The Path

By: Peter Riva

Narrated by: Jonathan Yen

Publisher's summary

All life on Earth is about to be terminated by an entity as old as the galaxy itself. To make matters worse, Simon has broken everything already. In a future world that is run by computer systems and that is without want, how can a man find his role? Then, if the very computers he works on to try to make them more human suddenly try to kill him, revealing a secret so vast that it affects every living soul on the planet, can that man be a hero?

These are the questions that face the stumbling, comic, and certainly flawed Simon Bank. His job is to work with the System's artificial intelligence, making it fit more perfectly into human society so that it can keep the country running smoothly. But when the System threatens the peaceful world he knows, Simon suddenly must rush to save his own life, as well as the life of everyone on earth. Forced to reassess everything that he thought he knew, he is caught within circumstances way beyond his control. Simon's only hope is to rely on intellect and instincts he didn't know he had, and on new friends, not all of them human, to change himself and all humanity. And he doesn't have much time.

©2015 Peter Riva (P)2014 Audible Inc.

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3 out of 5 stars

By Dawn H on 10-16-15

Interesting but too Techinical

I received a free copy of the audiobook for an honest review.

The Path is futuristic science fiction in which the premise is intriguing but I got lost and confused quite a bit during the first half of the book.

The main character, Simon Bank, has the job of trying to cause problems in the computer system that runs everything from the weather to how much food you are allowed to eat. He is told that he's working on a dummy, parallel system and that the online system learns from the interaction with him and many others who have the same job. Simon finds out the hard way that he's being lied to. The system becomes sentient and the world as they know it is at risk.

There were times when the story was suspenseful and it did make me laugh out loud once or twice. It also had many twists but I felt like too much time was spent in the system, in the first half of the book, explaining how things worked.

Jonathan Yen was a good narrator. I was able to differentiate between the characters' voices. I don't think I would have been able to finish this book if I had been reading, rather than listening, to it. He was able to keep my attention for the most part.

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5 out of 5 stars

By CarNut on 12-23-14

real sci fi

the narrator did a brilliant job. there's no question that the story is loaded with intelligent facts and real life scenarios. yet the narrator was able to bring all of it alive even the most complicated material. great job

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5 out of 5 stars

By Brian on 10-16-15

A coder finds more than he bargained for

In the near future a coder finds more than he bargained for within the system

4.75 out of 5 stars.

In the future; you get to do whatever makes you happy. If you’re an incredible programmer, you will program. If you want to go to space, you’ll go to space to help out. Everyone is happy, everyone is helping out the greater good. Simon Bank is one of these people, he goes through the system trying to cause chaos – “teaching” the system and its coders where there are errors or could be issues. He thinks he is working on a secondary system and not effecting the actual system – but he learns that may be mistaken and he finds out another bombshell while in there trying to see what he has done.

The narration on this book was done by Jonathan Yen. Yen provides great narration throughout and helps the story progress through some of the more mundane and detailed parts. I found myself really enjoying listening to Yen’s narration of this book almost as much as I was enjoying the book itself. The audiobook was another one that I think will add something to the book instead of taking something away. If you get a chance, pick this audiobook up, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Riva writes at a fast pace but allows you to feel like you are right there in the action. Simon’s point of view was interesting and I was drawn in quickly to him. Once you get further into the story – it gets really confusing for a little while and feels like it is never going to end. Push through! I promise, the ending was unique and unexpected for me. I really thought I had pinned down how this book was going to end, and I was dead wrong.

You can tell that Riva has had experience in some of the fields that he writes about because there is a great amount of detail given to explain different things within the book. I love stuff like that, where you can tell the author has done his research.

This book has some big turning points, and to write a more in depth review would be a spoiler, and I don’t want to give away anything big.

Throughout the book, I knew that there was a second book planned, and I flip flopped numerous times while reading on whether I was going to want to continue in this world. But, by the end I definitely will be eagerly awaiting the next book in the TAG series.

I received this book from iRead Book Tours & the author for free in exchange for my honest unbiased review.

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