Silicon Dawn

By: W.H. Massa

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

The line between man and machine has been crossed....

And there is no turning back.

A serial killer stalks the city of the future....

Hunting the scientists who build the robots....

And it's up to a cop and an AI to unravel a terrible conspiracy.

The world is still reeling from the devastation of the Omega Virus and struggling to rebuild. A growing android workforce has given rise to the Human Defense League and anti-AI sentiment is at an all-time high.

Adam, the first of the new X-3000 models, arrives into this hostile world. Field-tested on the Luna colonies, now assigned to Earth, Adam is paired with homicide detective Jane Malveaux, who has little patience for synthetics.

Before long both Malveaux and Adam must cast aside their differences and join forces to solve a case that will test both man and machine.

©2015 William Massa (P)2015 William Massa

Silicon Dawn

What did you like best about this story?

Silicon Dawn is a great science fiction thriller. A detective (Jane Malveaux) is paired with a robot to investigate some disturbing murders. She must put aside her prejudices and work with the robot. She begins to question her understanding of robots as they work together to solve the case. Great thriller.

A cinematic masterpiece. This should be a movie

Adam is an android tasked with helping out an investigation into what looks to be a serial killer. The catch is, the serial killer looks to be killing former employees of the company who makes the androids that are being used (including Adam). He is partnered up with a detective who doesn't seem to like "his kind" or in her words "its kind". Which makes for an interesting dichotomy.

Joe Hempel does the narration for this and he just keeps getting better and better. I LOVED his work on Surviving AI, and I didn't think it could get much better than that. But low-and-behold lies Silicon Dawn. What an incredible narration job done by Joe. His pacing is perfect. You can listen to it at almost any speed an understand him. The quality is amazing -- studio-quality with no issues at all.

The story was fascinating to me. It's a perfect mix of detective/murder mystery and a futuristic AI-laced science fiction tale. I have not read Silicon Man, and now that I've read Silicon Dawn, I'm kind of glad I didn't. Now I get to jump into Man with some expectations of what is to happen and a little more back-story to the events that go down. Now, because I didn't read Silicon Man, I cannot comment on how this story ties into the main story, but I assume it does so very well.

Adam is such a unique main character. His partner, Jane Malveuax doesn't like him at first, but seems to change as she works with him more and more. I think the most interesting part was just watching their relationship grown (and shrivel) throughout this book.

Massa is a wordsmith, I didn't feel like there was a single word out of place in this whole novel. Combine that with Hempel's ability to make you feel at ease even with the most intense situations, this book was a superstar for me.

It kind of reminded me a bit of I, Robot (the movie, I never read the book by Clarke), but more in the future and after solving the issues of the uncanny valley.

Overall, this Silicon Dawn is a must read for any Sci Fi junkie. And if you're a murder mystery fan, this book may surprise you.

I tell you how I know this was an incredibly well thought out book; in the last 30 minutes or so the book could have ended numerous times and I would have been okay with it. Honestly, I was waiting for Hempel to say "This has been Silicon Dawn" about 5 or 6 times before the book actually ended.

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Excellent story

I have to thank Joe Hempel (narrator) for this. He has really gotten me interested in AI. This is the 3rd book on AI I've listened to that was narrated by him. He has done a great job with all of them and I'm looking forward to more!!!

Issac Asimov meets classic mystery

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yea. I would. It's a solid story and I have a few friends that like science fiction.

What about Joe Hempel’s performance did you like?

I think he did a great job. I look forward to listening to some of his other performances.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

yea, it's a fast moving story that catches your attention. It's not long either so it's very much a story you can go through in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

I definitely sense the echoes of Issac Asimov with Silicon Dawn. If I were to describe it I would say Issac Asimov meets classic mystery. The writing is solid and the narration is great. If you like science fiction you'll enjoy it. It has all the makings of solid story with no dull moments that I could remember.

I robot with a twist

Great story lots of twists and cliff hangers. Well written story. I look forward to the rest of the series. I received this book from the author narrator or publisher for free via audiobookblast in exchange for an unbiased review

Good story, but could stand to be longer.

Any additional comments?

