Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan

Pages 306

Book Club Selection

Blurb

Britain has lost the Falklands war, Margaret Thatcher battles Tony Benn for power and Alan Turing achieves a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In a world not quite like this one, two lovers will be tested beyond their understanding.

Machines Like Me takes place in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first batch of synthetic humans and — with Miranda’s help — he designs Adam’s personality. The near-perfect human that emerges is beautiful, strong and clever. It isn’t long before a love triangle forms, and these three beings confront a profound moral dilemma.

In his subversive new novel, Ian McEwan asks whether a machine can understand the human heart — or whether we are the ones who lack understanding.

Review

Honestly, I’m somewhat underwhelmed. After I read the blurb and before I opened the book, I expected…more? Something different from what I got for sure. What I thought (hoped) I would be reading was a book about humans coming to terms with a machine that is almost indistinguishable from them, how that might change their perception of what humanity is exactly. And, there was some of that in this book but, to me, it did not feel like the main theme of the story.

What I didn’t expect, and didn’t enjoy, where the long and overly-detailed descriptions of the alternative reality the story takes place in and the technological intricacies of machines like Adam. Why for example, do we get several pages of what reads like listing facts about the political landscape when Charlie states: ‘To me, […] all this […] was a busy hum, dipping and swelling from day to day, a matter of interest and concern, but nothing to compare with the turbulence of my domestic life, […]. Because to me it read as if the story was about that political landscape at least as much as it was about the main characters. It is, of course, possible that I missed something and that there are parallels between that general state of the world and Charlie’s removal from it, but are those relevant if they are so vague that I can’t pick up on them?

I’ve taken the following from the Goodreads blurb: Ian McEwan’s subversive and entertaining new novel poses fundamental questions: what makes us human? Our outward deeds or our inner lives? Could a machine understand the human heart? This provocative and thrilling tale warns of the power to invent things beyond our control.

While the last line of that quote does feel accurate, I can’t say I recognize the book in the earlier part. Charlie and Miranda felt rather underdeveloped as the human characters in this story. In fact, as a result of all the technical descriptions I felt I had a better idea about the workings of Adam’s mind by the end of the story than I had about what motivated Charlie and Miranda.

Something I hadn’t considered before starting the book but greatly appreciated in this story was what being almost human means to a machine who doesn’t, of course, have the same emotional impulses as humans. How do you deal when your algorithms don’t contain the information necessary to deal with the often irrational (as in emotionally driven rather than logical) human emotions and decisions? The answer to this question turned out to be rather heartbreaking.

But, I had more issues with this story. The relationship between Charlie and Miranda never felt real to me. At no point in the story did I feel they had anything in common apart from the pleasure they derived from sex and the input they had in Adam’s final creation. I have no idea what the purpose of the child, Mark, in this story was and can’t help feeling that leaving him out wouldn’t have changed anything about the eventual outcome, nor did it appear to add to the story’s progression.

In final analysis I have to admit that this was almost like reading two books at the same time. One book was a political, technical, and societal study of an alternative history. While some of those details were necessary to for world-building, I wouldn’t have missed anything if it had been reduced by something like 80 to 90%. The other story I read, the story about Adam and his fellow sentient machines and their struggle to learn to live and find a purpose among humans on the other hand, was fascinating and I could have done with a lot more depth there. All of which explains why I gave this book three stars.

As for the book club discussion of this title, goodness only knows if, when, or how it might take place. This book was our March selection by which stage the library had been closed in the national Corona Virus lockdown. Libraries will start to open their doors within days, but as of now, there’s no signs of groups like my book club being allowed to come together again. Which is a shame, because I would love to hear what the others members thought about this book.

Dominus by J.P. Kenwood

 Dominus #1

272 Pages

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Blurb

In AD 107, after a grueling campaign against Rome’s fierce enemy, the kingdom of Dacia, Gaius Fabius returns home in triumph. With the bloody battles over, the commander of the Lucky IV Legion now craves life’s simple pleasures: leisurely soaks in fragrant baths, over-flowing cups of wine, and a long holiday at his seaside villa to savor his pleasure slaves. On a whim, he purchases a spirited young Dacian captive and unwittingly sparks a fresh outbreak of the Dacian war; an intimate struggle between two sworn enemies with love and honor at stake.

