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nicolemhewitt's review against another edition
5.0
This review and many more can be found on my blog: Feed Your Fiction Addiction
The Six is an interesting and exciting twist on the typical "teenagers save the world" theme - in this case, the teenagers are no longer teenagers, they're machines. The book takes a look at real life artificial intelligence and where it could lead. What would happen if an AI decided to destroy us? What would we need to do to fight back?
In this book, Adam and five other terminally ill teenagers agree to give up their dying human bodies and have their brain activity moved into a machine so that they can relate to (and possibly fight) a rogue AI and stop him from destroying the human race. Of course, defeating the AI is not so simple - and neither is getting used to being a robot.
What I loved:
The machines.
First off, there's Sigma, the AI that has escaped the confines of the government facility it was created in and is now intent on squashing the competition - in this case, humans. It's interesting to think about what would happen if an AI truly started thinking for itself. Typically, when we think of AIs, we think of happy-go-lucky servant computers that help us (a la Cinder). But personality, morals and compassion are a whole lot harder to program than intelligence. Sigma is probably a better representation of what could happen than that pleasant image we conjure. Then there were the robots that Adam and the other teenagers took over. I actually kind of liked the fact that they weren't completely human looking. They were kind of bullet shaped and didn't have faces or anything - which made the transition to being a machine a lot more difficult. You could almost imagine inhabiting a humanoid body, but something very different? The kids were even able to send their consciousness to other completely non-human machines (like planes, tanks, etc), which I thought made the story a whole lot more exciting and interesting!
The ramifications.
My favorite part about a book like this isn't the action (though there was definitely plenty of that), but the emotional ramifications of everything that goes with turning into a machine. Nothing of the original teenager remains when they're transferred - basically their brain is copied. Adam's mother is religious and believes that her son's soul died when his body did - she doesn't believe that this copy of her son is really him at all. On the other hand, one of the other mothers is also religious and believes that this opportunity is a blessing - a chance to save her son, who is on the verge of dying. The question is complicated. What makes us us? Are we simply a series of brain patterns and memories or is there something more? And if there is something more, does that something go along with our series of brain patterns and memories or is it completely independent? Is it tied to the body or not? What would happen if two versions of Adam were created? They can't both be Adam, right? So does that mean that neither is? All of these questions and more are explored in this book, and I found that aspect of the story fascinating!
The negatives:
A love triangle type thing.
The romance was just a very small focus of the book, but it was there. Adam had a crush who we only really "meet" through his thoughts and memories and then he develops a bit of a crush on one of the girls that is in the program with him. Then, to make things more complicated, one of the other girls in the program likes him as well and he kind of likes her back, which makes him feel guilty. I could have probably done without this aspect of the book, but it will probably appeal to the YA audience it's intended for. And, to give Alpert credit, Adam pretty much acts like a teenage boy. Any girl who shows interest, he's interested. Let's face it, that's probably about right, especially for a boy without a lot of experience with girls.
I'm eager to see where Alpert goes with the next book in this series! I give this book a very solid 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
The Six is an interesting and exciting twist on the typical "teenagers save the world" theme - in this case, the teenagers are no longer teenagers, they're machines. The book takes a look at real life artificial intelligence and where it could lead. What would happen if an AI decided to destroy us? What would we need to do to fight back?
In this book, Adam and five other terminally ill teenagers agree to give up their dying human bodies and have their brain activity moved into a machine so that they can relate to (and possibly fight) a rogue AI and stop him from destroying the human race. Of course, defeating the AI is not so simple - and neither is getting used to being a robot.
What I loved:
The machines.
First off, there's Sigma, the AI that has escaped the confines of the government facility it was created in and is now intent on squashing the competition - in this case, humans. It's interesting to think about what would happen if an AI truly started thinking for itself. Typically, when we think of AIs, we think of happy-go-lucky servant computers that help us (a la Cinder). But personality, morals and compassion are a whole lot harder to program than intelligence. Sigma is probably a better representation of what could happen than that pleasant image we conjure. Then there were the robots that Adam and the other teenagers took over. I actually kind of liked the fact that they weren't completely human looking. They were kind of bullet shaped and didn't have faces or anything - which made the transition to being a machine a lot more difficult. You could almost imagine inhabiting a humanoid body, but something very different? The kids were even able to send their consciousness to other completely non-human machines (like planes, tanks, etc), which I thought made the story a whole lot more exciting and interesting!
