Quantum Night grabs the reader, demands their attention, and proceeds to horrify them (in some aspects) because it seems more fiction than fact. The opening pages alone are enough to make you realize that you need to put aside your distractions and focus on what Sawyer is saying. I’ve been in the midst of a reading slump where most of the adult fiction submitted for my perusal has been mildly interesting at best and outright boring the rest of the time.

Sawyer’s prose can, when discussing scientific things, make your mind want to wander, but luckily he’s able to pull you right back into the text and keep you engaged. If you’re someone who is intimidated by not having a complete grasp on the science talked about in what you’re reading, this book will overwhelm you in certain sections. However, if you can just accept that you don’t really need to get it to enjoy the story; you’ll be good to go. (It’s probably best if you can just accept it while you’re reading it and go, as there’s at least one part that will definitely throw some people off.)

The opposite side of the aforementioned coin is that one of the things I appreciated about Quantum Night was that it made me want to know more about the science mentioned. I am, and have always been, one of those people that will look things up if I read about them. Just to see if they’re true or not. Sometimes it’s to fact check when I smell male cow dung, but other times it’s because I’m extremely curious and want to broaden my horizons with five minutes of Googling and nerding out. The continued talk of philosophical zombies was the cause of one such five minute foray.

Filled with references that most people with a passing association with the internet will recognize: Megyn Kelly, Huffington Post, etc, it is a novel set in a near-future (2020, to be exact) that is easily imaginable. Actually, the continual references to reality is one of the few downfalls of this novel. It was so inundated with name dropping of various things that it got a bit tedious at times. Not enough to dissuade me from reading it, by any means, though.

I thought it was interesting that while I started off really liking the main character, by the end of the book I kind of wanted to smack him. A very good guy – one who ‘walked the walk’ – and I still wanted to smack him because he annoyed me. But he was an interesting character. Most of them were, really. I couldn’t fault any of them for how they reacted to the various situations they were put in.

Quantum Night isn’t perfect. I felt like he’d laid solid groundwork, couldn’t quite get everything to gel in a way that didn’t seem easy and/or convenient. However, for all its faults, it is extremely interesting read. It was one that I couldn’t put down once I started reading, and came back to ever possible chance I got until I finished it the same day. I need to read more from this author. I can’t believe I’ve never come across him before.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author for review consideration.

A private investigator on Mars gets hired by a beautiful 'transfer' (a human mind in an artificial body) to find her missing husband and gets himself into a whole lot of trouble. Written in the style of an old-fashioned detective story from the 1950s, the story was fun as a one-off but it feels like a kind of if-you've-read-one-you've-read-them-all and I wouldn't want to read another, it's not really my kind of thing. His speculative fiction is more up my street. 

Robert J. Sawyer to jeden z moich ulubionych pisarzy SF. Jednak nie potrafię udawać ślepoty, i doskonale zdaję sobie sprawę, że końcówki jego książek (lub całych serii) bywają… specyficznie radosne, pełne nadziei, a w zasadzie to po prostu nierealne. Nie inaczej jest w przypadku długo wyczekiwanego zakończenia trylogii WWW, które ostatecznie zdecydowałem się kupić także w naszym ojczystym języku, mimo pewnych kontrowersji towarzyszących wydaniu tej powieści (ograniczona ilość, cena).

 

Istota nazywająca siebie Webmindem, czyli powstała w światowej sieci prawdziwa Sztuczna Inteligencja nie dała się pokonać i trwa. Aby uzmysłowić ludziom, że nie stanowi zagrożenia przygotowuje szereg zadziwiających projektów, które mnie osobiście wydawały się jednak zbyt przesadzone. Oto pojawia się twór, który mając do dyspozycji dane stworzone przez ludzi potrafi je zanalizować lepiej, i ot tak, po prostu, oferuje rozwiązania graniczące z cudem? Ale to tylko mój pierwszy problem z fabułą, drugim bowiem jest traktowanie przez autora ludzi jako istot z gruntu dobrych i rozsądnych. O ile można się zgodzić z takim postawieniem sprawy w przypadku tak zwanych „zwykłych ludzi”, ukazanie światowych agencji bezpieczeństwa jako skłonnych do kompromisu, rozważnych, trzeźwo myślących ludzi o analitycznych umysłach to absolutna przesada. W całym cyklu jest tylko jedna osoba aktywnie próbująca zwalczyć SI, i to razi, tak nie funkcjonuje świat. Sawyer chce pokazać nam dobro w nas samych, ale mógł się bardziej postarać, bo to, co prezentuje jest co najmniej naiwne, a momentami wręcz infantylne. Facet wydaje się być bezkrytyczny. Rozumiem powód, jasne, ale literatura oprócz ogromnej dawki idealizmu i nadziei powinna oferować też dobrą akcję, a „Wolność” momentami wygląda tak, jakby Arnold pod postacią T-800, ze strzelbą wymierzoną w moją czaszkę powiedział: „nie stanowię żadnego zagrożenia”, a ja odpowiadam z uśmiechem: „no przecież, trzymasz w ręce parasol”.

 

Na całe szczęście pod historią o przetrwaniu Webmindu zostało poruszonych nieco istotnych tematów, w tym ten o przemocy w sieci. Autor pozwolił sobie zanalizować potrzebę anonimowości w sieci nie atakując jej, i utrzymując, że w pewnych momentach jest niezbędna, że bez anonimowości sieć nie będzie już tym, za co ją kochamy. Zaprezentował jednak także mocne argumenty dla rezygnacji z „bezimienności” na rzecz podpisywania się pełnym imieniem i nazwiskiem, a nawet próbuje czarować pomysłem na weryfikację tożsamości, a wszystko w celu słusznym. Chyba warto sobie ten temat przemyśleć, bowiem pokolenie ludzi oglądających narodziny internetu jest dość odporne, ale ludzie młodzi, z internetem dorastający, reagują zupełnie inaczej, i potrzebuje czegoś, co ich obroni przed całym złem, jakie można tu spotkać.

