Systemic

By: Chris Lodwig

Narrated by: Dave Cruse

Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

For generations, a sentient AI has watched over the world and solved all of humanity’s problems. It was an era of objectivity, social equality, and ecological recovery.

It should have been a golden age.

Now, three strangers are on a pilgrimage through the arid lonely sagelands and underpopulated cities of the Systemic era on their way to the seemingly innocuous town of Prower. There, they will uncover the secrets that lay buried beneath the town and learn the truth about their half-remembered pasts. In the end, they must choose between their sanity or solving humanity’s final and most intractable problem.

Systemic is a refreshingly optimistic version of an AI-fueled dystopian future. It’s like watching an episode of Black Mirror without having to drink yourself to sleep.

©2019 Chris Lodwig (P)2020 Chris Lodwig

Thought Provoking AI

This one starts slow as others have noted. There are a lot of moving parts, so give yourself time to settle in and get the flow down. There are several main characters and you need to keep track of motivations and goals as you figure out the background story. The author deals well with the concept of a AI controlled humanity and how the lack of purpose impacts us collectively and individually. Well narrated by Dave Cruse. I was given this free audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Fresh ideas, excellent execution

Best sci-fi book of the last few years. Truly fresh ideas. If you tire of formulaic sci-fi, and need to be reminded what great characters, writing and plot look like, look no further.

Exceeded Expectations

Great story and character development that kept my attention all the way to the end. Great mix of reality and AI that makes you think about where we came from, who is our creator, what’s the purpose of life and best way for society to survive. I started on Friday and finished on Sunday :)

Great futuristic sci-fi story

Systemic is a great futuristic sci-fi story that is brought to life with Dave Cruse’s excellent narration using varied voices for the characters. There is a bit of time devoted to building up the various characters background in the first third of the book. It gets more interesting when the characters then start meeting each other. Then becomes quite exciting towards the end with a rather interesting twist.

welcome to the systemic era.

really enjoyed this book. It starts off very slow and while it does throw you right into this unique world with little background, the story begins to unravel before the reader into an enjoyable experience. I'd have to say my favorite character is Miike, a tragic character who I genuinely felt bad for throughout the story. Defininly looking forward to more work from the narrator and author, both who did amazing jobs in their own right.

An interesting look at the future potential of AI

So I pretty much knew what I was getting coming into this story after exchanging a few emails with the author. As advertised, this is a "just straight up, earth-bound, nothing super-natural, AI, mind control sci-fi" that I requested less for the entertainment value and more for "exploring the human condition and/or our evolution as well as any vision into how our tech might evolve." On this the author delivers a solid, well researched story with four (4) converging POVs (including the AI itself). The first part of the book is really setting the stage and world building. This is where a lot of authors get the tech so wrong it interferes with the story ... not here. There was just enough to impress, but not enough to bore; however, the story may seem to drag here for some readers/listeners because of the limited action (it is a long build-up). What was really interesting was how the AI/System evolved into the ultimate arbiters of the truth (surprisingly apropos in our current politcal climate). The second half of the book certainly picks up the pace until you get a fantastic (and somewhat unexpected) ending that requires you to think about what the AI's role ultimately was (and who were the good guys and who were the bad guys). This book is designed from the start to make you think about things ... which is why I really enjoyed it. This title is also currently available on Kindle Unlimited ... I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. #feeaudiobookcodes #audiobookboom #systemic

Insightful

This was a wonderfully done, insightful story. The first few chapters are a bit slow to get through but once the scenes are set it picks up, grabs you and doesn't let go. No spoilers but at least part of the story made it seem like an adult version of Wall-E I received a copy of this book at my request in exchange for a FAIR review.

Awesome Slow Burn

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. So what happens when a sentient, seemingly benevolent AI controls the lives of humans in a dystopian-like setting, assuming the role of producing human happiness? You get a novel that is part thriller, part sci-fi, and part adventure time with engaging, character-driven stories. The characters were refreshingly realistic, the story flowed well resulting in a slow burn throughout listening, and the details attributed to the settings were like lucid dreams. Some obvious time and attention was put into the various storylines to fully encompass the reach of the AI beings and Cruse did an excellent job giving various tones to each character and narrating at a steady pace. He's softer spoken than other narrators I've listened to, but sometimes louder ones can sound like they have a "hot mic". Cruse did not sound like this and was so easy to listen to. Kudos to Ludwig for such a pleasant, yet intelligent idea.

This one grows on you!

I have been listening to a great number of AI related stories, and this offering is one of the better I have heard. Well developed ( and voiced ) characters that behave both logically, and irrationally ( like humans sometimes do ). A solid story ARC and fascinating concepts surrounding the integration of AI into our daily lives. I genuinely enjoyed this offering, and highly recommend it. Cruse does a very solid job performance wise..in fact, he is warrants 5 stars! I did receive this book in exchange for this independent review.

Great and imaginative read

Systemic manages to be an engaging character-driven story while also exploring big picture ideas, like whether a future full of benevolent AI assistance is truly happier, and what it would mean for individual well-being. Not quite a techno-thriller, not quite hard SF, not quite road trip... but a little bit of each. Narration is spot-on and expressive, with the single narrator giving each character a distinct voice.