Allerix survived the wars against Rome, but now he is a slave rather than a victor. Worse, the handsome general who led the destruction of his people now commands his body. When escape appears impossible, Alle struggles to find a way to preserve his dignity and exact vengeance upon the savage Romans. Revenge will be his, that is, if he doesn’t lose his heart to his lusty Roman master.

Dominus is a plot-packed erotic fantasy that transports readers back to ancient Rome during the reign of the Emperor Trajan. This is the first book in an alternate history series—a tumultuous journey filled with forbidden love, humor, sex, friendship, political intrigue, deception and murder. 

Review

And now for something completely different, which, if you know my reading preferences, is definitely a good thing. Dominus can be best described as an alternate universe historical novel set during Roman times. It is a very sexually charged and driven story, as well as an intriguing character study. The one thing I can’t call it (as yet?) is a romance. And, as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing.

In many ways this book reads as the setting of the stage for what is to come. I may very well be wrong, but I can’t help feeling that this story was about the reader getting to know the world in which this tale is set, the characters who are going to be pivotal in the future, and the dynamics between them, with the real action still to come.

While I’m on the topic of characters, allow me to add there are quite a few of those. As is clear from the blurb, the two main players are Gaius Fabius/Dominus and Allerix/Paulus and both of them, as well as the dynamic between them, is utterly intriguing. The Master/slave dynamic between them which Allerix can only accept once he convinces himself that submitting may be his only way to eventual freedom, is fascinating. All the more so because despite their natural animosity and the difference in status between them, they are both more attracted to each other than they care to admit, even to themselves. I have to say I can’t wait to see how this will play out.

But, there are a ton of secondary yet very important characters in this story too. In fact, it took me a chapter or four before I got my head around who was who, what their status was, and what role they played in the story. I’m still not quite sure I’ve got it all figured out. In fact, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the author has a surprise or two up her sleeve. But I liked that most of the secondary characters are fleshed out enough for the reader to get a real idea about who they are and why they act the way they do.

There’s a lot more I could say about the actual story but I’ll refrain. I don’t want to make this review so long people give up on reading all of it and besides, I find the best way to enjoy a story is to go into it with as little prior information as possible. And far be it from me to deprive other readers of that pleasure.

I do want to add that the prologue and epilogue, both set in modern times, intrigued me almost as much as the main story. In fact, I’ve got a feeling it won’t be long before I pick up book two in this series. I can’t wait to find out what will happen next now that Gaius is on the warpath and Allerix appears to have, for the moment, resigned himself to his lot.

Long story short; With Dominus I have found myself yet another must-read series, just as J.P. Kenwood has been added to my list of not-to-be-missed authors. I know I’m late to this particular party but if you haven’t read Dominus yet, I urge you to fix that oversight ASAP.

Puppy by R. Phoenix

Short Story

A Ripples in the Status Quo Story

Own / E-book

The blurb:

While other vampires glut themselves on the rewards of a world where humans are little more than food or entertainment, Liam has found himself bored with the new status quo. An attempt to alleviate his boredom brings him to Caleb, a man who’s willing to do what it takes to get out of the slums--even if it means becoming something less than human. 

This peek into the Ripples in the Status Quo world is a standalone out of the timeline of the series. 

My thoughts:

This was such a fun read. J

Yes, I did read Puppy and yes, I know the universe the author created here is anything but nice and sweet. And yet….

Let me go back a few steps and admit that I haven’t read any of the other, earlier, Ripples in the Status Quo books. But, since the author assures us Puppy can be read as a stand-alone, I did just that. And it's true. This book reads as a self-contained work. My point is that I have no idea how this story compares to the other books, so I can’t tell you whether Puppy is less dark than its predecessors or whether I’m just twisted that way. J

I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading this story. Sure, there are darker aspects to it. When Liam, a vampire, captures Caleb, a mere human, it is not as if Caleb has any choice when it comes to what happens next. And what happens next is deeply humiliating, occasionally painful and not nice at all. The thing is, Caleb likes humiliation. And while he’d prefer it if Liam wasn’t aware of that, there’s not a lot he can do to hide it when he’s constantly naked. Then again, just because Caleb enjoys humiliation doesn't mean he's going to roll over and play dead, and he's not inclined to hide his deviance either. He's a snarky little bugger and I liked him. 

