I have been sharing some cool audio books over the past few weeks that I have been very excited about listening to. With Father’s Day coming up, I have another good one I was asked to review that would be a great gift or one to add to your reading list!
The Kraken Project by Douglas Preston
Series: Wyman Ford
Audio CD
Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (May 13, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-1427243836
Wyman Ford is back again in The Kraken Project, the thrilling new novel from New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston
NASA is building a probe to be splashed down in the Kraken Mare, the largest sea on Saturn’s great moon, Titan. It is one of the most promising habitats for extraterrestrial life in the solar system, but the surface is unpredictable and dangerous, requiring the probe to contain artificial intelligence software. To this end, Melissa Shepherd, a brilliant programmer, has developed “Dorothy,” a powerful, self-modifying AI whose true potential is both revolutionary and terrifying. When miscalculations lead to a catastrophe during testing, Dorothy flees into the internet.
Former CIA agent Wyman Ford is tapped to track down the rogue AI. As Ford and Shepherd search for Dorothy, they realize that her horrific experiences in the wasteland of the Internet have changed her in ways they can barely imagine. And they’re not the only ones looking for the wayward software: the AI is also being pursued by a pair of Wall Street traders, who want to capture her code and turn her into a high-speed trading bot. Traumatized, angry, and relentlessly hunted, Dorothy has an extraordinary revelation—and devises a plan. As the pursuit of Dorothy converges on a deserted house on the coast of Northern California, Ford must face the ultimate question: is rescuing Dorothy the right thing? Is the AI bent on saving the world… or on wiping out the cancer that is humankind?
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My Thoughts: I had not heard of this author before I listened to this audio book although he has several other books out, including ones in this series, Wyman Ford. regardless of that, this book did stand alone and that to me is a plus. I did not feel lost as you sometimes do when coming into a series and not knowing who the characters are or what is going on.
While I am not normally into books about artificial intelligence (AI) since it freaks me out a bit, this book was an interesting novel that is enhanced by the Reader, Scott Sowers. His voice applied a lot of depth and interest to the characters and that to me is so important when listening to a story like this. The mystery and intrigue is so much more enhanced.
The story is interesting and I want to say somewhat farfetched, but you never know nowadays how close this is to reality. While the subject matter to me was not my normal cup of tea, the audio version makes this an interesting book to listen to. The author’s writing is exciting and he keeps the story interesting with plot changes, twists and turns. I will definitely be looking at some of his titles for future reading from this author.
Disclaimer: Affiliate links may be included. Chris has personally reviewed the product listed above. She has not received any monetary compensation for her review but did receive a free product to try out so she could evaluate and use it for her review. Her thoughts & opinions in this review are unbiased & honest and your opinions may differ.
(The Kraken Project by Douglas Preston Audio Book Review) This book sounds really interesting to me, would enjoy reading it sometime.
I think this would be an interesting sci-fi book to read or to which to listen. I have not read any of his other works and I might go to the library and get some of them to see if I like his style of writing.
This sounds like an interesting book. AI kind of freaks me out, too, probably because of HAL in the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (which I just watched again the other night). I usually listen to NPR when I’m in the kitchen, but I think I’m going to start doing audio books instead, at least some of the time. Thanks for the review of this one–a new author for me.