Audible Book Review: Interview with the Robot by Lee Bacon

I enjoyed this quick, fun story.
Interview with the Robot
By: Lee Bacon
Narrated by: Kevin T. Collins, Ellen Archer, Josh Hurley, Eileen Stevens, Erin Mallon, Jonathan Davis, Stephen Bel Davies

Length: 3 hrs and 42 mins
Release date: 01-02-20
Publisher: Audible Originals
Categories: Children's Audiobooks, Science Fiction & Fantasy
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.

About This Audible Original
Ages 10+
Fugitive. Criminal. Robot.
A sci-fi adventure for young listeners, Interview with the Robot introduces a unique heroine who seeks the truth about herself.
Eve looks like an ordinary 12-year-old girl, but there’s nothing ordinary about her. She has no last name. No parents or guardian. She’s on the run from a dangerous and secretive organization that will stop at nothing to track her down.
And most astonishing of all: she’s a robot, a product of Eden Laboratories. When Eve discovers the truth, she realizes everything she thought she knew about herself is a lie. Eve manages to escape, fleeing the lab, the only home she’s ever known.
After being arrested for shoplifting, Eve is interviewed by Petra Amis from Child Welfare Services. Her incredible story unfolds during the interrogation, with flashbacks to her life inside Eden Laboratories, which has a dark secret. Listeners follow Eve from her first consciousness to her evolution as a nearly-human companion to Emory, the son of the founder of Eden Laboratories.
Exploring a range of topics that drive our society and our lives—topics such as artificial intelligence and human nature—Interview with the Robot is a story told by a startlingly original protagonist, a story that explores the vast potential of technology and the deep complexities of humanity.
Interview with the Robot comes to life with a multicast performance including Eileen Stevens as Eve, Ellen Archer as Petra Amis, Jonathan Davis as David Sharp, Kevin T. Collins as Emory Sharp, Josh Hurley as a Boswell employee, Erin Mallon as a device/robot and female barista, and Steven Bel Davies as a store clerk, hotel employee, and office clerk.
©2019 Lee Bacon (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC

Review:
Eve looks like a regular 12-year-old girl, but she is far from it. She is a unique humanoid robot who was caught shoplifting. Eve is in a police interrogation room being interviewed by Petra, an advocate from Child Welfare Services. How and why Eve ended up in the police station is revealed as the interview proceeds. At first her story seems outrageous, but soon visible facts begin to prove what she is saying.

When strangers begin to show up at the station expressing concern for their ‘cousin’, Petra realizes that she has a dilemma on her hands. Does Petra treat Eve as the property of a wealthy corporation with secrets to protect or should Petra try to help Eve in her efforts to escape? 

In the true nature of science fiction, this short story is full of irony and human dilemma. The author does a wonderful job of developing Eve from AI cube to near human girl. Her friendship with awkward, rather geeky Emory is rather endearing especially as it leads to one of the twists in the story. This is a quick, engaging story and can be enjoyed by adults as well as young people. 

Audio Notes: The narration is a god team effort by Kevin T. Collins, Ellen Archer, Josh Hurley, Eileen Stevens, Erin Mallon, Jonathan Davis and Stephen Bel Davies. I have no idea who played which characters but they all did a good job delivering an entertaining and seamless presentation. I am glad that I was able to listen to this quick story.

1/24/2020 Second January Free Audible Original. This qualifies for 2020Audiobook goal.

Audible Book Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

How self-aware should a robot be?

All Systems Red
By: Martha Wells
Narrated by: Kevin R. Free

Series: Murderbot Diaries, Book 1
Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 10-30-17
Language: English
Publisher: Recorded Books
Genre: AI, Sci Fi, Short Story
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; 5.0 Narration

Publisher's Summary
All Systems Red is the tense first science fiction adventure novella in Martha Wells' series The Murderbot Diaries. For fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels.
All Systems Red tackles questions of the ethics of sentient robotics. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans.
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn't a primary concern.
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid - a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot."
Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.
©2017 Martha Wells (P)2017 Recorded Books

Review:
“Murderbot” is a company droid assigned as the security unit (SecUnit) for an exploratory scientist team on a distant planet. Murderbot has spare time on its hands/circuits. It has already hacked its own company module and spends time streaming old movie/TV series while trying to decide who it really is. It hasn’t allowed the humans to know it can override their commands if it wants to.

A nearby mission camp goes silent so the scientists and Murderbot take a trip to discover what happened. Murderbot realizes that there is danger as it discovers murdered humans and destroyed droid units.

