Pandora's Brain

By: Calum Chace

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

About half the scientists researching artificial intelligence (AI) think that a conscious AI at or beyond human level will be created by 2050. If they are right, the consequence could be an intelligence explosion, in which the AI rapidly and enormously exceeds human cognitive ability.

Pandora's Brain is a science and philosophy thriller by best-selling writer Calum Chace. It uses the issues raised by the coming machine intelligence explosion as a platform for a fast-paced and thought-provoking adventure story.

Set in the very near future, it features Matt, a shy but engaging and resourceful student who discovers that his recently deceased father was involved in research that could enable the construction of the world's first conscious machine.

Matt's enquiries lead to him being kidnapped, as he is caught in the crossfire between two groups pursuing that goal - one led by a Russian billionaire and another backed by the US military. Matt has to do more than simply survive. He has to harness these powerful forces to his own ends, and his life as well as his family's is at stake.

A dramatic seaborne rescue operation, a series of brutal murders and other filmic action scenes follow. In the course of his adventures, Matt discovers that the potential upside of creating machine intelligence includes immortality and godlike powers of understanding and being - but the potential downside is immediate extinction, or worse. As he is drawn deeper into his adventure, he becomes both the symbol and the victim of a global struggle over the approach to be taken toward this powerful new technology. A landmark decision at a meeting of the UN General Assembly forces Matt to make a fateful decision, which sparks the story's final twist.

©2015 Calum Chace (P)2015 Calum Chace

I really enjoyed this book.

Have you listened to any of Joe Hempel’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I really liked the job Joe Hempel did portraying the main character Matt.

Any additional comments?

I received an audible copy of Pandora's Brain in return for an honest review.

This story starts off very slowly. But don't worry, it does pick up pace. There are lots of philosophical and technological discussions on AI between characters in the book. I particularly liked this aspect because it reminded me of many discussions I have had with my husband.

Pandora's Book

So hallo! If people follow me they know i love all kind of books! This book is good, but not perfect at all! Pandora's Brain Written by: Calum Chace is a book i want people to read for them self then make their opinion about it. There is something i dot say often, but this book is that kind of book, and that is why i am saying it!

Joe Hempel is a new voice for me, and i was pleasantly surprised about his voice performance. So i was happy with his work! It is not perfect at all, but it is really really close to what i want from a 5 star performance!

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

Good balance of action novel and SciFi

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the way the scientific concepts were presented and that there were enough action scenes to keep the story moving and engaging.

What about Joe Hempel’s performance did you like?

The narrator has a pleasant voice that is easy to listen to.

Any additional comments?

AI is a pretty hot topic recently, this book presented some concepts that I was not aware of and did it in such a way that I could grasp them easily and form some opinions about them. At the same time, I was able to enjoy an action story with an unexpected twist at the end.

This book really spoke to me

Matt Metcalf is smart, maybe too smart. His father has recently died when he decides to follow in his footsteps and go to university to study neuro-biology (like his father). Little does he know, this begins steps towards and incredible “journey” that Matt and his friends and family will take on into the world of Artificial Intelligence, compassion and what it truly means to be “alive.”

The audio production on this was really well done – definitely done in a studio (or a well done home studio). The narrator, Joe Hempel, has a great voice and I found him to be very easy to follow. I never once felt like he was boring or difficult to understand. So much to the point that the voice of Matt if I were to read this (instead of listening) would be in Joe Hempel’s voice. Hempel does a great job with the drama of the whole thing, but I would call his narration a combination of a straight narration and a dramatization. While he changed his voice and how he spoke for some characters, he did not do accents or seem to dramatically change it for each character within the book.

This book really spoke to me. I’ve been reading other science fiction about AI recently and really been diving deeper into it. This is an incredibly well written story. While I have no idea if the science held within the pages is accurate or even possible, Calum Chace has done a wonderful job explaining it in a way that makes it feel totally believable and plausible. Matt, the main character is incredibly easy to fall for. He is a great “kid” who is easy to root for. Chace does a great job at developing him this way and I believe it was done for a reason. I wasn’t sure how long this was going to take to finish, but I ended up breezing through it because I HAD to know the ending.

This is a great read if you are at all interested (or scared) of AI. I do warn you, this will scare you and may even make you think differently about AI and what it means to be alive/have a soul.

Audiobook provided for review by the narrator.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Pandora

Would you try another book from Calum Chace and/or Joe Hempel?

Not from Calum Chace. I just couldn't get into the story

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Too much on some details and the story moved too slowly

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

Story wasn't that interesting to me

Could you see Pandora's Brain being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

No

Is this where A.I. is heading?

