And Shall Machines Surrender

Machine Mandate, Book 1

By: Benjanun Sriduangkaew

Narrated by: Mavi Graves

Length: 4 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's summary

On the dyson sphere Shenzhen, artificial intelligences rule and humans live in luxury, vying to be chosen as host bodies - called haruspices - for the next generation of AI, and thus be worshiped as gods. Doctor Orfea Leung has come here to escape her past of mercenary violence. Krissana Khongtip has come here to reinvent herself from haunted spy to holy cyborg. But the utopian peace of Shenzhen is shattered when the haruspices begin committing suicide, and the pair are called upon to solve the mystery - and survive the silent war between machines....

©2019 Benjanun Sriduangkaew (P)2021 Benjanun Sriduangkaew

Great Science Fiction

What would it be like to be someone else? This book shines because it seamlessly transitions between different narrators and reflects on what they know, who they are, and also what it means for these characters to actually become someone else in a way that only science fiction can.

The narration was great too. There are lots of characters with very distinctive voices and you can really tell when someone new is talking by the way it's been read here.

A Sci Fi delight with Masterful Narration

An incredibly original book narrated by a fabulous talent, "And Shall Machines Surrender", is a gem. Benjanun Sriduangkaew paints an intricate and compelling story in a dreamy landscape, while Mavi Graves narrates the story in beautiful tones; masterfully moving from vastly different characters with ease and ingenuity. I can't wait to listen to the next one. Thank you for bringing this future, present.

Sapphic Ghost in the Shell

"Benjanun Sriduangkaew's beautiful, poetic, and sensuous prose weaves a tech noir murder mystery that will force our heroine—a doctor running from her past as an infamous mercenary—to work together again with her old flame, the cyborg femme fatale who betrayed her. Benjanun Sriduangkaew writes the cyberpunk I've always needed: unapologetically queer and human in a world transformed by machines yet still utterly familiar in its cruel dynamics of power."

Creative AI Work

On Shenzhen humans are not happy with living the life of luxury, rather they seek to become a haruspice aka a host body for an AI. Becoming a haruspice enables them to become powerful, God-like, and with a life span that expands well beyond their human capability. All is well and good until the haruspices begin to commit suicide thus threatening the world of AIs. Now it is up to Dr. Leung and Krissana Khongtip to solve the mystery and survive as they both have their own personal mission and role in the war.

The author, Benjanun Sriduangkaew provides a creative and fresh take on AI sci-fi that draws the listener in. A short listen with a plot that flows smoothly, and character development is well-done. Sriduangkaew is vivid and rich in details with his world-building. This is a complex story with interesting characters.

The narrator, Mavi Graves gives a smooth performance enunciating each word carefully and clearly. She gives each character life with the appropriate emotion and voice.

If you enjoy sci-fi, this is a good series to check out.

There were no issues with the quality or production of this audiobook, it was clear and well produced.

Disclaimer: This Audiobook was provided free of charge by the author, narrator, and/or publisher in exchange for a non-bias, honest review.

Excellent narration!

Mavi Graves is such an excellent narrator. I'd honestly listen to her read anything.

Space Opera at its best.

The relationships in this book are riveting and sapphic as hell. The performance was absolutely extraordinary and I'm sincerely looking forward to hearing more from them.

Great world building and a great performance

"And Machines Shall Surrender" presents a vividly imagined world with sharp (though somewhat on-the-nose) political commentary. The language is lushly evocative and the characters are well developed despite the short length of the book. It's a small thing, but I enjoyed the extensive use of gender inclusive pronouns - a new thing to me in books. The narrator's smooth, rich voice was perfectly suited to the story. Very precise pronunciation is important for this book and the narrator had that handled well (better than many big budget books I have listened to). Listening was generally a pleasure and made it easy to fall into the story!

Fun Listen!

This was a great audiobook. I really liked the voice of the reader. The book is a very interesting world and has great descriptions. I am interested to read more stories from this world setting.

I read the series and enjoyed this audiobook.

I hope they do the rest, she writes really beautifully and with a eloquent style that I want more of.