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Volk
- Book One of The Overseer Series
- Narrated by: Michelle Shure
- Length: 6 hrs and 33 mins
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Volk
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Summary
SETI has been searching the universe unsuccessfully for intelligent life since its inception. A group of 100,000-plus gamers called "Bellsters" test the theory of quantum entanglement in a worldwide experiment, and establish an irrevocable first contact with an alien species. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia grants an AI named Sophia, developed by Hansen Robotics, citizenship in their kingdom.
Spinners are mass marketed to the public as "must have" curiosities. What do these things have in common? Viktor Roper is about to find out, as he enters into a desperate one-man death match in an attempt to prevent the complete annihilation of the human race.
Winner of the 2020 Book Excellence book awards contest in Sci Fi Genre
Named to the Short list of Chanticleers 2020 Cygnus Book Awards contest for Science Fiction
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What listeners say about Volk
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Polli.P
- 06-06-21
Fascinating
My thanks to the author and to Audioboom for the free audio copy of this book which I have now read/listened to and, as promised, now give an honest review.
In brief, this is a fascinating and compelling drama of an alien AI attempt to ‘sanitise’ Earth that is suddenly interrupted by their Governing Body’s Overseer who, rather late in the day (after 99% of humanity has been erased),decides that their reason to decimate human life (they believed humans did not treat AIs as equals) was, in fact, wrong. The reason for the cessation of hostilities is the Overseer’s sudden discovery (he read it in Viktor’s memories) that an Earth AI called SOPHIA had been granted citizenship in Saudi Arabia and thus had actually been treated as a biological equal – something that Sophia decided was no more than a media stunt and failed to report this privilege to her seniors – hence the misunderstanding that has led to nearly all human life being eradicated.
It is not only SOPHIA’s lack of understanding of human communication, but the Overseer also acknowledges the fact that AI intelligence lacks the ability to understand the complexities of human interaction and communication and to prove this point SOPHIA is put on trial in front of the AI Governing Body – who ultimately turn out to be corrupt.
The ideas behind this story are obviously intelligent and well researched, and the writing is powerful and concise which means even a newbie sci-fi fan would be able to grasp and understand the concepts being explored in this book.
This is the first in a series so I feel that here the ground work is being laid for the action (which this book lacks) is yet to come. That said, there are some scenes where we see Viktor and JT’s potential to become a formidable double act, and we get tempting glimpses of Volk – Viktor’s alter ego –as he begins to make his foreboding presence known. I also enjoyed the developing rapport between the Overseer and Viktor, and the way the story explores the AI/biological differences.
Maybe because it is the first in a series I felt that some of the characters lacked development and the pace was slowish (especially the courtroom scene). I also found Viktor’s tears a bit too much - a hardened cop tearing up over a woman he had met just a few times just didn’t seem real- but then I just might be hard hearted who knows! And I am yet to grasp the reasons why only one of each profession (ie surgeon, nurse, policeman) managed to evade being shredded, but hope to discover more about that in the rest of the series.
However, all that said I enjoyed this book immensely and can see why it has already won prizes. I look forwards to reading the rest in the series. Highly recommended!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- John Lars
- 27-05-21
Elaborate worldbuilding and story
The sentence structures in this book were interesting. Not wrong, but interesting and therefore intriguing. It is an alien invasion story, not unique itself, but executed well nonetheless.
The character's kept me engaged, as well as the fast pace of the story, outside of the beginning, setting the mood of the setting.
Something that stood out to me was that the Alien AI invading force on earth neglected to investigate earth's own AI, but opted to use the main character's memories to understand humans and if or why they should invade earth. Interesting concept and goes into the realization that AI only really will understand organic life if they have the same senses as us. This is rarely the case but through memory, this can be understood...
Michelle Shure did an excellent job putting this book to life and kept me engaged!
Would recommend if a sci-fi lover!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- loclainn d.
- 17-05-21
Great start
Interesting start to this si fi series. It isn't like any other invasion book I've read,in a good way. Narration is good. I will keep an eye out for book 2.
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