This was a fascinating premise for a book, and you could tell that this story meant a lot to the authors, who really wanted to cram every word about their moral stances onto the page. I think that the characters represented a variety of neurodiverse backgrounds and personalities, which provides an interesting layer to this complex novel adding complexity to the relationships connecting all of the characters.

While the pace and dialogue each felt rather stilted at times, it did paint an interesting picture of utilizing technology and artificial intelligence as a boon for society instead of the bane and eventual road to apocalyptic failures. So, conceptually, I appreciated this novel for its innovativeness, while simultaneous wishing for better prose and cleaner dialogue.

Veronica Pace's narration was steady and solid. The only thing I wish were different were a bit more nuance between the different characters - there was a special tone for Elly - but then everyone else sounded relatively the same to me.

Thank you to Nonlinear Publishing, LLC for the arc audio version via NetGalley.

As someone who isn’t a tech person in the slightest, I did find this story entertaining. It didn’t wow me but my attention was engaged. 3.5 stars from me.

This book was an entertaining look at what happens when artificial intelligence goes too far. The characters were very relatable and I enjoyed the technical writing throughout, but I think my issue with this book is that it does not seem approachable to the average reader. There is a lot happening all at once, and if you don’t have at least a bit of functional AI knowledge you could get lost quickly. I also think the author could have done a better job with imagery throughout - sometimes the book read more like a play because the dialog was so heavy.

Perfect for fans of AI science-fiction, with the added bonus of women in STEM representation. I enjoyed the sentient AI and the focus on ethics and who draws the lines. I enjoyed the technology aspects of the book with nanites and the possibilities of these nanites and also the moral dilemma involved with the use of them.

I feel the main character, Keira was so well written and relatable in her quest to do everything in her power to help those in need while also trying to balance her moral code. I liked Roy Brandt, the financier and genius in his own right and his team of engineers. All of the characters contributed to the story and felt like real individuals from the sleazy ones to the good ones.

Sometimes I feel like science fiction is beyond my grasp (or interest) but this one was multi-faceted enough to keep me engaged throughout.

What little plot there was was drowned out by STEM industry politics. Characters were pretty flat and dialogue didn’t feel natural. Impressive knowledge base and concepts.

Thank you Lois & Ross Melbourne, NetGalley, and publisher for my audio advanced review copy. My opinions are my own.

Plot - 2
Writing and Editing - 3
Character Development - 3
Narration - 4
Personal Bias - 2
Final Score - 2.8

A 3.5 rounded up to a four for a strong premise and good execution!

Set in a near future, we see two world-changing techs come together to create something more. I loved the play on a 'three laws' type AI by being a pioneer of Moral OS... literal Moral learning built into the foundation of thought.

The only critique I, an unskilled writer (lol), would have was not the overuse of commas the Melbournes called themselves out on, but the somewhat stilted dialogue. If communication is the outline of dialogue and coloring is the emotional content, much of this novel was black and white.

This may have been color3d by a somewhat stilted narration, as I listened to the audiobook. While tone was pleasant, it added nothing to the actual feeling of the writing, which was a shame.

Overall, though, a solid read that I'm glad I picked up!

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Comencé a escuchar el audiolibro de Moral Code sin muchas expectativas porque los autores me eran desconocidos, pero el tema de las inteligencias artificiales me atrae mucho, sobre todo aplicado a un futuro muy cercano como es el caso. Además, se hace hincapié en el aspecto ético de la creación y el uso de este tipo de inteligencias, algo de lo que ya nos da pistas el título del libro, que me parece muy pero que muy adecuado.


El comienzo es bastante prometedor, ya que conoceremos a Keira, una ingeniera que ha desarrollado su propia IA, llamada Elly. Cuando estaban desarrollando una labor humanitaria se encuentran en una situación límite por un terremoto y ahí da comienzo la relación de ambas con Roy Brandt, el desarrollador de unos nanorobots que en secreto realizan tareas de salvamento… y otras muchas cosas.

Tras este encuentro casual y muchas conversaciones, Keira y Roy se dan cuenta de que si unen sus fuerzas conseguirán mejorar mucho los nanorobots, sobre todo con el MoralOS, el sistema operativo que sirve como brújula moral para Elly pero que es aplicable en otros entornos.

Como veis, la premisa es muy interesante, pero el libro se va diluyendo poco a poco. Primero, porque hay cierta ingenuidad en las ideas que se van exponiendo, pero también porque no se entra en mucha profundidad en las bases de todo el andamiaje ético. ¿Cómo se define la moralidad? En un momento nos dicen que se han tenido en cuenta muchas religiones, filosofías… pero queda todo un poco en el aire. Y la verdad, me cansa un poco el punto de vista totalmente occidental de todos los libros que he leído que tratan este tema (esto probablemente es culpa mía, de mis sesgos de lectura). Sin ir mucho más lejos, en la Hispacon tuve la oportunidad de asistir a una charla sobre el ghost japonés, esa alma que se atribuye a todas las cosas en el mundo que cambiaría totalmente la percepción de lo que es una inteligencia artificial.

Aunque esta inocencia ingenua es el problema de fondo, también hay otros elementos que me hicieron bajar un poco la apreciación del libro. Por ejemplo, el maniqueísmo para distinguir a los “buenos” de los “malos”, la creencia de que las agencias gubernamentales estadounidenses iban a utilizar esta tecnología punta solo y exclusivamente para el bien y el empecinamiento de la protagonista con que la defensa de los niños ha de ser la principal prioridad de cualquier ser moral. El libro es entretenido, pero no rompedor.

La narración de Veronica Pace es muy correcta, pero le falta un poco de alma. Es posible que mi opinión se haya visto influida por la pequeña decepción que ha supuesto el desarrollo del libro, que tenía unos buenos mimbres para su desarrollo pero que ha acabado siendo uno más del montón.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nonlinear Publishing for providing me the opportunity to review “Moral Code“. I am appreciative and leave my sincerity review voluntarily.

This book begs the question: whose morality is of greater concern - AI or humans?

I enjoyed this book and the science infused into the development of Elly the virtual assistant and everything that happens as humans try to steal the tech for their own gains. Keira, who created Elly, was a strong woman in STEM and I adored having her as the main character championing Elly and morality. Characters were well fleshed out and as someone who works at a medtech startup, I can say that many of the personalities felt very familiar.

The real science basis for much of the book made this story feel like something that could happen sooner rather than later and that gave the book a sense of reality that scifi stories usually lack. That being said, if you 'aren't very techy (like me), you can still follow the science well enough to understand the book.

Overall, this was a much more realistic-feeling book than I expected when I picked up a scifi story but I recommend it to anyone who loves scifi based in current science knowledge - or just enjoys a STEM smart, strong, female MC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nonlinear Publishing, LLC for the opportunity to review this book ahead of publication. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

I really wanted to like this, and I really liked the premise, but this is my professional field, and the odd errors were just too much suspending of disbelief to set aside. I didn't finish it.