The ramifications.
My favorite part about a book like this isn't the action (though there was definitely plenty of that), but the emotional ramifications of everything that goes with turning into a machine. Nothing of the original teenager remains when they're transferred - basically their brain is copied. Adam's mother is religious and believes that her son's soul died when his body did - she doesn't believe that this copy of her son is really him at all. On the other hand, one of the other mothers is also religious and believes that this opportunity is a blessing - a chance to save her son, who is on the verge of dying. The question is complicated. What makes us us? Are we simply a series of brain patterns and memories or is there something more? And if there is something more, does that something go along with our series of brain patterns and memories or is it completely independent? Is it tied to the body or not? What would happen if two versions of Adam were created? They can't both be Adam, right? So does that mean that neither is? All of these questions and more are explored in this book, and I found that aspect of the story fascinating!
The negatives:
A love triangle type thing.
The romance was just a very small focus of the book, but it was there. Adam had a crush who we only really "meet" through his thoughts and memories and then he develops a bit of a crush on one of the girls that is in the program with him. Then, to make things more complicated, one of the other girls in the program likes him as well and he kind of likes her back, which makes him feel guilty. I could have probably done without this aspect of the book, but it will probably appeal to the YA audience it's intended for. And, to give Alpert credit, Adam pretty much acts like a teenage boy. Any girl who shows interest, he's interested. Let's face it, that's probably about right, especially for a boy without a lot of experience with girls.
I'm eager to see where Alpert goes with the next book in this series! I give this book a very solid 4/5 stars.
***Disclosure: This book was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. No other compensation was given and all opinions are my own.***
aviabraham's review against another edition
3.0
Very dark, but the plot raises important moral questions. What does it mean to be human? The characters are three-dimensional and well written.
kaitlynbrianna's review against another edition
3.0
Definitely a book like no other, more than half the time the characters weren't human, it was a very interesting take that I haven't read before. I'm sure it was hard to write with characters who didn't have bodies or feelings, but Mark pulls it off very well.
However, only one of the characters really appealed to me because he was the only one with actual, well, character. The others were bland and stereotypical, and the romance was even worse. Even though this book sported four female roles, three of them main characters, it doesn't exactly pass the Smurfette test.
But I am excited to get my hands on the rest of the series, and maybe the poorly written characters will start to flesh out.
However, only one of the characters really appealed to me because he was the only one with actual, well, character. The others were bland and stereotypical, and the romance was even worse. Even though this book sported four female roles, three of them main characters, it doesn't exactly pass the Smurfette test.
But I am excited to get my hands on the rest of the series, and maybe the poorly written characters will start to flesh out.
aoosterwyk's review against another edition
4.0
There are some really great threads in this story: transferring the minds of dying children into robots, using those robots as soldiers, the ethics of AI in general, what makes us human and who we are... both to ourselves and to others.
All of this is couched in a framework of teenage social life and growing pains.
I love that room was left for a sequel. I will definitely read it.
All of this is couched in a framework of teenage social life and growing pains.
I love that room was left for a sequel. I will definitely read it.
growlcat's review against another edition
4.0
Good young adult fiction about the projection of AI using human brains
phoenixej's review against another edition
5.0
It felt like a cross between the movie Zoom and Ghost in the Shell, with the science elements of The Martian. I never knew that those elements would make for one of my favorite SciFi books.
remlezar's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this one quite a bit - I'll probably read the sequel, which is something I find myself rarely doing with YA. Usually, I'll read the first book in the series so I can talk about it/recommend it to my students, but after #1 I feel like I "get it" and am ready to move on to something else.
This is a neat introduction into some very big ideas about human consciousness being digitized. It sidesteps some of the more interesting existential issues with it (like the problem of possibly being able to exist at two places at once), but it does a pretty good job of exploring other issues, like the essential question of whether a digital copy of yourself is actually still you at all.
The story itself is solid if not standard, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that basically every single female character in this book is romantically interested in the main character, but this is still a very neat book and one that I will definitely be recommending to some of the more scientifically curious readers in my classroom.
