Audio Book Review: Silicon Man

Silicon Man

By:  William Massa

Publish Date:  February 20, 2014, Audiobook March 25, 2016

Format:  Audiobook - 4 hrs 40 mins
Narrated By:  Joe Hempel

Genre:  Science Fiction

Series:  1st in Silicon World series; Novella 0 ~ Silicon Dawn

Impression:  Andriods in the world and how things change with perspective.

Synopsis:
To infiltrate the robot rebellion...
One man must become a machine.

A global pandemic has cut the human population in half. An android workforce fills the void left by the devastation. But some of the AIs have grown tired of being slaves. Some want freedom. An underground movement of runaways has sprung up and wages a shadow war with a simple objective -- equal rights for artificial people.

As head of the elite AI-TAC squad, Commander Cole Marsalis' job is to hunt down rogue robots. Now he has been tasked with the ultimate undercover mission -- infiltrate the android underground. But to do so, he will have to become that which he hates the most... A machine!

First Sentence:
Cara was nursing the infant nestled in her arms when the high-pitched whine of ramjets assaulted the air.

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Amazon  /  Barnes & Nobles  /  Book Depository  

Audible


My Thoughts and Summary:
*I requested a copy of this audiobook from the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Mech malfunctions are at an all time high. Instead of focusing on the programmers, Commander Cole Marsalis is leading the soldiers who are dealing with the androids that feel they can do better than humans at their jobs or caring for children. Cole notices the little things when tracking and fighting these AIs. They could easily kill, but don't. Could they be holding back? Why? In order to hunt down the leader of the Underground Network helping AIs escape, what will it take to convince a man to go undercover as what he hates. A machine. Cole is shown that door, and given the chance to hunt down the mech that ruined his life.

Joe is back with the first book in the series. He narrated the prequel to the series as well. Joe voices the characters with different emotional feelings. He fits right in to Cole's personality. I could see, with the projection of Cole's 'voice', he walks with a strong presence and belief in him. It got to the point that I didn't realize Joe was narrating the story as I was caught in William's writing and needed to keep up with what was happening. That's a plus!

Androids are growing in free will and choices in them, but still slaves and property to the world. This is a new twist on slavery with mechanicals who are not to have a conscious mind of their own. There are those who are supporters of the AIs on the run, collaborators believing they are helping androids like slaves were freed years ago. But Cole and others don't see the AIs as having a conscious mind and humanity like slaves of the past. They are created to do as told.

Oh the technology that's used in this book. Nice. We did see glimpses of what was hinted at in Silicon Dawn. It's refined and used here, but in a different fashion. And I like it! Cole is about to become what he hates. And hates with good reason. But now he gets a chance to stop who, or what, had broken his heart when his family died.

William keeps the world as a whole in the picture as he tells the story. There are different views on Mechanicals in different areas of the world. Japan has signed a bill granting mechanicals rights like humans, causing escaping AIs to flee out of the country to Japan and other sympathizer areas. This keeps the picture at a full scale instead of narrowing in on only our people and one place. It leaves a feel that there is more to play with in future stories. And with the end of this book, it could end here but there could be more stories built and I'm hoping so.

You know Cole'll come around to feeling sympathetic for the AIs, he has to right? There is a twist to this. He does, but he doesn't. lol. You have to read the story to understand, it's easy to pick out as you go and such a cool ending. As we go through the story we see his reason for being the way he is and history, but also seeing a touch of feeling from an AI in the beginning. There is a balance drawn for us that we got to experience both. I like that William chose to start with us feeling for an android at the beginning then switching to the strong feelings Cole has toward them. It gives us a sympathy for them first. But we also see there is a part in Cole that questions what he's seeing - could there be more there?

I really like how William brings the world alive as Cole and others live in it. There is true interaction with the world and creation to the story and plot. We get a wide view of the way things are with and for the mechs.

I'm hoping for more stories in this world. I will be watching for them!