Normally Murderbot doesn’t care so much about humans but he finds himself liking the scientist group who seem to care for each other. Now Murderbot has to discover a way to protect its people. Maybe it really can become part of a team.

I do like sentient robots, even though that could be scary. Murderbot is a likeable character and I enjoyed how it strategized and worked with the head of the team, Dr. Mensa, to protect the humans and uncover, and out wit, those behind the murders. This story has good world building and a full plot for just a short story. The author presents prejudices from the humans and the robot and allows them to grow beyond those initial stereotypes. This is my first read by Ms. Wells but I have an older story in my Audible TBR that I plan to listen to soon.

I recommend this to those who enjoy AI sci fi stories. My only concern is that the three additional stories are under 4 hours at a price of $11.99 each so the 12 hours ends up costing a healthy $36.00.

Audio Notes: Kevin R. Free does a good job with the narration. There is an appropriate robotic tone that fits Murderbot as the narrator of the story. Free gives the other characters their own voices that helped to bring the story alive. I am glad I listened to this on audio.

Source: Audible Daily Deal $1.95 April 2018. This qualifies for Audiobook Challenge.

Audible Book Review: Daemon by Daniel Suarez

This is a very intense AI suspense/mystery - well done!
Daemon
Written by: Daniel Suarez
Narrated by: Jeff Gurner

Length: 15 hrs and 57 mins
Series: Daemon, Book 1
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:01-08-09
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Genre: Sci Fi, Techno-Thriller
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
Technology controls almost everything in our modern-day world, from remote entry on our cars to access to our homes, from the flight controls of our airplanes to the movements of the entire world economy. Thousands of autonomous computer programs, or daemons, make our networked world possible, running constantly in the background of our lives, trafficking e-mail, transferring money, and monitoring power grids. For the most part, daemons are benign, but the same can't always be said for the people who design them.
Matthew Sobol was a legendary computer game designer - the architect behind half-a-dozen popular online games. His premature death depressed both gamers and his company's stock price. But Sobol's fans aren't the only ones to note his passing. When his obituary is posted online, a previously dormant daemon activates, initiating a chain of events intended to unravel the fabric of our hyper-efficient, interconnected world. With Sobol's secrets buried along with him, and as new layers of his daemon are unleashed at every turn, it's up to an unlikely alliance to decipher his intricate plans and wrest the world from the grasp of a nameless, faceless enemy - or learn to live in a society in which we are no longer in control. . . .
Computer technology expert Daniel Suarez blends haunting high-tech realism with gripping suspense in an authentic, complex thriller in the tradition of Michael Crichton, Neal Stephenson, and William Gibson.
©2009 Daniel Suarez; (P)2009 Penguin Audio

Review:
Matthew Sobol, a legendary computer game designer has died of cancer. Physically he is gone, but he is still around – in his computer programs – especially one special program he calls Daemon. The computer entity contacts Detective Pete Sebeck directly leading him to further victims. Although the FBI takes over the cases they don’t agree with Pete who is the only investigator inclined to believe that the killer is Sobol through his computer program, Daemon.


This is a wonderful mystery --- not fully solved and not really a happy ending. There is plenty of action from different views. The early part of the book follows the investigations with Pete until the computer program manipulates him into major trouble. The story also picks up other characters who are contacted and engaged by - to them - an unknown entity. Some accept the new employer willingly but others are strong-armed with no choice. The story is a bit confusing as not all povs are fully clarified. This might require a re-listen… if it was a movie, it would be one to watch more than once to pick up on the threads.

Although I work well with computers, I do not have any real technical training and I am not a gamer. I may not have fully grasped all the computer technicalities but I was able to follow the gist. The control that Daemon exercises through the internet on various companies and agencies is truly scary. The goal is initiate a social agenda through an intricate design created, and left behind, by Sobol. I enjoyed the writing and found the whole idea fascinating. I enjoyed the mystery elements too. I just realized there is a sequel and I will be adding that to my Audible library. I recommend this book to sci fi buffs who enjoy mystery and AI intrigue.

Audio Notes: Jeff Gurner is the primary narrator and he does an excellent job. There is also wonderful full performance with female voices and sound effects that enrich the listen. The audio is really wonderful and I recommend it for those who love a good audio.

This AI suspense/mystery was from my own Audible shelf from 2012. This qualifies for TBR, Audio Challenge and "D" in Alphabet Soup Challenge.