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dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
After being forced to poison his wife Amy, vN Javier goes on the run to find her backup. Can he find it before his enemies find him and shut him down permanently?
Disclaimer: I got this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for reviewing it.
iD takes place in a future where men and machines live side by side. While it's the first book in a series, following [b:vN|13033939|vN (The Machine Dynasty, #1)|Madeline Ashby|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327673811s/13033939.jpg|18197447], it didn't take me long to get up to speed. I love the concept of self-replicating androids. Hell, there are a lot of great concepts in this one, like 3D printers capable of printing organic matter, for instance.
Javier lies and fornicates his way around the world, looking for his wife's backup, all the while avoiding the legions of vNs looking to kill him. From what I gather, Javier was some kind of sexbot before he settled down with Amy and he uses his talents quite a bit in his info-gathering.
The writing was really good. Like I said, I knew this was the second book in a series by Ashby did a good job of helping me keep my head above water. She also knows how to write some reprehensible characters, like Powell and LaMarque.
iD was a really cool read, full of action, sex, and interesting sf concepts. Now I'll have to get vN and read about all the events that were hinted about in this one.
Disclaimer: I got this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for reviewing it.
iD takes place in a future where men and machines live side by side. While it's the first book in a series, following [b:vN|13033939|vN (The Machine Dynasty, #1)|Madeline Ashby|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327673811s/13033939.jpg|18197447], it didn't take me long to get up to speed. I love the concept of self-replicating androids. Hell, there are a lot of great concepts in this one, like 3D printers capable of printing organic matter, for instance.
Javier lies and fornicates his way around the world, looking for his wife's backup, all the while avoiding the legions of vNs looking to kill him. From what I gather, Javier was some kind of sexbot before he settled down with Amy and he uses his talents quite a bit in his info-gathering.
The writing was really good. Like I said, I knew this was the second book in a series by Ashby did a good job of helping me keep my head above water. She also knows how to write some reprehensible characters, like Powell and LaMarque.
iD was a really cool read, full of action, sex, and interesting sf concepts. Now I'll have to get vN and read about all the events that were hinted about in this one.
aunt13soc1al's review
5.0
This series started with vN which followed Amy, a robot made for the pleasure of humans. In Amy's case, her owner treated her as a person and kept her innocent like a child as long as he could. We are presented with the idyllic setting of a human caring for a vN as if it were a human child and teaching it while it aged but didn't grow, but Amy was an unusual case. Most vN were created to do work for us, to be there for us in any and every way imaginable, and with a built-in failsafe preventing them from ever harming us. And when I say 'every way imaginable' that is the truth. Most of the vN have been used by humans for their sexual pleasure and do not know that not everyone wants to have sex with them. In a way, even the 'adult' vN are like children.
iD picks up where vN leaves off with Amy and Javier on the oasis Amy has created as a sanctuary for vN. But soon the seclusion they have fought so hard for is destroyed and Javier is on his own searching for Amy. Javier, unlike Amy, was not raised as a child loved by parents. His father abandons him soon after Javier is iterated (how the vN reproduce) and Javier finds himself in jail. From there he makes his way through life, iterating his sons, and struggling to provide for himself. He learns that humans want him in sexual ways, and he uses that to his advantage.
After reading other reviews, I thought perhaps I was missing something while reading this book. However, I think it's that I am not as sensitive as others to certain topics. The sex scenes depicted were not overly detailed or offensive and they served the purpose that the author intended by including them.
The author reveals much about the darker side of the human's plans for the vN and while some will see these instances of sex and depravity that made Javier who he is as gratuitous, they are not. They provide an insight into the lives of the vN and makes you question not only your own reactions to the scenes, but also to question, can robots be human? Do they feel like we do or is it only because we have programmed them to? Are we taking advantage of them or is it our right since we created them?
The book takes many aspects of robot and human coexistence into question and while it seems to conclude rather quickly, it draws out so many thought provoking ides, that you hardly notice it's over till you're left wanting to know more.
I highly recommend this for anyone who likes 'what if' science fiction books. This isn't hardcore science fiction, but it will certainly make you wonder long after you finish it.
iD picks up where vN leaves off with Amy and Javier on the oasis Amy has created as a sanctuary for vN. But soon the seclusion they have fought so hard for is destroyed and Javier is on his own searching for Amy. Javier, unlike Amy, was not raised as a child loved by parents. His father abandons him soon after Javier is iterated (how the vN reproduce) and Javier finds himself in jail. From there he makes his way through life, iterating his sons, and struggling to provide for himself. He learns that humans want him in sexual ways, and he uses that to his advantage.
After reading other reviews, I thought perhaps I was missing something while reading this book. However, I think it's that I am not as sensitive as others to certain topics. The sex scenes depicted were not overly detailed or offensive and they served the purpose that the author intended by including them.
The author reveals much about the darker side of the human's plans for the vN and while some will see these instances of sex and depravity that made Javier who he is as gratuitous, they are not. They provide an insight into the lives of the vN and makes you question not only your own reactions to the scenes, but also to question, can robots be human? Do they feel like we do or is it only because we have programmed them to? Are we taking advantage of them or is it our right since we created them?
The book takes many aspects of robot and human coexistence into question and while it seems to conclude rather quickly, it draws out so many thought provoking ides, that you hardly notice it's over till you're left wanting to know more.
