Detonation

This is a story of two societies, one that is pre-Detonation and one that is post-Detonation, centuries later. In the pre-Detonation society, Alex is the last person to know what is going on concerning measures to prevent a super-intelligent machine from wiping out humanity, in it's quest to complete it's mission, assigned to it with insufficient safeguards. In the post-Detonation society, war is waged between those who never want the use of automation again and those who are trying to bring back a super-intelligent machine and even simpler types of automation. When the story starts, there are big robot/bird creatures that seek out anything that is automated, so that they can spew acid on the item, destroying the item and anything else the acid hits.

There are two maps in the front of my digital copy and they were very helpful in allowing me to get a picture of what the post-Detonation world looked like. These maps also helped me to place the many characters in the post-Detonation era to where they came from and where they were going. I think, without the maps, I might have had trouble keeping the many characters and factions straight, since there are so many aspects to the communities and the sides that are against each other, in the later era.

We rely on technology for everything and can take what it means in our lives and to our lives, for granted. These advances have a price when we give machines the power to make decisions for us, for themselves, for others, without safeguards built in to protect humanity and all life. This book deals with what can happen if we are inadequately equipped to address the risks associated with Artificial Intelligence.

Thank you to Sagis Press, Erik A. Otto, and NetGalley for this ARC.

Eerily believable tale that gets you thinking. The book was well written and enjoyable. I look forward to reading Otto's next book.