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📚Book Review📚

Artificial Artifacts
John Fennec

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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.

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.

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.

Artificial Artefacts is a ground-breaking collection of interconnected short stories exploring the inexorable expansion of artificial intelligence and the potential impact of this on human society. 

AI is an inescapable topic currently, with many people torn between appreciating its benefits and being nervous about what it could one day be capable of; already, as much as ChatGPT is helping people to write difficult work emails, there has been significant pushback in creative industries over the use of similar programs, amid fears that human creators will be gradually phased out in favour of AI. Author John Fennec uses these mixed feelings as a jumping off point for an ambitious, thought-provoking debut offering which will leave you feeling both awe-struck and unsettled by Fennec's vision of a not-too-distant future. 

Topics covered include the ominous prospect of sentient AI gaining enough knowledge and understanding of the world to supercede humans, deepfakes, medical breakthroughs and screen addiction. Particularly intriguing is the thread connecting several of the stories - that of the blurring of reality through the use of increasingly sophisticated avatars - and I thoroughly enjoyed how the author used Round Trip Revolution, a story which begins in 1848 and tells of artisans being made redundant by mechanisation, to remind the reader - if we were coming to the conclusion that we are reaching an utterly unique place in history - that 'twas ever thus; in the quest for the fastest, best, cheapest way, humans with always be collateral damage. 

Some of the stories are more engaging than others - I personally preferred the ones which are lighter on jargon - but overall this is a fascinating, riveting collection which is perfect for fans of John Marrs and Black Mirror. Of particular note is the way each story stands alone and yet exists within the same universe, with cameos and references building a satisfying cohesion within the collection - as well as providing some fun Easter eggs for the attentive reader. I will keenly anticipate what Fennec comes up with next. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Whitefox for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.