I received this book for free from Audiobook Blast in exchange for an honest review of it, and while I don't know the context of this prequel from the latter books, I'd like to think it helped me to have fresh eyes for it. This book addressed the issues that would arise from robots being integrated into society, specifically from the perspective of the police. I thought there was a missed opportunity by avoiding considering the tension of some of the abuse of power that occurs in the office policemen hold, and putting that into contrast with robots' residing within set parameters. Perhaps this is addressed more in one of the later books. There were some deep undertones regarding human nature in this book, and I found it very thought-provoking for this reason. I valued the author's development of characters in the short time that he had. That said, I felt the book was too short. I thought it was a good story; however, I would weigh value of a good story and it's length to it's price.

A good story, tokld countless tines before.

Silicon Dawn is everything you'd want in a Audible purchase, engaging, entertaining, narrated with passion and professionalism;everything except unique. It is a great way to spend an afternoon. However, there are no twists which I didn't already see coming. This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com

You Won't Be Bored

Silicon Dawn is action packed from start to finish with its mix of murder mystery, detective story and sci-fi. This story shows us the shaky beginnings of a great detective duo and I sincerely hope there are more stories of Jane Malveaux and Adam in the future.

Adam is endearing as he embraces the human experience, including humor. Jane despite her horrible past experience with a mech learns to look past that and see Adam as an individual.

William Massa paints a wonderful picture warts and all of future earth and the beings that live upon it. I am told that Silicon Dawn was originally a screen play for Warner Bros. but sadly it was released from its contract when I Robot went into production. I hope they reconsider it in the future as this story and the one that follows, Silicon Man, are perfect for the big screen.

Joe Hempel's timing, characterization vocals and inflections are well down. He allows you to thoroughly enjoy the story and characters.

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Amazing find

I knew little of this series before listening to this prequel. I must say that it was a great story. From the first minutes of the book you are drawn into a chase that doesn't stop. The story is expertly written and highly entertaining. The narrator does an amazing job of building every scene and conveying the characters tone and emotion. I'm in for the series now. Highly recommend it if you're looking for a SciFi series that keeps you guessing and delivers in the end.

A Great Science Fiction and Action Experience

Human and machine, a line being crossed that stresses a society as the role of artificial life is changing from semi-intelligent servant to something more. This book is an exploration of the promise of machines being endowed with human like intelligence, the stresses it can put upon society and an unexpected nightmare that results. I found this to be a great science fiction book with a nice dose of mystery. The audiobook version, narrated by Joe Hempel, is a well voiced experience with great differentiation between characters and genders.

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost for an honest and unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast.

Great story and narration.

What did you like most about Silicon Dawn?

The whole story didn't linger, it started off fast paced and didn't let up. I am not a 'drawn' out person and it held my attention from start to finish and it held my attention throughout. It wasn't something I wanted to put down, although during my day, I have to. I get to listen in 30 min sections.

What did you like best about this story?

What I enjoyed the most, was the fact that even though there are many AI stories, and some are very similar in nature. This didn't follow the 'plan' I first envisioned. I'm an avid reader, of both scripts and stories, and listening to this was great.

Which scene did you most enjoy?

There were quite a few to be fair. And Adam's realisation's came with great consequences, the fact that he could and would have jumped into the crusher to save his partner, and the fact that Tera basically had been lied to and abused all her life. There were huge decisions going on as Adam processed all these.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I think everyone will be glad when Adam isn't dead. We all think Tera's killed him off. It was both written well and narrated well. Just enough emotion, sadness and then joy when we switch chapters and into Adam's POV inside the police computer.

Any additional comments?

Considering I'm not a 'cop' kinda girl and thriller stories really aren't my thing either, this was well executed. I would defo listen to more from both the writer and narrator.

I did buy this the other day and hadn't expected to get through it so quick. I kinda wished it had been longer, because I'd only just started to get into it, and then it was over.

Although the story itself didn't warrant being any longer, perhaps I just hoped there was more for the pair, then I went to look and I guess there is, as this is book 1. So now I'm happy.

Thanks for the ride, I'll be back! lol