**If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon and/or Audible. Thank you!

Audio Book Review: Silicon Dawn

Silicon Dawn

By:  William Massa

Publish Date:  April 28, 2015, Audiobook Release December 29, 2015

Format:  Audiobook - 3 hrs 53 mins
Narrated By:  Joe Hempel

Genre:  Sci Fi

Series:  0 in Silicon series

First Impression:  Mechs are produced to do human jobs. But some humans are not happy about it.

Synopsis:
A SILICON MAN PREQUEL

THE LINE BETWEEN MAN AND MACHINE HAS BEEN CROSSED...
AND THERE IS NO TURNING BACK.

A serial killer stalks the city of the future…
Hunting the people who build the machines.
And it's up to a cop and an AI to unravel a terrible conspiracy.

The world is still reeling form the devastation of the Omega Virus and struggling to rebuild. A growing android workforce has given rise to the Human Defense League and anti-AI sentiment is at an all-time high.

Adam, one of the first of the new X-3000 models, arrives into this hostile future. Field-tested on the Luna colonies, now assigned to Earth, Adam is paired with homicide detective Jane Malveaux, who has little patience for synthetics.

Before long both Malveaux and Adam must cast aside their differences and join forces to solve a case that will test both man and machine.

Note: This prequel can be read before or after Silicon Man.

First Sentence:
The San Francisco Spaceport bustled with activity.

Purchase At:
Amazon 

Audible

My Thoughts and Summary:
*I requested to review a copy of this audiobook for an honest review from the author or narrator.

Inspector Jane Malveaux is already not fond of the mechs for personal reasons, but when her partner is killed at a homicide crime scene because of Adam's presence, Malveaux believes the robots should not be on the police force. Malveaux is put on the case of a killer. They find there are more murders of cyberneticists. It's going to take more than electronics to find the sick killer on the loose, and that's where Malveaux comes in. Adam is here to learn and prove that mechs can help. Paired as a team, Malveaux and Adam need to work together with what makes them who they are to solve the case, each bringing a different view to the case.

Joe Hempel narrates this story with a clean background and seamless chapters. He does softer tones for Malveaux, being female, and stronger tones for the males. He expresses the feel of what Adam is saying with tones that fit the moment, giving Adam a bit more feel to his in-humanness, as he grows and becomes more human to us. There is, however, one sentence that is repeated toward the end of the story (**which Audible is fixing**), but if that is all I can find wrong, we are doing great.

The 1st chapter is set up with people's responses to the mechs that are created to resemble humans and are everywhere. There is a lot of strong feelings and the first few chapters express the views of both sides of the coin for us.

We see the mech Adam grow in his ways. He uses cues to react as he thinks should be done with people in different circumstances. He also struggles with why humans would act with such cruelty and brutality in being serial killers. Adam, after a nice talk with the Captain, decides to stay on the case and maybe he can find other patterns besides emotions to help solve the case. As the story goes and we get Adam's view in the story, we start to see he's more human than many think. Adam has views on the world, opinions in a sense. Like when he sees pleasure mechs, he doesn't really approve of them. He sees death early in his arrival on Earth and it seems to affect him. Adam keeps surprising us with his kindness and gestures of human type feelings throughout the story. Even Malveaux is surprised at times at Adam's actions and helpful ways on the case.

We are on a mystery case where the cyberneticists were killed a month ago and left with parts of mechs and messages from the bible and for humankind. I had a feel for how everything would turn out, but was curious as to how the positions of the dead bodies would relate to the killer. In the end, William makes the connection for me. And it worked! I was impressed with the relation and story telling here as it was a bit different.

This is a shorter story, but it's packed full of important information pertinent to the story. No wasted time on unneeded scenes. The lower key scenes are important for character growth, but they are extremely short. We spend 99% of the story moving through the mystery.

If you like stories that are similar to I Robot the movie, this is really a story for you! The world and interaction is very similar.

This story ends on a note that sets up the world for a new potential future. Good or bad is yet to be seen, but the technology could be used either way. Now I'm more curious as to what the future holds with the technology present and mechs.



**If you found my thoughts helpful, please click Yes at Amazon and/or Audible. Thank you!