Zack Jordan

*I received a review copy of the book via NetGalley; all opinions are my own.*

I have such mixed feelings on this one!

OVERALL, I enjoyed the book. The author has big ideas mostly well done (I'll get back to that), great characters, and an interesting plot. The writing was warm and humorous, and it makes you think about the involvement of tech in our lives (and our dependence on it, whether we want to admit it or not.)

The characters were my favorite part of the book. Sarya is the last human (that she knows of) in the universe, but since her race was so dangerous, she has to hide her identity. Part of hiding it means that she has been assigned a level 1 intellect. She's much smarter than what people expect of her, and there was a lot in this that made her very relatable. Her adoptive mother is Shenya the Widow, a fierce warrior (I kept picturing a black widow spider with blades for legs, but honestly, I'm still not sure what she was), and despite being completely alien in looks, her protective nature made her one of the most relatable (if you've ever woken a tired mom up from a nap, you'll get a laugh here.) The other characters - a rogue sentient bodysuit named Eleven, the AI that lives in her head has the best personality, the fuzzball alien with a massive IQ, and even The Observer - reminiscent of The Borg, only in a friendlier body that I imagined looked more like Mr. Magoo - which makes them just as confusingly scary.

The plot had a great premise and there were some great twists. I definitely didn't know who should be trusted - the Observer, or the Network, and in the end, I can honestly say I still don't know. And that's part of my struggle with the story. I loved the first third of the story - it was fast-paced, I was quickly drawn in. Then came a plot point where I pretty much had to suspend disbelief and push through - and that's where my struggles started. I really wanted to put it down, but the characters were interesting, and I wanted to see where it was going. The story nipped along, but Sarya's personality changed. I don't know if it was the change in her agency or a shift soon after where the writing got a lot more... philosophical, maybe?

But it was the last third that I really had to push through. There was another major plot point that required me to suspend disbelief. (Actually, I don't know if it was suspending disbelief or pretending I knew what was supposed to have happened in order to make the next bit of plot work.) And I feel like it all kind of went totally off the rails at the end.

This book had a lot of humor and heart, some big ideas on intelligence and technology, interesting reflections on technology, our place in the universe - but in the end, it didn't quite do it for me. I loved what the author was trying to do - and maybe a better explanation of the science, with the multiple universes, and a clearer picture of the world he has built would help.

This story did have a lot going for it and might be the perfect book for other sci-fi fans.… (mehr)

I was immediately hooked on the concept of an enormous galaxy-wide Network of aliens living and cooperating ... but fearing one species above all else: Humans. You know... because we break things. Get all tribal and s**t. We like to exploit weaknesses in others and lord over their spoils because we're a**holes.

Turns out, our main character is the last of this dastardly breed, growing up small in a huge network of Dyson Spheres with countless old alien species categorized in a hierarchy based on Tiered Intelligence.

Most of the book is rather fun and filled with all the normal Coming of Age stuff of discovery and adventure and breaking out of the rigid hierarchy while trying to get a grip on BEING the big bad that everyone is shivering in their boots about. A little girl should never have to be such a horrible monster. ; ;

I really enjoyed this book, but I'll be perfectly honest, I didn't LOVE it until the last third came rolling around. The whole Tiered Intelligence bit made it a real joy to read. What does it really mean? Networking, of course. Many, many collections of minds within other collections of minds. The more minds, the higher the Tier. When we get to the top Tier, we're dealing with the mind that can CREATE a full network of Dyson Spheres... and much more.

So what's the real story about? What is this little last human's fate?

NOT TELLING! Muahahahahahahaha... but it's awesome. Really awesome. :)

I loved the whole thing about game theory, biological emulation, and hawks vs doves. :)… (mehr)