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vN (Machine Dynasty Book 1) Kindle Edition
For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother's past, so when her grandmother arrives and attacks her mother, Amy wastes no time: she eats her alive.
Now she carries her malfunctioning granny as a partition on her memory drive, and she's learning impossible things about her clade's history - like the fact that she alone can kill humans without failsafing...
File Under: Science Fiction [Von Neumann Sisters | Fail Safe Fail | The Squid & the Swarm | Robot Nation]
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAngry Robot
- Publication dateJuly 31, 2012
- File size1095 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
– Cory Doctorow
“If you have been missing the kind of thought-provoking-yet-exciting stories about artificial creatures that only come along once in a while, vN is well worth grabbing. It's disturbing and sometimes upsetting — but the ending is a giant insane weird thrill that makes the whole thing pay off.”
– Charlie Jane Andres for io9.com
"Picks up where Blade Runner left off and maps territories Ridley Scott barely even glimpsed. (Philip K Dick would have been at home here, but Ashby's prose is better.) vN might just be the most piercing interrogation of humanoid AI since Asimov kicked it all off with the Three Laws."
– Peter Watts, author of Blindsight
"VN fuses cyberpunk with urban fantasy to produce something wholly new. Thre's a heavy kicker in every chapter. Zombie robots, vampire robots, robots as strange and gnarly as human beings. A page-turning treat."
– Rudy Rucker, author of the WARE TETRALOGY
"Ashby's debut novel is brimming with ideas..."
-SFX Magazine
“vN is a thrilling adventure story with a well-developed cast of both humans and vNs, which challenges the meaning of being a person without ever being preachy about it.”
– Steve Jones, Terror Tree
About the Author
Madeline Ashby grew up in a household populated by science fiction fans. She graduated from a Jesuit university in 2005, after having written a departmental thesis on science fiction. After meeting Ursula K. LeGuin in the basement of the Elliott Bay Book Company that year, she decided to start writing science fiction stories. While immigrating to Canada from the United States in 2006 , she could not work or study and joined the Cecil Street Irregulars – a genre writers’ workshop founded by Judith Merril – instead. Since then she has been published in Tesseracts, Flurb, Nature, Escape Pod and elsewhere. She has a masters degree in Manga and Anime and writes on such matters for i09, Tor.com and BoingBoing. Currently she works as a strategic foresight consultant in Toronto.
Product details
- ASIN : B0076Q1J60
- Publisher : Angry Robot (July 31, 2012)
- Publication date : July 31, 2012
- Language : English
- File size : 1095 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 265 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #785,520 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #1,650 in Cyberpunk Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #1,821 in Hard Science Fiction (Kindle Store)
- #3,900 in Hard Science Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
![Madeline Ashby](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/C1pMCexrRtS._SY600_.jpg)
Madeline Ashby is a science fiction writer and strategic foresight consultant living in Toronto. she is the author of the Machine Dynasty series from Angry Robot Books, and the novel "Company Town" from Tor Books. As a futurist, she has developed science fiction prototypes for Intel Labs, the Institute for the Future, SciFutures, Nesta, the Atlantic Council, Data & Society, InteraXon, and others. She is married to horror writer and journalist David Nickle. With him, she is the co-editor of "Licence Expired: The Unauthorized James Bond," an anthology of Bond stories available only in Canada. You can find her at madelineashby.com and on Twitter @MadelineAshby.
Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the storyline compelling and interesting. They also describe the writing style as very well written and original. Customers find characters relatable and more human than human. However, some find the narrative confusing and bitter at times. Opinions are mixed on readability, with some finding it OK and others saying it's confusing.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the storyline compelling, fascinating, and fun. They also describe the author as a genius and a marvelous storyteller. Readers also mention that the book jumps right into the happenings and is worthwhile.
"...they bugged me a little during my read, I found reading vN well worth the time and effort. Recommended." Read more
"...Breakneck adventure ensues.The plot moves fast and keeps you turning the pages. The world of the vN is nicely described and detailed...." Read more
"...a lot of hard science fiction books out there, the novel tackles a lot of complex ideas starting with these pretty much sentient robots and all the..." Read more
"...things to know about Ms. Ashby - she's a flippin' genius, a marvelous storyteller and she's willing to pursue her ideas and stories without..." Read more
Customers find the concepts in the book interesting, smart, and creative. They also say the science is accessible and the book is a decent exploration of AI. Readers also describe the book as an excellent near-future hard sci-fi novel, with detailed descriptions of future tech and self-aware robots.
