After On: A Novel of Silicon Valley by Rob Reid

After On: A Novel of Silicon Valley by Rob Reid

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


First off the bat, at 500+ pages it's a long read, but then it comes with a tongue-in-cheek warning upfront about this. The book covers a lot of ground in the near future SF genre.

When the protagonist is an "omniscient" social media platform Phluttr with an intelligent, and witty personality and a sociopath attitude, there is never a dull moment. There are hundreds of small characters interspersed in the story line. Heck, there are multiple parallel story lines, and one of them is a fictional storyline within the main storyline, so go figure. :-)

Starting out with super AI, it touches on the true meaning of privacy, romance bots, speed intelligence, quantum computing, parallel universes, artificial consciousness, synthetic biology, artificial emotions, World War 3, and much more. The scenarios and unintended consequences imagined by Rob, truly make you sit up and take notice.

Usually when we think of AI, we think of it as a separate entity. It either wants to rule us, or serve us. Rob introduces the concept of a centaur, where man and machine work in a symbiotic relationship playing off each others strengths and drawing strength from the other to cover their own weaknesses.

While you are at it, don't miss the wickedly funny, hijacking amazon Product reviews by Charles Henry Higgensworth III. They are sure to have you rolling on the floor laughing.

To sum up it's the most thought provoking book I have read in a long time. Highly recommended for all SF fans.



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