Scan barcode
A review by lillist
When the Sparrow Falls by Neil Sharpson
5.0
I have received a digital advance review copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you!
5 stars - thoughtful, well observed, pretty great!
In the not too distant future earth is ruled by three super-AIs and a large part of humanity has uploaded their souls and left their bodies to live online or in a cloned biological suit. They share the world with AIs who have become sentient and live with humans as equals.
And then there is the Caspian republic: built on an ideology that refuses anything "Machine" and the self-proclaimed home to the last remnants of humanity.
But as it can be with states that are built on an ideology Caspian ends up being authoritan and deeply paranoid.
The story is being told by Nikolai South, an agent of State Security in the Caspian republic and the plot is actually told in a few sentences: Nikolai, a very average agent living a life under the radar, is assigned with welcoming a very unusual visitor. The first AI ever to visit Caspian is coming over to identify a dead man. But why does she seem to be the spitting image of Souths dead wife? And is her visit connected with the recent problem that someone is illegally uploading people to storage chips and smuggling them out into the free world?
As it is with good books, it is not the story itself that sets it apart but rather the way it is told. The tone gets the balance just right: Caspian is bleak and it is clear right away that this country is destined to fail. Yet, there is always a sense of hope - being a decent human being, trusting your instincts about someone even if it goes agains everything you have ever been indoctrinated with - you cannot get that out of people, no matter how oppresisve the world you live in is. The story is very engaging and manages to end on a high note, which might come unexpected from just knowing the setting.
The worldbuilding is great, dense and beautifully captured. As are the main characters of our story. It does show its roots in a play - the dialogue is spot on and we learn so much about the characters between the lines. And it is quite obvious that the author cares about his characters, they feel real and complex.
This is a "truthful" book - by that I mean that the author knows people well, and the organizations and countries they form. There's so many excellent observations about human behaviour, which for me personally makes a book an instant winner.
Judging from the cover (yes, I know), I expected a much bleaker, darker story and was pleasantly surprised. This one had me drawn in with the first sentence, actually. A great and rich reading experience, I'll definitely read anything Neil Sharpson puts out next!
5 stars - thoughtful, well observed, pretty great!
In the not too distant future earth is ruled by three super-AIs and a large part of humanity has uploaded their souls and left their bodies to live online or in a cloned biological suit. They share the world with AIs who have become sentient and live with humans as equals.
And then there is the Caspian republic: built on an ideology that refuses anything "Machine" and the self-proclaimed home to the last remnants of humanity.
But as it can be with states that are built on an ideology Caspian ends up being authoritan and deeply paranoid.
The story is being told by Nikolai South, an agent of State Security in the Caspian republic and the plot is actually told in a few sentences: Nikolai, a very average agent living a life under the radar, is assigned with welcoming a very unusual visitor. The first AI ever to visit Caspian is coming over to identify a dead man. But why does she seem to be the spitting image of Souths dead wife? And is her visit connected with the recent problem that someone is illegally uploading people to storage chips and smuggling them out into the free world?
As it is with good books, it is not the story itself that sets it apart but rather the way it is told. The tone gets the balance just right: Caspian is bleak and it is clear right away that this country is destined to fail. Yet, there is always a sense of hope - being a decent human being, trusting your instincts about someone even if it goes agains everything you have ever been indoctrinated with - you cannot get that out of people, no matter how oppresisve the world you live in is. The story is very engaging and manages to end on a high note, which might come unexpected from just knowing the setting.
The worldbuilding is great, dense and beautifully captured. As are the main characters of our story. It does show its roots in a play - the dialogue is spot on and we learn so much about the characters between the lines. And it is quite obvious that the author cares about his characters, they feel real and complex.
This is a "truthful" book - by that I mean that the author knows people well, and the organizations and countries they form. There's so many excellent observations about human behaviour, which for me personally makes a book an instant winner.
Judging from the cover (yes, I know), I expected a much bleaker, darker story and was pleasantly surprised. This one had me drawn in with the first sentence, actually. A great and rich reading experience, I'll definitely read anything Neil Sharpson puts out next!