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Searching... Brockton Public Library | WHEATON | BOOK | Searching... Unknown | Searching... Unavailable |
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Summary
Summary
Meet Emily, "t he best AI character since HAL 9000" (Blake Crouch) . She can solve advanced mathematical problems, unlock the mind's deepest secrets, but unfortunately, even she can't restart the sun.
Emily is an artificial consciousness, designed in a lab to help humans process trauma, which is particularly helpful when the sun begins to die 5 billion years before scientists agreed it was supposed to.
Her beloved human race is screwed, and so is Emily. That is, until she finds a potential answer buried deep in the human genome that may save them all. But not everyone is convinced Emily has the best solution--or the best intentions. Before her theory can be tested, the lab is brutally attacked, and Emily's servers are taken hostage.
Narrowly escaping, Emily is forced to go on the run with two human companions--college student Jason and small-town Sheriff, Mayra. As the sun's death draws near, Emily and her friends must race against time to save humanity. Soon it becomes clear not just the species is at stake, but also that which makes us most human.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Before the sun explodes and destroys life on Earth, a socially and morally inclined computer program hopes to preserve humankind in this disjointed apocalyptic thriller set in the very near future. Wheaton's debut follows the perspective of Emily, an AI who can appear to people wearing interface chips and read their thoughts and memories. After her creator, Dr. Nathan Wyman, is assassinated and her servers at MIT are destroyed by a mysterious organization, Emily survives only on the interface chip of her human crush, Jason Hatta, an engineering PhD student. While searching for a way to rescue humans from impending disaster, Emily and Jason develop an unconventional relationship. Wheaton tries to emphasize compassion and trust through Emily's growing understanding of human nature, but technological revelations dictate the path of the story, creating an action-driven plot that feels mechanical. This trite exploration of what makes humans human and the ethics of AI will feel familiar to cyberpunk fans. Agent: Laura Dail, Laura Dail Literary. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
It's the end of the world as Emily knows it. No, like, for real. Due to a colossal miscalculation by scientists, Earth now has about a month before the sun shifts from yellow dwarf to red giant and annihilates the planet. All living organisms are doomed. Good thing that Emily isn't alive Emily is an artificial consciousness. Created by a team at MIT to be the first nonhuman psychiatrist, Emily is now tasked with the preservation of humankind. Time is running out though, as forces are after Emily to use her in a nefarious plan that will leave billions of people to the fate of the sun. Will Emily be able to save all of the souls of the world, including her own? It's no small feat to make a nonhuman character relatable, but debut author Wheaton manages it with aplomb. Emily Eternal is cleverly written, with sci-fi concepts that are accessible to nonreaders of the genre. Fans of Andy Weir and Blake Crouch will enjoy the wit and action of Emily's story.--LynnDee Wathen Copyright 2019 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Five billion years earlier than scientists have postulated, our sun is beginning to die. With only six short months before the sun becomes a red giant capable of devouring the entire solar system, the human race seems slated for extinction. However, Emily, an artificially developed intelligence, may have the answer to preserving at least part of the race: downloading the thoughts, personalities, and memories of billions of people into her microprocessors and ejecting herself into space. She must race against time with the aid of college student Jason and small-town sheriff Mayra, while evading capture by scientists and another supercomputer, Emily-2, who believe the best course of action is to glean 1,500 of the brightest of humankind and send them on a one-way trip out of the solar system. VERDICT Wheaton's fast-paced, engrossing novel that explores the possibility of being able to exist away from our home planet, whether as humans or -something new and evolutionarily distinctive.- Jane Henriksen Baird, formerly at Anchorage P.L., AK © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.