THE LAST ORPHAN...

[OU Chinaman]

...The latest in Greg Hurwitz series about Orphan X.

GOOD READ! Pace picked up in Chapter 4, when damn near the entire Secret Service coverged on Evan Smoak as he attempted to visit Mia in the hospital.
After one helluva good foot chase, X was captured, (trussed up worse than Hannibal Lector) and the story was on.

Some pretty good character development, excellent action scenes and a little more cerebral story.
Not as dark as the last installment. I enjoyed this one more. If you're following the series, I'd reccommend it.

[BudaSooner]

#9 in the series (Lone Wolf) is now out. I have checked it out of the library, but haven't yet started the book. If you've already read it, would be interested in your comments.

[OU Chinaman]

...just started Lone Wolf today. I'll read it over the weekend and come back here & tell you what I thought Sunday or Monday.
So far, 5 chapters in...I'm enjoying it.

[OU Chinaman]

...have finished "Lone Wolf" and Hurwitz disturbed me with this one.

Specifically Chapters 34, 36, and 37.

I read them over repeatedly, 4 times, and it troubled me to ponder what he was portraying.
A scenario hinted at by others but laid out clearly in this novel.
An absolutely terrifying picture of AI and its impact on and control of humanity.

I see this world, and our society in a different light now. It changed me, probably forever.

Still not sure if that's good or bad.
Did you finish reading it, Budasooner? Any comment?

[BudaSooner]

I am only a few chapters into the book so far. Will respond when finished.

[BudaSooner]

...I just finished Chapters 34-37, (without having read and re-read each of them) and thought I'd make a comment IRT your earlier post in which you mentioned how profoundly the concept of IT in its utmost iteration disturbed you.

Clear back to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein up to Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics and many other places, Mankind has worried and fretted that his inventive mind would prove to be his undoing.

I don't think that we have anything to worry about, certainly not anytime soon.

I'll chime in again when I finish... I suppose that I might comment sooner, but it will probably be awhile. I usually only read a few chapters at a time around bedtime.

[BudaSooner]

While I am commenting, I might mention that Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are a pair of authors who team up to write some interesting stuff. In particular, they wrote a 5 book series relating to a protagonist by name of Gideon Crew. The books are available in ebook format or probably in paper format in a large library. They are tangentially similar in that they also touch on the subject of behavior study and modification by computerized methods. I enjoy reading these two author's output, they write fairly prolifically.
These books in this series are, in order: Gideon's Sword #1; Gideon's Corpse #2; The Lost Island #3; Beyond the Ice Limit #4; The Pharoah Key #5.
A disclaimer: Preston & Child's books, while enjoyable to me, do not drip testosterone like the Orphan books. I find that I enjoy both styles, however...

[OU Chinaman]

...read a couple of their Pendergast stories years ago so somewhat familiar with their writing.
Purchased Gideon's Sword. When completed reading I'll share my thoughts.
But admittedly, I fairly dripped with testosterone when I wore a YOUNGER MAN'S CLOTHES, and before Evan Smoak, my favorite fictional character was Joe Pike by Robert Crais.

[BudaSooner]

Joe Pike and Evan Smoak = KICKASS STUDS. (Don't spit into the wind, don't pull on their capes)...

[BudaSooner]

BTW, in case you hadn't noticed, Robert Crais has slowed down from his earlier years in the production of the Elvis Cole/Joe Pike books.

But take heart: a new book is forthcoming, to be released on January 25, 2025: "The Big Empty". I plan on getting on the wait queue ASAP. I really like the Cole/Pike books.

[BudaSooner]

Well, I just finished Lone Wolf. Hurwitz does it again! Good read, probably rate it at about 9 out of 10. While AI is indeed a scary phenomenon lurking on the horizon, (and it might be closer to reality than we/I might think), it is still a long way from the reality that Hurwitz portrayed in Lone Wolf, IMO.
I was intrigued by the concept of AI being able to accomplish what it did IRT the 17 year old with the crushed larynx, though. I think that that, too is speculative fiction, but wouldn't it be wonderful if/when it should become reality?