There’s not a whole lot else I want to say about the story itself. Read it, allow it to surprise you, and enjoy it. And, if you think I’m mad for calling it a fun read, please come and let me know.

What I will say is that this book was a pleasure to read. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy the story, it was also very well written. Despite this being a short story I got a good feel for who the characters were and how they operated. I also wouldn’t mind spending more time with them and getting to know them even better, so I’m delighted the book concludes with the words: ‘The end (…for now)’.

Further reading:

From light to grey to dark, follow those who test and defy the status quo's subjugation of humans. In a world where the supernatural reign supreme, only love can set off the ripples that could change this depraved world for the better. But will the cost be too high? 

'Bought,' 'Ravel,' and 'Recoil' feature different characters whose lives begin to come together in 'Owned' and 'Temper.' 

Series: 
1. Bought - Jace & Elias. 
2. Ravel - Ashton & Reese. 
3. Recoil - Khaz & Noah. 
4. Owned - Khaz & Noah, Jace & Elias. 
5. Temper - Ashton & Reese, Jace & Elias. 

Standalones: 
Puppy – Liam & Caleb

Staged by Kim Fielding

Staged (Belonging #3) by Kim Fielding

Pages: 255

Copy received from Riptide Publishing through Netgalley

E-book / Paperback

The blurb:

Once the second-prize winner on My Slave’s Got Talent, Sky Blue has spent the past few years singing at a failing New York nightclub. While Sky has never had control over his fate, his life seems to take a turn for the worse when he’s torn from the familiar comfort of performing and sold to a rich and enigmatic man.

Morgan Wallace takes his newly purchased slave to San Francisco, his intentions unclear. On the one hand, he treats Sky with more kindness than Sky has ever known—treats him like a real person. On the other hand, he shares Sky at parties hosted by his sadistic new friends.

A confused slave is an endangered slave, and Sky isn’t even sure of his master’s real name. Is he Morgan Wallace, wealthy and cruel, or Mackenzie Webster, caring and compassionate? Caught between hope, fear, and an undeniably growing attachment, Sky struggles to untangle which parts are real and which are merely a performance. His future, his heart, and even his life may depend on it.

Reader discretion advised. This title contains the following sensitive themes:

dubious consent
explicit violence
non-consent

My thoughts:

For possibly the first time ever I’m not entirely sure whether or not this review contains (a)spoiler(s). Proceed with caution.

First things first. While this is the third book in a series it can easily be read as a stand-alone. In fact at no point while reading this story did I feel I was missing information or wished for more background on either the characters or the world the story is set in. While Staged certainly made me curious about those earlier books, I don’t think there’s any need to read them first…unless you want to of course J

Staged. *sigh* The story is told from Sky Blue’s perspective and I think Kim Fielding did an amazing job getting into the head space of a man who was born a slave, raised a slave and destined to always be a slave. His descriptions of his life were devastating. It wasn’t just the fact that he was treated without any consideration, at best, and with cruel disregard at worst, although that was heartbreaking enough. What really got to me was that he basically lived a life without any possibility of it ever getting better. It wasn’t so much that he lived without hope, because he still wished for an owner who wouldn’t be cruel, who wouldn’t hurt or mistreat him, but as hopes go, that is scraping the barrel. What really got to me was his resignation and the fact that it made perfect sense. When being a slave is all you’ve ever known, when you’ve been told so often that you are less, that you don’t feel like normal—free—people do, that you almost believe it, resignation is probably the only way to survive.

Given that context it makes perfect sense for Sky to be utterly confused when his new Master, Morgan Wallace (or is it Mackenzie Webster?) treats him with kindness, looks after him, buys him nice clothes, and cooks him great food. Sky has never encountered this before. Nobody has ever cared about his comfort or his feelings, and he has no idea how to deal with someone who appears to do just that. Especially when that same person is also the man who hands him over to strangers to be hurt and abused in the most horrific ways, only to tenderly nurse him back to health afterwards.

