Silicon World: Man vs. Machine

3 Book Bundle

De: W.H. Massa

Narrado por: Joe Hempel

As the age of the singularity dawns and artificial intelligence begins to rival mankind, the stakes have never been higher. Will robots and androids work side by side with mankind to make the world a better place or will they become our most bitter enemy?

The Silicon World: Man vs. Machine contains three action-packed AI-cyberpunk novels. Included in the collection are the first two novels in the Silicon Series, Silicon Man and Silicon Dawn, plus the scifi thriller set-on-a-spaceship Crossing the Darkness.

©2015 William Massa (P)2016 William Massa

Well Done!

Enjoyed the book, interesting plot! Worth the credit.



"This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review."

An exploration into the synthesis of man & machine

William Massa's Silicon World science fiction series includes Silicon Man and its prequel Silicon Dawn, both titles deliver thrills and action. Set in the near future, the series explores the complex relationship between humans and androids.

If you love the classic Blade Runner (1982), or the anime Ghost in the Shell (1995) you'll be sure to enjoy Silicon Man. And if you enjoy similar sci-fi like Automata (2014) and Neill Blomkamp's Chappie (2015) you'll be sure to enjoy Silicon Dawn as well.

Crossing the Darkness is an original take on the Sci-fi/Horror genre in the tradition of Alien (1979) and Event Horizon (1997). Thrills abound as the tension mounts in the struggle to survive on a space ship against an unknown force.

Massa is also the writer of the Occult Assassin series. I had read and enjoyed that series, and was eager to read Crossing the Darkness. This bundle was a great way to get all three books, especially to hear them brought to life by an experienced narrator.

A great collection of books

Joe Hempel does a phenomenal job in the narration of them and bringing these books to life. If you enjoy good science fiction, horror, and dark fiction -- these books are definitely for you


I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

Great series

I'm not sure whether to call this a series or not. The stories aren't tied to each other. They are each a great stand alone story of artificial intelligence. William Massa does a great job creating different scenarios of how A.I. could effect our lives. As always, I really enjoyed Joe Hempel's narration!

Excellent Series of Stories

I was provided a free copy in exchange for an honest review, my review was in no way influenced by the free book.

This series of audio stories are well written, well produced, and thought provoking. I found these stories to be timely considering we are experiencing advances in robotics, computers, and news articles regarding the militarization of drones and robots.

The narration is well done and the narrator, Joe Hempel, brings to live the humanity and characteristics of each person in the story.

This is an excellent listen for anyone with an interest in science fiction or fantasy.

Silicon World

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

I would highly recommend this 3 book bundle

Which character – as performed by Joe Hempel – was your favorite?

Joe Hempel did a great job narrating this book

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

This books are about artificial intelligence.. Man against Machine. This is a science fiction but its looking like it's getting to be real as the AI is getting better everytime.

Entertaining

Solid Sci-Fi. Relatable characters. Joe did a great job of narrating. Highly recommended this book!

“I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

Worth My Struggle

I have to break this review down by the three books in this series because my opinion changes vastly throughout this audiobook.

Silicon Man - I struggled to get through this first book, I had to restart several times because it just couldn’t hold my interest, it was the longest 4 ½ hours and took me a week to get through it, I never connected to the main character Cole Marsalis or cared about his predicament. At this point, my rating was 2 stars and that was basically for the quality of the author’s writing skills and Joe Hempel's narration.

Silicon Dawn - This book starts off with a bang and never lets up, it takes place years before Silicon Man. Adam is a new model AI sent to earth to become the partner of Detective Jane Malveaux, Jane has no trust for anything AI, but they strike an uneasy truce to hunt down a serial killer. I enjoyed the twists and turns in this story and the explosive ending, I loved it! So… I gave this story 4 stars and was so glad I did not toss this audiobook into the DNF pile.

Crossing the Darkness - You know that saying, the best is yet to come? It’s true! Crossing the Darkness is an epic listen. It’s cyberpunk, space opera, and horror all rolled into one! Ex-con Faith Cadena decides the only way to escape her past is to move far away, um… make that light years away. When she mysteriously wakes from a cryogenic state, she steps right into a living nightmare. This story reminds me a little of Alien, a strong kick ass woman, just trying to survive. It’s action packed from start to finish and I absolutely loved it! I gave this story 5 stars and I was so over the moon, (bad pun intended) ecstatic that I did NOT toss this audiobook into the DNF pile.

The entire audiobook clocks in at just under 12 hours, and Joe Hempel did an amazing job narrating all three books, his voice really suits the science fiction genre and he is fantastic at conveying the emotion, fear and suspense required in this quality production audiobook.

My rating if you average it out comes to 4 stars, but I just can’t, I have to give it 5 stars and if you end up struggling with book one like I did, don't give up! Skip to chapter 20, you can thank me later.

This audiobook was given to me to me at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review, thanks, Audiobook Boom!

A nice collection of android-based novels

In the world of Man vs. Machine, humans struggle with the concept of androids. More and more, androids are performing better than humans at jobs, better in bed, better than humans in many ways. But humans have always been able to justify that androids are soulless creatures, and hence humans will also be better. As technology improves, the AI of the androids become more complex, allowing independent thought and philosophical reflection. Does the old adage "I think therefore I am?" hold true with a machine?

All three books in this collection have different story lines and are not in any way connected.

Silicon Man
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Silicon Man is about a cop named Cole who is the commander of a special unit of police run by the company that is the main manufacturer of androids. His job is to track down, and either capture or kill rogue androids.

