Artificial Artifacts is a collection of eleven loosely interconnected short stories that are based in the future and set in a time where artificial intelligence has progressed to terrifying extremes.
We read about technology that can predict your death, AI that can read your thoughts and mimic your personality; blurring the lines between human and machine.

This is a terrifying look at what the future might holds, where machines rule and what it means to be human is no longer clear.

My thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

I was really intrigued to read this book and when I got the chance from NetGalley I was really pleased.

I found myself saing in class one day I have never used AI- yes you have miss - you sell items on Ebay - do you not get AI to write the description- I said yes- Also do you have an Alexa - yes I do and this if thought about is pretty scary as I feel I cannot do without her throughout our many rooms in our large house! wow I use AI. Although I use unitentionally do I know much about - the answer is no.

This book J is a thought-provoking collection of short stories that connect together. Our technology evolves and we run with it - the consquences are real and scary too.

Well written, well researched and thought provoking.

I really enjoyed these 11 short stories. I found them to be very thought provoking and a little scary at times. I think these stories are important and impactful since artificial intelligence is only becoming more common. These stories range from dating with A.I. making your profile to A.I. taking over the world. Definitely a great read overall and I would highly recommend this book.

Wow! This got my brain working.
it reminds me of Science fiction short stories of decades ago before computers were commonplace when interesting ideas were discussed and seemed magical.
Here the short tales are all related , some less obviously than others.
The tales in the first section of the book look at how A.I will affect people in certain circumstances in the near future and the attractions and dangers of this.
This must have had quite an effect on me so that that when i came to the confusing very short tale about the Yoga mat, i found it suprisingly terrifying.
But this lead on to the final tale which helps to show the links in the earlier stories.
Very thought provoking.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing the ARC

A good collection of creepy and plausible future tech stories! There were a couple that I admit, bored me a little. My favourite was the Phantom Phage.

If you like Black Mirror, and can follow technological description/logic, then you should really give this one a go.

3 stars only because I would prefer a full story from discovery to advancement and subsequent distruction rather than an anthology of littler stories.

John Fennec's Artificial Artifacts is a gripping collection that delves into the profound and often unsettling impact of technology on our lives. Set in a near future where AI and advanced tech have blurred the lines between reality and fiction, this anthology presents a series of thought-provoking narratives that challenge our perceptions of humanity.

Fennec's writing evokes the eerie, reflective quality of Black Mirror, as he navigates themes such as our growing reliance on technology, the ethical dilemmas of immortality, and the psychological impacts of our digital world.

http://thesecretbookreview.co.uk

Far out that was interesting it was sort of short stories all woven in at the end and it all has really interesting but terrifying a.i

An interesting collection of short stories, loosely connected, detailing the possibilities and dangers of increased AI in our lives.

This book was outside of my normal sphere of reading and I enjoyed the tales in the main.

A strong first book from a new author and certainly thought provoking!

I would like to thank Netgalley and Whitfox Publishing for the chance to read and review this book.

A really interesting collection of interlinked short stories, set mainly in the near-future,
which address our current worries about AI, and its' insidious creeping into our lives, in a very human way.
He also bring in sci-fi elements - parallel universes, alternate lives....
All in all, a good thought-provoking read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I liked the premise of this collection of speculative short stories. However, the narrative was slow in places and disjointed. A good debut from a new author.

An interesting, if uneven, debut. Artificial Artifacts is a book of big ideas about the future and technology, framed as short fictional stories.
The early ones were rather overwhelmed by the ideas, wherein the fictional wrapper was all too for the dense and didactic narrative. Eventually, though, the author seemed to find a balance around Pukahoda, and the stories improve dramatically from there on until the end.
Since anything dealing with ramifications of technology gets compared to Black Mirror these days, that was pretty much a gimme. This is certainly more heavy-handed and less wow, but it's a decent read ... especially, for a non-traditionally published one. I did not realize it when finding the book on Netgalley and would have likely given it a pass if I did.
(Amendment: Netgalley has actually reached out to me to contest my original use of the term "vanity press" in this review. Apparently, Whitefiox is a hybrid publisher. What is the difference, you might ask? Indeed, is there a difference? I looked this up. Allegedly, hybrid publishers are meant to produce higher quality work. Mind you, both options are still very much a setup where an author pays the publisher to produce their work as opposed to traditional publishing where the author pays nothing (and sometimes even gets money upfront - an advance), and the book is published purely on its quality, with the publisher putting up all the money. So, yeah, semantics. Think of it like dating - in one instance, a person wins over a companion by displaying personal excellence, in another, they hire a companion. Either way, it's a date to the outside world as in it looks, walks, and talks like one. But it isn't quite the same, is it?" )
Anyway, out of respect for Netgalley and its policies, I have changed "vanity press" to "non-traditionally published." Since Whitefox self-describes as a non-traditional publisher on their website, it shouldn't raise any objections.
As a non-traditionally published book, it does appear to have been professionally edited (minor things here and there) and put together. And it looks to be getting good reviews and enjoying some Amazon popularity, so hopefully the author got his money's worth. Thanks Netgalley.

I found parts of this book interesting but an awful lot of the narrative was boring.
I struggled to finish and skimmed parts. Not really for me.