I highly recommend this for anyone who likes 'what if' science fiction books. This isn't hardcore science fiction, but it will certainly make you wonder long after you finish it.
moirwyn's review
5.0
For my full review see:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/id-by-madeline-ashby/
As with vN, I was blown away by this novel. Madeline Ashby makes you think hard about the nature of freedom and oppression. As Andrea at The Little Red Reviewer noted when describing the book, iD is a much harder story to read. I think that the book’s darkness makes it even more powerful. I’d highly recommend it.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/id-by-madeline-ashby/
As with vN, I was blown away by this novel. Madeline Ashby makes you think hard about the nature of freedom and oppression. As Andrea at The Little Red Reviewer noted when describing the book, iD is a much harder story to read. I think that the book’s darkness makes it even more powerful. I’d highly recommend it.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
A more difficult read than it should have been, at least at the beginning. I was definitely struggling with remembering who was who and what was going on. And then the book shifted and kind of got going in a different direction and was very readable. And then it jump shifted near the end leaving me with a bunch of huh.
I didn't actually re-read my review from book 1 until just before writing this review and it explains some of my issues with this book. Basically the author is apparently fond of the jump-in-context - at least it was used less in the sequel.
But in general the ideas around artificial people and technology in general continued to be really cool. The idea of what is a person and what is a parent and what rights they have was definitely worth exploring. There is a certain amount of somewhat explicit sex in this one and definitely some of it was coercive. But it was pretty well done.
I didn't actually re-read my review from book 1 until just before writing this review and it explains some of my issues with this book. Basically the author is apparently fond of the jump-in-context - at least it was used less in the sequel.
But in general the ideas around artificial people and technology in general continued to be really cool. The idea of what is a person and what is a parent and what rights they have was definitely worth exploring. There is a certain amount of somewhat explicit sex in this one and definitely some of it was coercive. But it was pretty well done.
erinlindsaybell's review
3.0
DNF. Just lost steam with this series, though I still really enjoy the premise, and enjoyed how it just kept getting weirder. Maybe will pick up again one day.
stiricide's review
3.0
I literally do not remember a single thing about the first novel, except apparently, pr GR, I didn't like it. Somehow I ended up picking up the second one anyway. I still don't know if it's any _good_, but they're certainly _interesting_. The entire concept of vN should play out like a dribbling deus ex machina - which it sort of does - but I think I'm here for the philsophy of it?
Anyway, this book makes you think a whole lot about robots, sex, robot sex, and consent; and the only bone I really have to pick with any of that is that Ashby's definition of rape, in the context of the vN, is actually too limited.
Anyway, this book makes you think a whole lot about robots, sex, robot sex, and consent; and the only bone I really have to pick with any of that is that Ashby's definition of rape, in the context of the vN, is actually too limited.
thestarman's review
2.0
Is Amy still "alive" somewhere? If so, will tree-hugger Javier find her and marry her and live happily-ever-after? Will evil Portia destroy all humans? Most importantly: will anyone ever translate half the shite Javier says?
Ha! I'm not telling.
VERDICT: ~2 stars, about the same as I felt for Book #1. Not great, and some problematic execution (including some errors in my eBook version), but not without some merit for original-ish ideas, and some decent action scenes.
Hopefully you'll enjoy this AI/sexbot/survival/conspiracy tale more than I did. I found it comic-book level (aside from the pokey parts), and not usually in a good way. On the plus side: There was action. A lot happens.
Ha! I'm not telling.
VERDICT: ~2 stars, about the same as I felt for Book #1. Not great, and some problematic execution (including some errors in my eBook version), but not without some merit for original-ish ideas, and some decent action scenes.
Hopefully you'll enjoy this AI/sexbot/survival/conspiracy tale more than I did. I found it comic-book level (aside from the pokey parts), and not usually in a good way. On the plus side: There was action. A lot happens.
tregina's review against another edition
3.0
Three, but a high three; I continue to love the social constructs that she has created in this altered world, and the novel backstory for the AI revolution. I didn't like this quite as much as the first, and I think a lot of that comes down to feeling like a lot of the relationships were shortcutted; I wasn't always sure why characters were reacting to one another the way they did, or why they had such quick turnarounds. But I am still eagerly anticipating more.
duske's review
2.0
The book's pacing was quite well-set, moving from event to event quite quickly and since it was only through Javier's POV, there was less of a lull in the smoothness of the flow. I thought that this book was be a better opportunity to explore the different types of vN and maybe more different perspectives of humans toward vN or vice versa, but all we got were the same old ones like Rory and all the other Amy bots. Although this was a quick and easy read, I didn't really see the point of the entire book, as the ending really just destroys the whole quest motif Javier had going. If Amy was still alive and watching him all along, and all Rory wanted to do was kill pedophiles and not actually kill them (Rory seems to be quite fickle and useless), and all Portia did was send creepy messages to humans, then there wasn't really a point. Mecha was still around and Portia ended up helping Javier when he needed it so she wasn't a threat, Rory wasn't a threat in the end either because she just decided to forget about her entire plan, and even the whole Javier VS his failsafe/humans abusing his failsafe really failed because Amy just swooped in anyway. There wasn't a point to having this first-ever unique hybrid of Amy+Javier in their daughter either, since she only showed up at the end... and did nothing much. I felt that the ending really undid the whole book and could have been taken in a completely different direction that could have showed more of the Machine Dynasty world and maybe what Amy and Javier's daughter could do, instead of just bringing Amy back.
cjmichel's review against another edition
1.0
This tale went downhill. Turned this series into not my thing at all.