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A review by mikewhiteman
The Holy Machine by Chris Beckett
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.