Cole's family was killed by an android in the recent past, which I'm sure influenced his decision to join this special unit. This killer android is now the leader of an "underground railroad" group that helps androids who have become "self-aware" escape to their freedom. Cole agrees to transfer his consciousness into an android body to go deep undercover and crack this illegal smuggling ring. Having to cope being inside an android body almost drives him insane, and as he tracks down his family's killer, the truth gets turned on its head.

This was my least favorite book in the collection,. I couldn't get past that the author might have been trying to connect an underlying narrative with this book and the 1800's slavery underground railroad. If this isn't the case, and I'm totally off, I apologize to the author. But there still seemed to be an underlying sense that the androids were oppressed somehow and needed to be given independence. What next, reparations?


Silicon Dawn
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The second book takes place 20 years earlier than Silicon Man. The most advanced android in existence, part of a line of androids developed on the moon, travels to Earth. "Adam" is the first android of his line to reach Earth, and his resemblance to an actual human is uncanny, so uncanny there there is no "uncanny valley" effect. His personality has been programmed as that of a human detective to help solve crime. His makers are intensely keen on observing how Adam performs. While on Earth, he is partnered with a female detective who hates androids. Adam must deal with overall anti-android prejudices while at the same time deal with this female detective.

I liked this book better than the first. It had a crime noir feel to it. While not spectacular, and again having a slight social justice underlying tone, this book is an entertaining listen. It further fills in in the universe of Man vs. Machine, specifically the differences between the older 2000 androids and Adam's 3000 model.


Crossing the Darkness
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The third book involves a colony ship on its way to a outer world, it's hold full of miners in cryosleep. The main character, Faith, awakens alone. She must figure out why is the only one awake on the ship, and why she keeps finding dead bodies...

This book really had nothing to do with the first. There were no androids, nor mention of androids, so it sits as an odd duck in the collection. At it's core it is a horror novel, full of suspense and surprises. There is an abundance of gore and several cringe-worthy moments of raw violence. I liked it!


Narration
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Regardless of the underlying content of a book, the quality of the narrator stands separate. Joe Hempel is an outstanding and professional storyteller. He has truly honed his craft as a suspense and horror narrator. There was absolutely nothing he did wrong worth mentioning in all three books, and I highly recommend this collection.


Disclaimer
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This audio book was gifted to me by the narrator at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review.

Brilliant!!

I devoured this book (well 3 books)!! Let's talk about the narration first. Joe Hempel was amazing, as always!! He seemed to really enjoy reading these books, and it shows!! He grabbed me from the opening sentence and kept it throughout the nearly 12 hours. He made the book more suspenseful, more entertaining and more addicting with his narration. He knows when to ramp up his tones at the action scenes and when to slow down and let the listener take a breather! Brilliant narration in all 3 stories.

SILICON MAN

Commander Cole Marsalis' job is to hunt down rogue robots and he is the best at it. With the underground movement, of people who think that the A.I's need to be treated as humans, getting out of hand, Cole is asked to do the unthinkable, and infiltrate the underground by uploading himself into an Artificial. He has to become that which he hates! And hate them he does, because the leader of the underground was the one who killed his wife and daughter in a car accident. He is an Artifical and since then Cole has made it his mission to hunt him down and shut him down.

This was such a thrilling ride! It's not often that I get totally blindsided with a book, but when it happens, it usually means that the book is something special. Well this is what happened here! I did not see the twist till it came!! I was as shocked as Commander Cole was!! I think it was the fact that the story is so fast paced, intense and gripping, that I just became so engrossed in it and didn't find myself drifting off and thinking about the ending. I went with the flow :)

Extremely well written and thought out, this book took my breath away and made me want to read more in this genre. I haven't read enough A.I books!! I so badly want to say more about the plot and characters, but this is better left for the reader to experience! Brilliant book!!!

SILICON DAWN

So this is a prequel of sorts to Silicon Man. It tells the story of when the A.I's were just kind of starting out. Adam is an advanced A.I and is the first of his kind to be used in law enforcement. Needless to say, he has a lot of opposition and needs to prove himself. His very first case is to investigate a murder, but the murders keep happening and the victims are all people who worked to build A.I's like Adam!

I loved Adam!! You forget during the book that he is an A.I till he does something that reminds you. His partner, Jane, doesn't like Artificials and it was fun seeing them trying to cope with each other. Poor Adam isn't used to people not liking him!!

I loved the mystery in this one too. It kept me guessing till the end. Again, this is an amazing A.I book and I devoured it!! Action packed, entertaining and addicting, it is a must read! I loved this author's Occult Assassin books and these one's have just cemented his fixture in my watch list!! Highly recommend.

CROSSING THE DARKNESS

This is a surprise edition in this box set as it's totally different to the other 2. It's still A.I but more of a horror than anything else, but I loved it too!!!

Faith is an ex-con but is looking for a new start by boarding a ship bound for a new world. All passengers are put into cryo-stasis till they reach their destination, but when Faith awakens to a seemingly empty ship, and before she was meant to, she thinks it was an error and goes to the main cabin to see what happened. Along the way though, she encounters a blood bath! Everyone on the main deck has been violently murdered and Faith is on the list next! What is going on? Who is after them and why??

I didn't read the synopsis of the box set before starting it so had no idea what to expect in this one! Well the author gave us on heck of a journey!!! Again it's, action packed, creepy, entertaining and addicting. He has once again created an amazing world filled with amazing characters! Faith was awesome!!!

In all, this was an amazing experience made better with the combination of the authors words and the narrators tones! I so would love to see these as movies!!! All that's left to say is go get these books and enjoy :)

*I received a free copy of this but voluntarily reviewed it. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.*