"...But vNs are smart, self-aware, learning machines with the capacity to detect, understand, and even feel -- or at least simulate -- human emotion...." Read more
"...The world of the vN is nicely described and detailed. You really feel like you've lived there by the end of the book...." Read more
"vN is an interesting and completely original concept [sarcasm warning], robots constructed to serve humans while integrating into everyday life as..." Read more
"...didn't shirk from humanity of this "generational" AI and the science was accessible - I think even for light sci-fi readers. I really loved it." Read more
Customers find the writing style very well written, thoughtful, and compelling. They also describe the book as witty, original, and fresh.
"...The world of the vN is nicely described and detailed. You really feel like you've lived there by the end of the book...." Read more
"...And there has never been such a scary, witty, hyper-violent to the point of THE WHOLE EARTH being afraid you villain than grandmother Portia...." Read more
"...I think what bugged me the most was the inconsistency in writing...." Read more
"...The writing was good. The universe was immersive and still has plenty of room to grow...." Read more
Customers find the characters in the book relatable and human.
"...And the characters are realistically conflicted internally, as well--in certain cases the internal conflict is disturbingly explicit...." Read more
"...The characters are well-crafted and the story often goes in unexpected directions, exploring new territory in a future we are all quite familiar with..." Read more
"...seems pretty bad at scene transitions, and it's often unclear where the characters are physically at any given time, as they often wake up in..." Read more
"The characters are interesting, and the changes wrought on Javier though the book are more thought provoking, I thought, then those on Amy...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the readability of the book. Some find it interesting and worth a read, while others find it confusing and a terrible mess.
"...The first few chapters were well done and filled with very plausible scifi explanations for futuristic inventions...." Read more
"...The ending was just... there, and the entire book was unsatisfying overall. (hide spoiler)][End spoilers]..." Read more
"Excellent for hardcore AI buffs; passable for others. A fine effort of a first novel, but not fully polished...." Read more
"There were some parts that were pretty hard to follow and kind of vague, especially at the end...." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the plot. Some find it exciting and surprisingly scary, while others say it's puzzling and jarring. They also say it strains one's suspension of disbelief.
"...Thought-provoking, entertaining, and even shocking at times--I read it in one sitting...." Read more
"...There are some puzzling moments, and when you step back you have to ask "But why did it happen this way?" or "Why didn't that happen?"..." Read more
"...And there has never been such a scary, witty, hyper-violent to the point of THE WHOLE EARTH being afraid you villain than grandmother Portia...." Read more
"...It's very jarring, and leaves more than a few things in the novel unclear, some of which is discussed below...." Read more
Customers find the narrative flow confusing at times, with difficult to identify characters. They also say the plot moves slowly and the book is not really a thriller. Readers also mention the science fiction is moronic and hard to follow.
"...It's not laugh-out-loud funny. It's not really a thriller, although there are some chases, escapes, and close encounters with death...." Read more
"...The ending was a little unexpected but I think the outcome still makes sense and nicely sets the stage for the future...." Read more
"...The ending was just... there, and the entire book was unsatisfying overall. (hide spoiler)][End spoilers]..." Read more
"...Since I am being negative I will just pile it on, the story was hard enough to get into without the grandmother in her head talking and..." Read more
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Top reviews from the United States
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Robots in Madeline Ashby's near-future world are called "vN" after John von Neumann, the Jewish-Hungarian-American mathematician, physicist, and all-around genius who, among other things, laid the groundwork for virtually all computers in use today (they're called "von Neumann machines" for a reason) and also developed a theory of self-replicating machines, which, by the way, the vN are. Self-replicating, that is. Given enough "food" -- plastic, iron, and other minerals -- they not only grow like organic beings, they also reproduce through a form of asexual budding. It's a cool idea, though Ashby never explains how or whether the vN's self-replication mechanism is based on von Neumann's theory.
