An Amazing Thing Happened on the Way to the Future

Humanity’s Final Legacy

By: Michael Segedy

Narrated by: Ellen A. Connor

Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

In this darkly humorous and philosophically engaging sci-fi adventure, a wayward young woman and her straightlaced companion awake from 200 years of “suspended life” to a future that challenges many ideas about what it means to be and to remain human. The technological changes that have transpired during their long sleep rattle them, but even more mind-boggling are the startling views they must grapple with regarding sex, family, and regeneration.

Although they do not know it, the two young visitors from the past have a significant role to play in humankind’s unfolding drama. The citizens of this post-apocalyptic world hope to discover from their time travelers some clue that might delay humankind’s downward slide into oblivion.

And if this solitary survival colony fails to come up with a rescue plan, there is still Ike, an extraordinarily creative AI who has an existential trick up its sleeve to save the human footprint. But Ike’s remedy might not be the sort of pill that most homo sapiens would readily swallow. To borrow an old expression, “desperate times require desperate measures”. And as it stands, the hands of the Doomsday Clock rest a mere nanosecond from midnight.

©2022 Michael Segedy (P)2022 Michael Segedy

Whoa, this is really far out there!

I loved the characters. Emma, the witty, loose-tongued, hypercritical time traveler and her sidekick, Jacob, everything she is not. And Ike, the AI, well, you have to meet him. He’s where it’s all headed. If you’re looking for a fast, clever read that will take you on a philosophical journey, I highly recommend this book.

Intriguing, Thought-Provoking

Emma and Jacob continue exploring the cause and effect of humanity’s downward spiral into nonexistence. As they learn more about the past and how the world fell into this post-apocalyptic state, in their own ways, they begin to come to terms with the changing philosophy, relationships, the stunning advancement of technology, aliens, and more.

Michael Segedy, the author, is a masterful word craftsman. His world-building and story weaving is told in rich and vibrant details that are both captivating and thought-provoking. His addition of Carl Sagan and Kurzweil provides an intriguing addition to the storyline. Segedy takes his time building his characters and surprising plot twists. Michael Segedy is a skilled thought-provoking author whose works will haunt you well after you finish his books.

The narrator, Ellen Connor provides a smooth and steady performance with unique voices for each character. She keeps the story moving forward and is consistent throughout the series. I enjoy hearing her speaking style as she captures and projects each character’s personality perfectly.

This is not your typical sci-fi book that focuses only on time travel, aliens, or technology. Rather this is a complex story told in a simplistic yet entertaining style that is understandable by all who listen. I highly recommend this book and series to those who enjoy sci-fi as well as other genres. There is so much more to this book if you listen carefully.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook.

Interesting Content, Excellent Narration, Plot meh

This audiobook was pleasant to listen to as there are many characters and the narrator brings each one  to life. It's clear from the character development and delivery who the characters are and their specific personalities. The narrator does an incredible job explaining everything and giving the characters the depth they deserve.

As for the story, it is interesting with some thought provoking, philosophical discussions. The concept of suspended humans coming back in the future, the great catastrophe and the future of humanity are all great discussion concepts. The discussions between the characters seemed a little too esoteric for my taste; however, I'm not familiar with this author's work and perhaps this works for his usual audience. I kept waiting for a little more action - I would have liked to know how the colony outside the dome came to be instead of just skipping ahead to Emma and Jacob's old age. I understand that this is an excerpt of a larger book, so perhaps adding that would be helpful.

The conversations between people seemed strange to me because they seemed to be rooted in current colloquialisms, such as using the word 'like'. I would think that when a society has been removed from its origin, their language would be different from our current language usage. AEIC's shift from formal computer type language to colloquial human language seemed strange at times, but could be passed off as AI learning.

In the last chapter, the revelation that none of this has been real is interesting and annoying at the same time. The whole story seems to be a platform to discuss entropy, big bang, the end of humanity if we exist at all. After waiting for a plot and finding none of this was real makes me wonder what I did with the last several hours...this was frustrating... The biggest red flag for me was that towards the end of this excerpt there is a mention of the 'Reg Veda' from the 'Hindi' ancient texts. A simple google search would have informed the author that it should be Rig Veda which comes from the ancient Hindu texts and are written in Sanskrit... Hind'i' is a language; Hind'u'ism is the religion from which many ancient texts emerged in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the root to Southeast Asian languages much like Latin is the root to the romance languages. After all this esoteric discussion on science, consciousness, humanity, machines, etc. this seemed like a big miss and disappointing.

Overall, an interesting listen for content, entertaining narration, but I'm not sure if I'm converted to this author's content and/or style. I'd listen to Ellen Connor again.

Brain teaser

You will like this book if you're into philosophical discussions and theories regarding humanity and artificial intelligence-"AI" in the world of the future. I did go back and listen a second time to some chapters to get a better grasp on certain aspects. The character of Ike was well done and had a humanity to it that it couldn't admit to itself. The narration was very good with the neutral "digitalization" of Ike maintained without being mechanical or annoying while being calm and somewhat soothing. That was helpful as my brain had to stretch beyond its usual boundaries.