 

To druga, po „Mindscan” książka Roberta J. Sawyera, do której mam tyle zarzutów. Co nie zmienia faktu, że obiektywnie jest bardzo dobra i szczerze całą trylogię polecam. Nie da się ukryć, że oferuje zupełnie inne przedstawienie Sztucznej Inteligencji niż to dotychczas znane z popkultury. I może warto takie podejście poznać, i samemu przemyśleć, bo czas powstania SI jest coraz bliższy.

I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think most of these stories were hampered by the fact that they were just that -- short stories. I'm confident that at least 90% of them would have been so much better had they had more length. So while I feel more or less bleh about this collection, I'd definitely look out for more works by the various authors.

Because it's fantasy and sci-fi, world-building is usually necessary, and often this resulted in a lot of info-dumping that had my eyes going skew and tech talk that went right over my head. I'm not saying it wasn't necessary or done bad, but it did feel clumsy and rushed and detracted from the story itself. I don't know if there was a word limit to these stories, but I would have appreciated more time with each.

Moonlight One by Stephen Lawson - When Gwen's husband is found murdered, she's the only suspect. After all, they were the only two people on the moon: Decent sci-fi murder mystery begging for it's own full length novel. Writer has an engaging writing style that let me gloss over any holes in the story. ★★★★

The Armor Embrace by Doug C. Souza - Flora's father is a mech-soldier of the Slayer Class, but how much of him is really left inside the machine?: It had a very interesting concept, and probably would have worked better as a longer length novel. Leaves you with a lot of questions. ★★

Envoy in the Ice by Dustin Steinacker - When an alien with godly intelligence is discovered watching the earth, one man must try to learn if its motives are pure: The blurb is kind of misleading, but not completely off. A lot of unanswered questions that could be explored in a longer novel. ★★★

The Devil's Rescue by L. Ron Hubbard - If you were stranded in an open boat and the only hope for rescue came from a ghost ship, would you dare to ride?: Bleh... the language was a bit pretentious, and the story was kinda boring. ★★

Tears for Shulna by Andrew L. Roberts - Some gifts come with heavy price tags, and the giver must rise to the occasion.: I need more of this! More Selkies! This story was too short though. ★★★★

The Drake Equation by C.L. Kagmi - What if an alien asks for your help with a question, and the answer fects the future of the whole human race?: Hmmm... I literally can't remember this story...

Acquisition by Jake Marley - Barlow has a talent for finding the dead. Or do they find him?: Pretty good, would also make a good series. ★★★★

Obsidian Spire by Molly Elizabeth Atkins - When Varga sets out to explore the ancient stronghold of a long dead wizard, she discovers that the ruins aren't as deserted as she thought.: Loved this one! Would love more by this author and even this story... maybe a prequel! ★★★★★

Gator by Robert J. Sawyer - If only that reptile in the sewer were something as predictable as an alligator.: Uhm... no... maybe it was because of the length limit, but this just fell completely flat and was insensible. ★

A Glowing Heart by Anton Rose - On a distant world among the cloud peaks, the light-hawks promise a rich reward for those daring enough to harvest one.: Not much to say about this one, but it was very good. ★★★★

The Long Dizzy Down by Ziporah Hildebrandt - In a world where memories can be stripped, Bill discovers that he has a family he has never known.: Didn't even read this one. Couldn't stomach the writing ★

The Woodcutters' Deity by Walter Dinjos - Not all spirits have the best of intentions, and they must be dealt with.: This was also very good. Definitely would want more about the mythology here. ★★★★★

The Dragon Killer's Daughter by Todd McCaffrey - You can put an end to something wondrous, but only at a cost.: Meh... didn't really make any sense ★★

Useless Magic by Andrew Peery - In a life-or-death situation, sometimes you wish that you had a really powerful spell. But that begs the question - What is power?: A decent enough short story ★★★

Adramelech by Sean Hazlett - Some devils are as old as a dream, and more evil than men can imagine.: Didn't really feel this one either. Maybe if the author had more time it could have been better ★★★

The Fox, the Wolf, and the Dove by Ville Merilainen - When the world needs saving, three children are called to the task.: Probably my favorite of them all... coincidentally also the longest! ★★★★★

The Magnificent Bhajan by David Von Allmen - Can an aging sorcerer find a way to track down his old nemesis with the small bit of magic he has left, or is he just fooling himself?: Another bleh ★★★

Narrated by Jonathan Davis

 

Abandoned @ 15%

 

I thought I’d give this book a shot as an audiobook. I’d read it years ago, back when I actually enjoyed Robert J. Sawyer’s books, and I thought it would be a nostalgic kind of read that would get Toronto points. It did get Toronto points, but I found the narrator too annoying. He over-enunciated Toronto all the time and even managed to say North York in a way I found a bit weird. I’m not sure what it was, exactly, since I’m not entirely sure how you can pronounce North York in a funny way, but it did sound funny. He also spelled out CSIS (see-ess-eye-ess) instead of using the semi-acronym (see-siss) like you’re supposed to say it. I’m not entirely sure why CSIS had to pop up in the book other than to shout, “Look! I’m Canadian!” and they didn’t stick around for long, but it was still annoying.

 

Anyway, I give up. I don’t see why the narrator couldn’t have stuck to over-enunciating Toronto only when the alien said it and pronounce it more normally the rest of the time but obviously someone approved of his performance. At least the narrator used the acronym for the ROM instead of spelling it out. I would have given up a lot sooner if that had been the case.