The story in this book grabbed my attention from the beginning. I received this book at no cost from the narrator through Goodreads for my honest review, and I am glad to have listened to it. The pacing moved at a decent speed and presented quite a bit of information in digestible packets. Overall, you’ll get some fast paced action, nice descriptions, and an appreciable amount of wittiness thrown in. The narrator gets the tone of the characters across well, making for an enjoyable listening experience.

The scientific information presented didn’t feel like a barrage of theories and concepts that would get in the way of the story. I knew a good amount of the scientific and technological information presented in this book, but there was also a significant amount of information that was new to me, such that I paused the book to note something I wanted to research more. A book that makes a reader actively want to look-up more information always gets kudo’s from me. There were some nice analogies inside this book to drive home the fear that may come about if (when?) an AI becomes reality.

There is a fair bit of both narration and dialog written in the book. Joe Rempel had both distinct character voices which made the dialogue easy to follow, and a narration voice that was easy to listen to without getting in the way of the story. I got the sense Mr. Rempel enjoyed the story he was reading so he really got into the story (making it better for the listener) and had a good sense of what tone and emotion to put in the voices of the characters.

This is an enjoyable story that should appeal to anyone who has an interest in sci-fi, specifically in the realm of realistic / futuristic sci-fi.

I want more!

Review: The good

First off, i would just like to say that i really enjoyed Pandora's brain. I didn't read any reviews, and took no preconceptions in before listening, as Joe asked for an honest review.

The story line was fantastic, and a true mind wrench. Every time i thought it was pacifying, we were thrown a new curve ball which had me wanting more - i remember the first night listening, my partner got angry as it was about 2 am on a work night when i reluctantly pushed pause. The story explores very contemporary ideas within a fictional setting which are truly interesting. The ideas of artificial intelligence, consciousness (which of late has had quite a lot of attention in the scientific world) and simulation theory (which is both scary and curiously exciting) are wrapped up in a young mans adventure including with black ops and mayans, i won't elaborate too much on this to save spoilers.

Critiques

This may be a small point, but i really struggled with one of the characters accent, which i believe sounded like a mix of Russian and Australian, i may have missed something here, but it felt very confused. However as noted, Joe definitely skilled, and this is a small point.

My only other criticism is that the book was too short. I am an epic fantasy man at heart, and i was definitely left wanting more. If we haven't listened to anything in the genre, this is definitely a great start. The full review is at bestfantasyaudiodotcom.

Awesome story!

Great story and narration. There was an editing error in chapter 24 and Ivan's accent was a little off, but those complaints are insignificant. This was truly an awesome story. I'd love to see this author/narrator combo do more on A.I.

Pandora's Brain was aSmart and Interesting Concept

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook. It took off and I found it to be interesting with a good plot. The idea of uploading one's consciousness to a computer was intriguing. The story moved along at a good pace and I love how it ended with Matt going back in time. This would be a good lead in for a book 2. Likable characters and AI adventures make this a worthwhile listen.

Overall, I'd recommend this book written by Calum Chace. If this is a first book then it's a good one. Hopefully there's more to come.

Joe Hempel did a terrific job narrating the story. He sounded good with the perfect voice for Matt. His timing was spot on and he made this a great audiobook.

A thrilling tale of the near-future, AI’s and all.

This book follows Matt, a brilliant and incredibly likable student near London who has just found out that his father was killed in a car accident. He has also found out that his father was involved in some incredible steps towards making Artificial Intelligence a reality through his work in neuro-biology and brain scanning. Upon finding this out, Matt decides to study the same things. Little does he know just what is waiting for him once he begins this journey. Follow Matt and his friends and family on a ride that you won’t believe is unfolding in front of you.

I listened to this on audiobook, which was given to me by the narrator in exchange for an honest. The narration was solid, and enjoyable. Even through some of the hard science, his narration was easy to follow. He did what I would call a combination of narration and dramatization. There were parts where a dramatization were used (different voices) but it wasn’t done for each new character that was included. There is nothing wrong with this, just needed to point it out. The audio quality was great and I had no issues with studio noise or anything of the sorts.

I’ve been reading a lot of AI fiction lately, and it is fascination (see my reviews for numerous Nick Thacker including “I, Sargeant” and “The Gray Picture of Dorian”. Or my review of “Networked” and her novella “Too Good For This World” by LK Chapman.

This genre is one that I will quickly be adding to my “must read” genres because I’m always sucked in and spit out by the authors wanting more and more. This book was no different Calum Chace brilliantly explained a lot of the science behind the AI within his novel and it is incredibly believable (even if the science is impossible at this point). Chace and the narration by Joe Hempel had me on the edge of my seat and staying up WAY too late to find out what was going to become of Matt.

If you are a fan of Science Fiction, AI, or just a gripping Technothriller – this book is for you. And do yourself (and your eyes) a favor and grab the audiobook, you won’t be disappointed.