Confusing and Intriguing

First of all, I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of 'Artificial Artifacts' by John Fennec.

This book wasn’t for me, and then again, many ways, it was.
My first impression: intriguing theme, good research, good voice, but confusing and too many characters. The first part felt like a collection of short stories which formed a loosely connected story in a backward timeline. The second part consisted of three short stories, the final of which looped back to part one of the book.
On the plus side, the ‘dependency on tech’ theme is intriguing and contemporary, and raises some significant questions – I loved that bit of it. The novel has been researched thoroughly: another big yes.

So, that left me in doubt between three and four stars.
I would have liked to have given 'Artificial Artifacts' 3.5 stars, but since that's impossible, in the end, I went for three because of the confusing construct.

This book is a wonderful collection for any geek interested in AI and the future use of technology to augment life as we know it.

These interweaving eleven stories fall into two parts:
Part 1 - Stories that show the possibilities of our future hybrid lives, where our experiences are expanded by AI.
Part 2 - These stories relate to the passing of time, the impact of our temporary existence upon our psyche, and perhaps look at what it would mean to live forever.

The stories serve as cautionary but exciting tales to show us the potential future humanity faces. To expand our tiny human minds with AI and technology isn't without its problems... but oh, what possibilities it affords us!

The 'Artificial Artefacts', our thoughts, our data, our lives, and our physical bodies are balanced with the artefacts that technology and AI augment life with.

At some point, a future collection of stories in the series will probably include AI and technology's view of the integration of humans.


*I received an advance reader copy for free, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.*

There's a strong warning here.
I found the basic concept of this book quite difficult to take on board. The author warns the reader that Part 1 is a series of tales about the possible future development of AI and its implications. In particular, it gives a strong warning of what might happen if AI is allowed to develop unchecked which might result in a dystopian planet. I followed this even though it has a reversed chronological order for some of it. Part 2 deals with time but I could not relate it to the former, which may of course be due to a shortcoming on my part.
Despite the above relating to the content, it was for me a well written book in a pleasant style.
As a result of the foregoing, I had difficulty in deciding on a rating for this book, but eventually settled on three stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book .

I enjoyed this book immensely, much more than I thought I would.. There are some real gems in this collection. What an imagination this writer has. Or perhaps it is inside knowledge!

The Gorilla Music story which opens the collection is both amazing and disturbing. in its depiction of the capabilities on AI. I remember reading a newspaper report recently about machines which were set up to do a task and given a language but the machines soon developed their own impenetrable language and had to be shut down. The Gorilla story is told backwards in time but it is also worth reading from the end to the beginning just to clarify things.

I particularly liked the crossovers in the stories with mentions of the Byrell company cropping up throughout and the last story is a WOW moment. The stories are set in different parts of the world and some of them leave you hanging, to decide your own ending. I actually quite liked the sound of some of the things AI could do!

There is such a lot to think about and some of the pieces would be excellent for discussion groups or as school texts. I don't think it is too much of a stretch to liken the author to Ray Bradbury.

OK, sometimes parts of the stories have a slight air of a "write a descriptive piece" and other tasks in a creative writing course and occasionally there is a bit of telling not showing but generally the writing is free flowing and easy to read. and, as i say, the sheer inventiveness is a joy.. 4.5 up to 5.

This is an insightful, thought provoking and disturbing series of stories about the potential future of AI. I found it particularly relevant as I read more and more about this subject and the timing of this publication is perfect as the debates become more mainstream.

The stories are really well written and I loved the fact that you could dip in and out. However, I found it pulled me in and I pretty much read in one sitting.

A book that will appeal to all ages and I definitely recommend.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to preview and I wish the author every success.

A collection of short stories set in the future about the possible consequences of Artificial Intelligence on the human population.
A scary look at human dependency on machines.
Thank you to NetGalley and Whitefox for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

🎉Happy Pub Day🎉


📚Book Review📚

Artificial Artifacts
John Fennec

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I always say that I'm not super into sci-fi genre books (or TV/films) - yet whenever I get the chance to really delve around in there, I always come out having loved it - and this collection of short stories is no exception.

This book contains 11 stories ranging in length that will intrigue, delight and petrify readers.

Each story presents an idea and explores the consequences of different forms of AI and other technologies that have been improved and adapted over many years.
These were perfectly presented and developed - especially given the nature of a short story - to create some really thought-provoking material.

I especially loved The Orchestral Adaption Of Gorilla Music which took us on a journey over a couple of decades - starting in the near future and travelling back to the 'present' day - essentially starting with a bang as we see the consequences first and then follow back through the development and decisions made over just a few years.

I think this stood out to me because it shows the relatively short period of time that it takes to drastically change and impact human existence.

Having grown up through an era of huge change - this is already a topic that I talk to the kids about - but these stories take things beyond anything that I could ever imagine - yet don't seem hugely fantastical.....which makes them just that little bit more scary!

Although this is a debut book - this was incredibly well written and you can see the amount of research done by the author.
Whilst this deals with some pretty clever concepts, the humour that's woven throughout makes this a really enjoyable read.

These stories are all interwoven and written really well. I love the theme of dystopian futures with AI distorting reality.

I did find some of the business jargon a bit hard to understand, but I managed to still follow the plot.

This book is perfect for fans of Black Mirror.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC