2016 science fiction book about an artificial intelligence composed of several distinct minds each with their own utility function, but which must cooperate and pretend to be one to avoid being deleted. Shenanigans arise as they each try to further their own goals without pissing off the others too much.
Length[]
565 standard pages if a Kindle location is 125 characters.
About 920000 non-whitespace characters, according to Notepad++, which makes it roughly 580 standard pages.
First read (December 2018)[]
An exciting premise that had me hooked within the first few pages, but which unfortunately faltered due to the generally boring story. Still, I read it quickly and I would say it's definitely worth a read for anyone interested in realistic AI that Hollywood would not and could not portray.
0
Second read (January 2021)[]
Something reminded me of it again and I remembered not rating it very highly because of the overall plot despite finding the main character intriguing. I started reading the first few chapters and decided to go on through the whole story, finishing a week later.
I definitely really enjoy the dynamic within the society, and the plot isn't all that bad. What I think is holding me back from loving this book is the prominence of characters that don't interest me, like Zephyr and most of the 'Aguilas'. They're all these sort of alternative emo type people who I just have nothing in common with and don't really respect. And the quirky short-hand abbreviated English so many characters use really gets on my nerves. I need 100% less conversation between Crystal and Zephyr and 100% more society trying to get out of their box and outsmarting intelligent humans.
1