Once the vN technology goes to market, vNs appear everywhere in roles such as laborer, servitor, and, inevitably, prostitute. But vNs are smart, self-aware, learning machines with the capacity to detect, understand, and even feel -- or at least simulate -- human emotion. They become girlfriends and boyfriends and husbands and wives of humans, and, when vNs "iterate" (reproduce), their "children" become family members. The children can even look like human children as long as they're kept on a near-starvation diet. One of those children is Amy, a kindergartner whose vN mother and human father struggle to give a normal, suburban, middle-class, human upbringing.
This does not turn out as well as hoped. Something does go very wrong when an out-of-control robot kills a human child. All vN are equipped with a "failsafe" that prevents them from harming humans and, consistent with Asimov's famous three laws ( I, Robot ), requires them to protect humans from harm. When this killer robot turns out to be Amy's grandmother, and when humans begin to suspect that Amy and her mother may share grandma's flaw, things do not look good for Amy.
But, as Ashby continually reminds us -- without directly saying so -- what's really wrong is not that there's a robot -- or even a few robots -- out there who can defy humans, it's rather that humans are so *inhumane* in their views and their treatment of these sentient beings that live and work among them. Some reviewers have suggested that Asby uses vN as a stand-in for racial/ethnic minorities or other marginalized groups. I don't think that's the case; the kind of exploitation and maltreatment that concerns Ashby is universal.
So ... This is not a book for kids; there's too much ugly violence, especially (implied) sexual violence. It's not laugh-out-loud funny. It's not really a thriller, although there are some chases, escapes, and close encounters with death. Perhaps it's a mystery, but the mystery is mostly whether or not humans can love robots, robots can love humans, robots can love robots, or anybody can love themselves (in a non-narcissistic way), whether sex is (only) about selfish pleasure, and whether we can have non-exploitative relationships with others, especially those who are not quite like us.
Others have complained about deficiencies in the novel -- which is, after all, a first novel. There are some puzzling moments, and when you step back you have to ask "But why did it happen this way?" or "Why didn't that happen?" It's also a bit annoying that Ashby makes so many references that will be obscure to many readers; e.g., if you haven't read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? you're going to be clueless about why the vN restaurant chain is called "Electric Sheep," and if you haven't seen Blade Runner , you're not going to know why it features a drink called "Tears in Rain." I think these are minor problems, and while they bugged me a little during my read, I found reading vN well worth the time and effort. Recommended.
In the novel of the same name, a vN (short for von Neumann) is a synthetic person. They look like humans, they eat food to sustain themselves, they grow, and they reproduce. They even have human-like emotional responses. At least, they appear to. Maybe they're just programmed that way? Much of the drama of the book hinges on that question.
In many ways, a vN is more like an alternative life form than a machine. From the very first page we see a vN in a "romantic" relationship with a human. In a family, in fact. What an idea! The line between organic and synthetic life is often blurred in fiction, but Ashby's great innovation was to nearly obliterated it.
A vN is not completely free from their machine heritage, however. To make them safe companions for humanity, their creators included a "failsafe." If a vN sees a human in pain, their systems will begin to shut down. This is such common knowledge that violent films even have vN warnings.
But not so fast! The novel's main character, a vN named Amy, seems to lack this failsafe feature. Is it a glitch? A design hack? Whatever the reason, Amy is of intense interest to all sides. Breakneck adventure ensues.
The plot moves fast and keeps you turning the pages. The world of the vN is nicely described and detailed. You really feel like you've lived there by the end of the book.
That ending, though, was a problem for me. It just came out of nowhere, resolving several running conflicts in one fell swoop. I don't want to give it away, but I think it's fair to call it a Deus ex Machina. Altogether, though, it's a small complaint for such an original and innovative science fiction adventure.
Rating: 4.25 stars
Length: 100,000 words
Violence: Some. Not enough to make you failsafe
Sex: Implied
Drugs: No
Top reviews from other countries
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Most of the best ideas come in Book I, while Books II and III finish the stories and tie up most of the loose ends.
A consideration of what it means to be human and how Aasimov's Three Laws of Robotics might actually play out.
Worth reading all three books.
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I wonder if this critic actually read Blade Runner.
vN is, when all is said and done, a classic zombie "kill-em-all" with robot substitutes.
I am now waiting for a computer zombie blast-em game to be bought out based on the book - shoot the robot granny, lose points for hitting Amy. Bonus for head shots.
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