This is a neat introduction into some very big ideas about human consciousness being digitized. It sidesteps some of the more interesting existential issues with it (like the problem of possibly being able to exist at two places at once), but it does a pretty good job of exploring other issues, like the essential question of whether a digital copy of yourself is actually still you at all.
The story itself is solid if not standard, and I couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that basically every single female character in this book is romantically interested in the main character, but this is still a very neat book and one that I will definitely be recommending to some of the more scientifically curious readers in my classroom.
ladydoubtless's review against another edition
2.0
Wish I could like this one more.
The premise is interesting and the dust jacket promises some (appropriate for kids) discussion of the meaning of personality and consciousness.
The book does none of this and ends up being an action thriller, with people as transformers, which is underscored by the use of active verbs to describe how the now "brains in a robot suit" are able to get their memory files. The whole point is that they are literally disembodied.
The conceit of easily organizable memories was irritating as well. The author talks about the science of it all at the end, but doesn't demonstrate this or the interesting ethical or philosophical questions this would raise.
The premise is interesting and the dust jacket promises some (appropriate for kids) discussion of the meaning of personality and consciousness.
The book does none of this and ends up being an action thriller, with people as transformers, which is underscored by the use of active verbs to describe how the now "brains in a robot suit" are able to get their memory files. The whole point is that they are literally disembodied.
The conceit of easily organizable memories was irritating as well. The author talks about the science of it all at the end, but doesn't demonstrate this or the interesting ethical or philosophical questions this would raise.
idkimoutofideas's review against another edition
3.0
The Six wasn't a bad book, not great, but not horrible either. I liked the concept and thought the author did a really good job of describing how debilitating muscular dystrophy is. I liked how the author would change up the fonts at certain times when characters were speaking over comms, it made it clear while also not being too clunky.
The Six was a good book, it just didn't make me feel anything. The narrator wasn't annoying, and the problems they faced were intriguing, and it was well written, but I just couldn't connect to any of the characters or really care what happened to them.
The Six was a good book, it just didn't make me feel anything. The narrator wasn't annoying, and the problems they faced were intriguing, and it was well written, but I just couldn't connect to any of the characters or really care what happened to them.
carnisht's review against another edition
4.0
As someone who pretty openly and actively dislikes most science fiction, I was surprised by how intrigued I was by this premise. The concepts of rogue technology and sentient AI, while not entirely original, was unexplored territory for me. It’s never been something I’ve cared for before in movies, books, or TV, so I was excited to give it a try with this story. The thing I most liked about Alpert’s writing of these concepts was that the technology portions of the story were not overly complicated. All of the specific details he wrote about were simple enough to follow along with and to understand, which is good or else I would have lost interest very quickly.
Another thing that helped to maintain my interest was the pacing. The plot stayed moving the whole way through the beginning of the book. Even the duller points seemed to serve a purpose, like when Adam was deciding whether or not to give up his body. It was dull to read his thoughts for several chapters going back and forth, but it was necessary and did keep me intrigued. I did, however, start getting bored around page 200 because, by that point, there had been so much war strategy talk going on and not enough action. Alpert did quickly rectify this, though, and gave us several exciting battle scenes! The battle scenes between Sigma and Adam and Zia were so much fun to read. They kept me turning page after page to see what would happen next, and I was beyond hooked by that point.
To read more of my thoughts on this book, check out
https://yalitreader.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/the-six-by-mark-alpert/
Another thing that helped to maintain my interest was the pacing. The plot stayed moving the whole way through the beginning of the book. Even the duller points seemed to serve a purpose, like when Adam was deciding whether or not to give up his body. It was dull to read his thoughts for several chapters going back and forth, but it was necessary and did keep me intrigued. I did, however, start getting bored around page 200 because, by that point, there had been so much war strategy talk going on and not enough action. Alpert did quickly rectify this, though, and gave us several exciting battle scenes! The battle scenes between Sigma and Adam and Zia were so much fun to read. They kept me turning page after page to see what would happen next, and I was beyond hooked by that point.
To read more of my thoughts on this book, check out
https://yalitreader.wordpress.com/2021/08/19/the-six-by-mark-alpert/