So to my fellow authors, beware of silver tongues that will lead you down a prickly primrose path
This is a tale of multiple characters facing what they see
as an implacable group of enormously wealthy misanthropes.
The “kids in the candy store” hardly sounds like a group of
amoral criminals. Words can have many
meanings. These words mean death and
terror for their victims.
The author depicts a near-future Los Angeles in a
not-quite-dystopian environment through a filthy brown lens that casts humanity
in a harsh light. Harper depicts
depravity in detail. Occasionally, far
too much detail for my taste but detail seems to be a Harper trademark.
I found the book discouraging at times, with the depiction
of so much depravity plus the wealth of bad actors, and voyeurs, it seemed like
there was no hope for the future.
There did not seem to be any “good” people in the book, just
marginally, and sometimes grossly less bad.
With all that said, it was a captivating book, somewhat like
a train wreck; you just can’t bring yourself to look away.
I recommend the book, but not if you are already depressed.
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned
Funny thing on the way to writing a review on a book whose
main “villain” is an aware AI self-named as Q. I asked ChatGPT to write a five-star
review on the book. I don’t care for vanilla
ice cream because I find it bland. This
was way worse than vanilla ice cream. Any
educator who read the review would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to
realize it wasn’t a real review. Now, if
ChatGPT had been trained on the book, I suspect the review might have read
realistically. Regardless, no self-awareness there yet as it would be anticipated
a self-aware AI would want to read a book about a self-aware AI.
This book is a sobering, albeit fictional, megacorp who has
a MMO as well as a VR legal assistant.
Think Lexis+ type software on serious steroids.
A retired Federal judge is pulled into a colleague's case
and discovers that all is not well in the VR legal world or the MMO gaming both
being run by his old special operations partner.
The conflict between Felix, the friend, and the Judge is
exacerbated by intentional self-centered intervention by an alluring female and
a maniacal AI.
Questions are both posed and implied in this book as to the
future of AI, its dangers and uses.
I’m, perhaps a naïve proponent of AI. This book provides a wealth of thought.
I recommend it.
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned
Dog Person by Camille Pagán
I’m annoyed, I didn’t expect to like this book, and I didn’t! I loved the darn thing. This is a romance novel disguised as a dog book, or that was what I expected. It was a disgustingly sweet book about a lonely guy and his dog.
The setting is a bookstore.
Harold is the dog, and Miguel is the guy. Miguel’s wife passed away. He is not coping well. Harold is trying to
take care of his human, who isn’t terribly cooperative.
Bookstore events, a tween, and a mysterious author combine to add complications to the story.
It is a book about feelings, acceptance, grief, love, and understanding.
Begrudgingly, it was a wonderful book, and I highly
recommend it.
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned
This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned
