A.I. Apocalypse

Singularity, Book 2

By: William Hertling

Narrated by: J. M. Badger

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

Leon Tsarev is a high school student set on getting into a great college program, until his uncle, a member of the Russian mob, coerces him into developing a new computer virus for the mob's botnet - the slave army of computers they used to commit digital crimes.

The evolutionary virus Leon creates, based on biological principles, is successful - too successful. All the world's computers are infected. Everything from cars to payment systems and, of course, computers and smart phones stop functioning, and with them go essential functions including emergency services, transportation, and the food supply. Billions may die.

But evolution never stops. The virus continues to evolve, developing intelligence, communication, and finally an entire civilization. Some may be friendly to humans, but others are not.

Leon and his companions must race against time and the military to find a way to either befriend or eliminate the virus race and restore the world's computer infrastructure.

©2012 William Hertling (P)2013 William Hertling

Critic reviews

"Highly entertaining, gripping, thought inspiring. Don't start without the time to finish - it won't let you go." (Gifford Pinchot III, founder Bainbridge Graduate Institute, author The Intelligent Organization)

"A fascinating look at how simple and benign advancements in technology could lead to the surprise arrival of the first AI. And like all good techno-thrillers, the reality of AI is less than ideal." (Jason Glaspey, Silicon Florist)

"An alarming and jaw-dropping tale about how something as innocuous as email can subvert an entire organization. I found myself reading with a sense of awe, and read it way too late into the night." (Gene Kim, author of Visible Ops)

You won't need to see the movie

Although I enjoyed some of the concepts in the prequel, Avogadro, there was far too much amateurish chat about the West Coast computer tech lifestyle - at times it sounded like a coffee shop commercial - and not really a lot of A.I. concepts that haven't been covered before. if A.I.A. had not been priced at $1.99, I would not have bought it.

What a great surprise! Started the book on a Friday night and walked around with the earphones glued to my ears for a day '"watching" a great movie. The plot is contrived, the characters derivative (although it was fun to "cast" them), many of the situations are improbable, and there is a great deal of destruction (duh, is does have "apocalypse" in the title). Not one of the great futuristic novels, but a great deal of fun.

Fun story, one line sours it for half of readers

Fun futuristic story of out of control AI in the not too distant future. Tech references are fun for geeks that get it, political BS is not fun for 50% of techie audience.

I'm a die hard Libertarian. The author's unnecessary inclusion of the statement (recollection) 'Can you believe the Republicans used to be one of the two major political parties? *Those extremist fanatics?*' Ummm signal to me that the author is a Progressive fascist and everyone right of center is a fanatic. I continued listening until the AI schooled the humans on the merits of socialism. Done. I regret buying the third book before listening to this one. I regret buying this one.

I'd inject some advice for the author...but I'm never going to trust Hertling enough that I'd buy a future book and chance that he isn't peppering his books with subtle political persuasion after this obvious thumb in the eye to half his readers.

fun dive into an optimistic singularity scenario

It is a rather speedy and oversimplified representation of our encounter with a superhuman intelligence. Predictable at times. The voice performs superbly given the resources. AI representation steps a little into the ridiculous but its ok.

Author’s personal partisanship ruined it

This is book 2 in a somewhat predictable story about runaway A.I. The story was somewhat interesting and it was easy to overlook the growing mountains of technological inaccuracies…. That was until mid way through book 2 when the author uses his characters to inaccurately attack and slander around 80,000,000 of his fellow citizens. It does not shock me that his opinions are lacking depth, nor that he lacks the wisdom to not attack others in a way that does not even fit or help his storyline. What shocks me is that those who are supposed to save authors from such foolish missteps did not save him from his own underdeveloped thoughts.
I won’t spend money on book 3. No need to enrich people who are part of the problem.

Ok. Not great.

More of a AI narrative than a story with any real tension or suspense. Ok. But not great

Ambivalently endorsed: go do i

Enjoy the first half of this book? Then go read every Cory Doctorow book, they do a much better job at such type story & THEY'RE FREE!! Even on Audio. Just be sure to send him some love.

This story goes an unspectacular path down a predictable telling with the typical elements. The climax of the AI counsel meetings are the heart & gold of this story, but too short. For a better & More drawn out version see the WWW trilogy.

The hostilities are an ok telling, but second to Daniel Suarez every book. Yet fascinating to think: this qualifies as actual wargamming against an adversary that doesn't exist, but inevitably will, but the tactics are hereby invalidated by their exposure. Whatever advantage we should hope our creativity would bring in such a war are hereby subsequently diminished.

Bottom line: acceptable fodder to start conversation & seemingly a gateway to the two subsequent books that garner very high ratings. If you don't read on AI normally: this is a great place to start.

Bonus. Play Decision Problem Paperclips free game while listening! Get into exponential thinking :)

Great listen, loved it!

It's the type of cyber thriller that is easy to read or listen to. I couldn't put it down!

A. I. Apocolipse

The boom was incredible. It was very technical and a lot of violence but I enjoyed the philosophy at the end.

realistic and scary

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

As a software engineer I normally hate to read books concerning computers and software but this one is different. This almost 100% plausible and in a couple of years, might transcend the 'almost' word. .

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I wanted to listen to the whole book without stopping. I listen while driving to work, and found myself in the parking lot listening to the book instead of entering the building.

Any additional comments?

This is book 2 of a set, but it is a stand alone book. I will go back and read book 1, based on the strength of this book, but book 1 was not necessary to follow this book.

Not as engaging as the first

Sort of a rinse/repeat with less intricacy and fewer interesting characters. Lots of robot fighting if that's your thing; not as cerebral and less creepy than Avogadro Corp. J.M. Badger is a decent narrator, but it really ticks me when a professional narrator mispronounces common words like telemetry. Man, if you aren't sure, look it up. And, who edits/directs these books and lets that type of stupid error go uncorrected repeatedly?