Seeker

Richard’s loves contemporary technology on the searing edge. He incorporates it into his novels as a basis for the story. The problem is that he gets preach. Yes, it’s still 5 stars because there is a lot of brilliant entertaining stuff here…I got my money’s worth. He also gets stars because he refers to some technology that I developed in the virtual humans arena and often refers to Ray Kurzweil who is a friend of mine and to whom I lent some virtual humans to travel with him on his book tour for "The Age of Spiritual Machines." Doug if you read this, as you evolve your writing skills, please find a way to tone down the preach stuff and get to the point more directly. Trust me, I am a fan.

The premise of the book is really an intriguing possibility, and Richards uses concepts from state-of-the-art technology, and blends them into an adventure/techno thriller story. The shocking opening of the book is necessary to develop a character, but still shocking. The conclusion to the story is an interesting twist, and leaves the reader with things to ponder.

Good read, lots of inertial dampeners and such. Give it a go. Author makes you think. Narratives, in constant flux great individuals up against Demi gods.

I think you've enjoyed your philosophy courses to much. Although you look to young to have studied the same courses as me the concept is the same. To use this to explain an aliens way of possible thinking, and then program an AI. I was surprised at being able to follow all the ( logical-illogical) thinking .

Full of twists and turns. A definite page turner. You will become a Douglas E. Richards fan. I have enjoyed al of his work that I have read.

I love Douglas Richard's books. They float great technology ideas, with enough science to be plausible. Also Douglas provides detailed notes on the science behind his ideas in the afterword... worth reading.

The idea here is that a distant super intelligent race is in a losing war with a super AI. This losing race is sending probes out to try to recruit promising races to its side. The idea is to create diversity to overwhelm the AI. Trouble is that along the way the probes get hacked by the AI. The rest is adventure in the Amazon jungle with various friends and foes trying to be first to get the rewards being distributed by the AI. Now this book is a good effort so I gave it a five star. The editing is very good, but the word spurned got through instead of spurred which had an amusing result. I read the author's notes with interest, and realized the problem I was having with the book. The author doesn't have a pessimistic bone in his body. The carbon body armour turned hard as a diamond. Now know this, that when Czar Nicholas' family was executed, they had sown precious jewels into their clothing so that when they were first gunned down, they survived. Good indication that a carbon body armour would protect, but there is a difference between the armour and a jewel sown into clothing. The jewel will move about and use the cloth to distribute the force of the bullet. With the body armour, I see the bullet pushing the diamond hard carbon right into the body. Another issue I had was the discussion about Nairobi. Agreed, we are all insular, but Mr Richards doesn't understand the half of it. In his own back yard of San Diego are various other groups that would amaze at their diversity in thought process and preconceptions. Take the undocumented Mexican who has come to this country to work in the fields. He is willing to work cheaply and efficiently at a job that the indigent American is unwilling to do. In order to teach our children the value of a college education, I know many parents that send their children to do agricultural work over the summer to compete with the Mexican farm laborer. It's a valuable and humbling experience. Many of these laborers have less than a three year education. They've learned to manage their money, and deal with the employment system. Their understanding is not the same as yours. With less than a three year education, they have not learned to deal in the hypothetical. They deal in concrete present ideas. If you ask one to consider that if he were late to work his pay would be docked, he would argue that he wasn't late so there's no need to consider the subject. Many of the taxi drivers are from Kenya. They are political refugees that somehow found a haven in San Diego. If you can get one to talk, ask what their ideas and aspirations are. Your book, Mr Richards, is a work of fiction, and I appreciate it as such. I even enjoy some of your preaching, but I find it naive in that you do not consider why a particular scientific development won't work. You only consider the optimistic side of the fact that it can work.

Fun action, a little predictable at times but still super entertaining. But the end gets a bit preachy, it’s not that I disagree what’s said but it just feels a bit out of place. Sans that piece, one of my favorite books this year

Absolutely loved this story and didn’t want it to end, imaginative well written brilliant!I highly recommend this and hope it becomes a film.

What can I say that i already haven't about Douglas E Richards books another enthralling read which keeps you engrossed right till the end and it is not sci-fi that involves other worldy battles and the like but it is much more plausible

I read this book in one go. Douglas' books are always great and I typically finish them straight away. This one was no exception and has a great storyline. If you've enjoyed any of his previous books then you'll love this one.Just make sure you don't start it before you have to go to bed!

I love the way Richard can write fiction that you cannot put down but at the same time teaches you about far reaching but inevitable ways the world will evolve. Whilst I love technology I do wonder where it is really taking us? I also wonder why we spend billions of dollars advancing civilisation through technology but next to nothing on evolving into our true power and potential? Why is it that we constantly place the power outside ourselves?

I was really excited for this book but was left disappointed. The concept was great, but the execution was poorly managed. It felt like reading a ninth grade student entry to a competition, I wanted it to be good, and not just for my own entertainment. The characters were poorly developed and one dimensional, there were slightly religious undertones and mindless repetition of prose underscored a plot line that failed to develop beyond the most basic elements of 1950s middle class, white, American ideals. The result is a predicable, unimaginative story whose entertainment comes from reading certain sections aloud to friends and the most satisfaction comes from recommending others to leave this book alone.