Poor Sky is confused and doesn’t know what to think. For me the one issue I had with this book was that I didn’t share Sky’s confusion and fear about his new Master. As early as the third chapter Wallace has told Sky that he’s sorry about what he will have to put him through, but that he doesn’t have a choice. While Sky doesn’t have the frame of reference to either understand or fully believe that statement, for me as a reader, that was the moment the story lost some of its tension and became less dark, despite the fact that the horrendous abuse scenes were still to come.

This is of course a very personal opinion and others may well disagree with me, but I would have preferred it if I’d been kept guessing about Wallace, his motives, and his feelings towards Sky. While the fact that I, as the spectator, didn’t worry about Wallace as much as Sky did, was a wonderful way to illustrate how Sky’s slave mind worked, it did, for me, make the story less edgy than I thought it would be.

Other than that one point, this book was wonderful. The world it describes is ours, except that slavery is an almost worldwide routine, and that makes the story that much more credible and scary; it’s all too easy to believe in this version of the world. I completely and utterly fell for Sky and cheered him on for every step of his long, difficult, painful, and confusing journey, and rejoiced when he finally found his own power.

I’m impressed that the author managed to give me a clear idea about who Webster was and what he felt without ever getting into his head. We only see him from Sky’s perspective and yet we see Webster’s struggle clearer than Sky can. That is fabulous writing.

One word of warning. There are a few very ugly scenes in this book. While they are ‘only’ scenes and not the tone of the book, they will without a doubt shock some readers. Having said that, comparatively speaking, those dark scenes make up only a small part of the story. Most of this book tells the story of two men from different worlds, with no idea about the other person’s reality, learning about each other and in the process about themselves.

Overall this was a very good, very well written and totally engrossing book. I’m very glad I had four consecutive hours of almost uninterrupted reading time because I don’t think I would have been able to put the book down for whatever reason. While the book wasn’t quite as dark as I expected it to be, and I would have preferred to have been kept guessing about Webster a while longer, I still highly recommend this as a fabulous read.

INTERESTING TIMES by Matthew Storm

INTERESTING TIMES by Matthew Storm

 

Pages: 228

Date: July 26, 2015

Details: No. 1 Interesting Times

E-book

The blurb:

“Oliver Jones was a dull man living a dull life, until one night a stray cat began speaking to him. In English. And that was before things got really strange. Now he is on the run, hunted by an inhuman assassin who will stop at nothing to kill him. His only hope for survival rests with a trio of unlikely new allies: A werewolf with a fondness for Hawaiian shirts, a strange little girl who just might be immortal, and a gunfighter with an anger management problem. Oliver always wanted a little excitement in his life, but now he finds himself living in Interesting Times... 

From the Back Cover:

"You see that house?" Tyler pointed at the building they had just left. "It exists at a single fixed point in time. From its perspective the outside world never moves and never changes. So we use it as a safe house. It's a great place to hide for a while."

"A fixed point in time?" Oliver asked. "So...is this the past? Or the future?" Oliver was beginning to think he'd need a physics textbook to understand all of this. Or possibly some LSD.”

My thoughts:     

“Now he was on the run, and the only people he felt sure he could trust, albeit hesitantly, were a creepy little girl, a woman who had threatened to shoot him and...Tyler. Tyler, a man who possessed a very questionable fashion sense, but made up for it with fantastic baking skills.”

Intrigued yet? That is only the start of the weird and wonderful. I mean I haven’t mentioned the werewolves, talking cat, vampires or lizard people yet, have I?

I always enjoy a book in which the nonsensical appears to make perfect sense, especially when it’s a case of a very average person being thrown into an anything but average situation. And that is exactly what happens in Interesting Times. I’m not even going to try and explain the story to you. Read the blurb and then dive into an adventure in which the mad is normal. This book is wacky and fun. There were moments when I laughed out loud. The storyline is so ludicrous it shouldn’t work, and I guess that’s probably the reason it does work very well.

This is a book to read when you need something that will capture you and transport you to a magical world filled with delights, shocks and surprises. Once you’re stuck into the story it is very hard to stop reading. Events follow each other in quick succession and keep the reader turning the pages in order to find out what form of madness they’re going to run into next. Expect the unexpected. Believe the unbelievable and enjoy this wild ride. It will be a few hours very well, and very enjoyably spent.

