Quantum Beginnings

Entangled Fates, Book 1

By: Joe Kuster

Narrated by: Melissa Schwairy

Length: 13 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Artificial intelligence (AI) was nearly mankind’s last invention. AI took off like a rocket, then when it racked up an impressive death toll, it crashed before it could blossom and took most high-tech industries with it. Resistance and fears became deep-set.

Two decades after the infamous Rev. 4.6 incidents, humanity hasn’t quit dreaming of the wealth and power that could be at their fingertips. A new generation of mega corporations rose from the ashes. When one melds a quantum computer to a barely functional mental patient as a PR move, there are those who seek to profit, those who want to destroy it, and Alex.

Alex Sage is a typical college student trying to keep up his grades and, maybe, find a meaningful connection with the fairer sex. Then, an automated semi crashes into his home, killing his family and turning his head into a pincushion in the process.

Alex awakens to find most of his memories gone and an illegal AI hidden in his brain implant. Now the pet project of a tech billionaire and heavily in debt, Alex struggles to stay valuable enough to be kept online. Still grappling with the repercussions of his injuries and threats from a dangerous anti-augmentation political movement, there are no easy answers, and threats loom around every corner. Alex must use whatever resources he can to escape from under the thumb of a ruthless corporation, while keeping those he comes to love safe.

Disclaimer: This book embraces cyberpunk ideology in parts. Expect sex, drugs, and anarchy against the establishment. It embraces an antihero protagonist and is not fade to black.

©2019 Joseph Dale Kuster (P)2020 Joseph Dale Kuster

The best SCI-FI I've read all year hands down.

A near future look at the birth of a self aware AI in a alt version of earth where AI has been banned. I honestly never thought that A book could so quickly get me to care about the plight of a AI, The interaction between the AI and the MC is quite unique and provides a lot of plot twists and turns, The book allows the reader to explore the future ramifications of close interpersonal relations between humans and AI while developing the primary plot line. It's well worth a listen.

good start, and then...

decent start. good premise. and then we got pervy Heinlein wannabe. the last quarter of the book is soft core erotica. I don't mind the subject, but it honestly detracted from the story.

Really Cool

Great mix of story and Harem. Easy to get deep into emersion with how close to real the book seems.

Really Enjoyed This One

This book was great read from the start & a fun ride. I was pleasently surprised by how much I enjoyed it. The author does some great worldbuilding. Set in the near future when AI, cybernetic implants, & quantum computing is becoming reality. The tech is written in an believable way, while still being fun with it. It's pretty clear he's knowledgable in the subjects, which honestly made it refreshing to read. The plot is pretty clever. The characters were well done and believable. Each has their imperfections, layers, & motivations which make them interesting. Looking forward to the next book.

It’s a pretty good book

If you like books about the transition towards a cyberpunk setting and like harem lit you will most likely like this book.

great story

I love this book hopefully the next one will be just as good if not better keep up the good writing

Worth the credit.

This is a great book, narrated very well. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

amazing

Amazing start to what should be an amazing series can we get the world to this point I want an AI in my head already

Better than I expected!

I’m not really a sci-fi guy when it comes to harem lit but this was engaging and so interesting. It’s really intriguing to watch how society tries to push a hero toward villainy and why. Very identifiable MC who isn’t too sappy but exudes an intelligent charisma giving more plausibility to the reason for how the harem happens. My only very tiny complaint is with the narrator in that some of her voices sounded similar and became a little confusing. But I’m talking 4.9 out of 5 honestly, so I rounded up.

Not a book I would recommend

Forewarning - I stopped listening shortly after the second half of the book. I was that disappointed with this novel. First thing, I don't think this book qualifies as cyberpunk. In most cyberpunk you either have megacorps or governments that are extremely controlling, that really doesn't come across in this book. It's only real nod to this is the idea that the MC is indebted to the corporation for the system they installed in him and that his legal guardian is in the back pocket of the corp. However, the owner of the corp literally folds on the spot when the MC confronts him and offers him a deal, which basically involves the corp paying the MC all kinds of money and the chance to buy out the cost of his implants. The owner of the corp doesn't even make a counter offer or threaten, just thinks about it and agrees. This is an experimental procedure that cost the corp billions and they are just letting him run around completely unprotected and unmonitored. Second, almost all opposition in this book just folds without much struggle. Corporation, folds, Criminal gang, folds. There is little drama. Everything the MC tries basically works without a hitch. Even to the point where the MC took a blow to the head which disconnected the neural interface, which required surgery to restore. Sure, they have an AI hacking the hospital systems. But no security guards, open OR's with no nursing staff around to question anything (like where is the surgeon performing the surgery or anesthesiologist), and after brain surgery the MC is back up and fully functional in a few days. Third, it's a harem novel. Just after the start of the second half of the book it was becoming rapidly obvious that is was heading into harem territory. AI and the nurse (how trite) falling in love with the MC (really, the AI needs to be an emotional human?) but the nurse's former lover starting to make sexual suggestions and the all female unit of mercenaries (because of course they are) starting to act the same way? Nope, I am out. I hate, hate, hate harem stories. Don't get me wrong, polyamory exists, I wouldn't call it common, but it happening in a story? Sure, ok. But when five or six different women (or men for that matter in the case of bi character or reverse harem story) are all interested in having a sexual relationship with a person and they are all cool with that person being with multiple other partners and each other just goes beyond the realm of believable. Personally, I had a problem with how some of the tech works. It seemed like the author had a quantum entanglement that mistakenly linked up the neuralware with a secret AI on a government quantum computer. But it seems as if there was an intermediate device and that the quantum entangling was between the device, the neuralware and the AI's computer, which would make three when only two things should be linkable in this manner. And as I understand it, quantum entangling should only allow a small amount of data, basically a bit since you read the quark by its up or down state. And then there is the AI itself, which is basically treated as a human consciousness and wants to have sex, and experiences sexual pleasure. Not sure why it would have been programmed for or even how a computer consciousness would experience the endocrine effects of sexual release on the body, but at this point, whatever. I do give the author a thumbs up for mentioning the drug Nexus, which seems to be a reference the the excellent cyberpunk novel series by Ramez Naam. Finally, the narrator. There are times when the narrator was very fluid and expressive and other times I thought I was listening to a computer with a very good voice synthesizer reading because of the awkward and halting dialog. There wasn't anything in the dialog that would have indicated need for such performance. But maybe she just found the dialog phrasing awkward and was having a hard time. Either way, I would have given her reading about 3 or 4 stars for parts of the reading but 1 star for the parts that were just so stilted.