and I’m all about inclusion, but you can’t just ignore the reality on the ground. New Hampshire is about 95% Caucasian, and Wolfeboro is about 108% white. I’ve been there quite a bit and I’m fairly sure I’ve never once seen an African-American. I’m not sure any black people have even *visited* Wolfeboro. I mean, people there look at *me* sideways and I’m Italian with a last name that sounds like it might be Hispanic. In 2016 Wolfeboro voted for Trump nearly 2-to-1.
I’m just sayin’.
He compounds the issue by making our black female police chief a painfully cringe-worthy Magical Negro with a side helping of Whoopi Epiphany Speech
Spoiler
before she dies. Because of course she does. From cancer, the ONE THING the magical “reprogramming DNA” tech can’t solve. Because she needs to be the Magical Negro helping out the white protagonistWith the weird comic book DNA stuff and the poorly-researched setting, it comes as no surprise that later in the book he gets physics absolutely wrong every chance he gets. Just the deaths in outer space alone are disqualifying. You don’t “die in seconds” as your lungs explode. It takes minutes to die of that... which is actually more horrifying. If you’ve seen Kubrick & Clarke’s 2001: A Space Odyssey then you’re familiar with Bowman’s desperate attempt to get back into the Discovery. In his haste to rescue Poole, he jumps into a pod without his helmet. HAL refuses to let him back in. “Open the pod bay doors, Hal.” “I’m sorry, Dave. I can’t do that.” So Bowman makes an emergency entrance into the ship without his space hat. He’s fine. Because exposure to vacuum is not an instakill death sentence. Even if you were unprotected in space, exposed to the heat of the sun, you wouldn’t die quickly.
But at this point I’m just needlessly nitpicking because the book had lost me long before. Oh, did I mention the confusion between “computer virus” and “virus virus”? Yeah.
This is the kind of stupid lazy sci-fi I hate, where literally a weekend’s worth of research on Wikipedia would’ve made the story orders of magnitude better.