I didn't mention this in my reviews on either Amazon or Goodreads because what I'm about to say next didn't interfere with my reading enjoyment at all, and shouldn't be taken as criticism. But I have to say that I've got the distinct feeling Matthew Storm may be an avid reader with books like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Passage on the list of books he has read. Mind you, if I'm right about that, I have to say there are worse places to find inspiration.

It is very good to know the sequel, Interesting Places, is already available. I can’t see it taking me long before I read that one.

COUNTERPUNCH

COUNTERPUNCH by Aleksandr Voinov

 

Pages: 200

Date: 28/09/2014

Grade: 4.5

Details: no. 2 Belonging

           Received from Riptide Publishing

           Through NetGalley

Kindle

The blurb:

“Brooklyn Marshall used to be a policeman in London, with a wife and a promising future ahead of him. Then he accidentally killed a rioter whose father was a Member of Parliament and had him convicted of murder. To ease the burden on the overcrowded prison system, Brooklyn was sold into slavery rather than incarcerated. Now, he's the "Mean Machine", a boxer on the slave prizefighting circuit, pummelling other slaves for the entertainment of freemen and being rented out for the sexual service of his wealthier fans.

When Nathaniel Bishop purchases Brooklyn's services for a night, it seems like any other assignation. But the pair form an unexpected bond that grows into something more. Brooklyn hesitates to call it "love"—such things do not exist between freemen and slaves—but when Nathaniel reveals that he wants to help get Brooklyn's conviction overturned, he dares to hope. Then, an accident in the ring sends Brooklyn on the run, jeopardizing everything he has worked so hard to achieve and sending him into the most important fight of all—the fight for freedom.”

My thoughts:

Anybody keeping an eye on my reviews may have noticed that I’m a fan of Aleksandr Voinov. He’s on that list of authors whose books I buy without second thought, even without reading the blurb in too much detail, secure in the knowledge that I’m going to love what I’ll find between the covers.

Counterpunch was no exception to that rule. And, up to a point, that’s surprising. I’m not a fan of boxing, to put it mildly. I actively avoid having to watch it and would, under most circumstances, stay away from it in my reading as well. But, just as Aleksandr could make me read about World War II when I’d sworn I’d leave that subject alone, he could make me read about boxing and enjoy the story.

Counterpoint contains a very nice mix between alternate universe circumstances and celebrities and situations we recognise from our own reality. Being able to recognise so much of the world Brooklyn and Nathaniel live in, made this story real and therefore more heart wrenching than it would have been in a outright fantastical setting. It didn’t take a huge imaginary leap to believe the slavery premise of the story. In fact, slavery is only taking community service combined with a security bracelet one step further, isn’t it? I mean we’ve all seen the protests where police forces are attacked by those marching. Accidents happen. A policeman killing one of the protesters has happened and is bound to happen again. In our world the guilty cop might not end up in slavery, boxing to stay alive, but he might well be ostracised and end up living a life he’d never imagined in his worst nightmares.

Because it was all too easy to read this story as if it were taking place in the world I live in, because it stayed close enough to reality to make me forget it was fiction on one or two occasions, Brooklyn’s story took a hold of my heart. I completely got the constant battle between anger and frustration. I understood how dangerous it was for him to hope or to trust his emotions when the merest slip could bring him face to face with torturous punishment.

The story is told from Brooklyn’s perspective which means that the reader is as much in the dark about Nathaniel’s motives and feelings as Brooklyn is. As readers we might be a bit more inclined to be optimistic about the eventual outcome than Brooklyn is, but Nathaniel’s actions were mysterious enough to keep me on my toes and racing through the words towards what I hoped would be a happy ending.

Aleksandr Voinov’s writing voice is one that appeals to me. I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is that works so well for me but every single book I’ve read by this author has drawn me in and captured me, regardless of the setting or subject matter. The books almost read themselves. All I have to do is show up and the stories take over, the characters come alive and I can hear their dialogue in my head. Aleksandr is one of a few authors I’ll be forever grateful I’ve found as well as one I’ll continue reading as long as there are new (to me) stories to be found.