The Archive Undying

Robotswithpersonality

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

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Oooohhhh my god, where do I start? SPOILER FILLED RANT INCOMING!
I can handle multiple POVs, I can handle first, second and third person storytelling, I can handle flashbacks, dreamscapes, nebulous telepathic mindscapes. What I can't handle well is when it keeps shifting which character is told in first, second or third person!
I can handle sci fi world building.
Strap in, this is a long one. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? What I can't handle is pausing on the evocative details 400 pages in after massive amounts of startling plot reveals, stalling the story progression, oh, and being so focused on the current day situation that the 'before' of Cradle and the pantheon/overseeing AI/earlier generation of robot gods Immaculate/Immortal something or other is referenced so infrequently and with barely any details that I'm lost every time 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? it's referred to.
I get that this author is setting up what I hope for their sake is a long running series, but you can't leave all the exposition for later books.
But really, those are just framing issues. Let's get down to the real nitty gritty.
The reason I'm so pissed is because I was so invested, for so long. And then it was just betrayal-palooza up in here. 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? I don't seek out works where the focus is on faith, organized religion or cults. My atheist ass finds a recounting of the damage that shit can do to people, in their own experiences or their actions towards others, simultaneously baffling and incredibly upsetting. Maybe as soon as I saw the history of this world built out as post-corruption of A.I.s that were some mix of all powerful/benevolent/tyrannical gods, I should have left. 6mo

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Robotswithpersonality 5/? But I figured the societies and the people therein would be over it, especially as the remains of these AIs were being used by a dictatorial government as enforcers to get people to live a certain way. But no, apparently these AIs managed to fuck up people so bad that they would feed people, including friends and lovers, to their robotic shells in the hopes that they would get better. 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/? Oh, and then there's the passenger, the AI who's a virus who was created by some other AIs to keep the god tendencies of these AIs in check and corrupt/kill them if they did what they did, control and kill the populations they looked after, but only in very specific circumstances, but of course the influence of humanity means that AI got a little fucked up too! 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 7/? [Is anybody else sick to death of 'humanity created AI so AI will be the distillation of our flaws' narratives? Where are the books about the best of humanity coming through in AI? I would happily read those, please!]
And Sunai, who turned so many cheeks that it felt like he was in an abusive relationship with the whole goddamn universe, the reveal that Iterate Fractal designed him to challenge them, just, saw it coming and also incredibly 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 8/? angry on his behalf for being so very caught in the middle. I stayed strong for 400 pages, but I'll admit after the big round of 'actually I was lying to you this whole time and this is the horrible thing I've done/am doing' it gets a little rage blurred. I think some of it could be blamed on the AI, but I'm not sure that makes all of it forgivable? 6mo

Robotswithpersonality 9/9 Suffice to say, the ending didn't save it for me, and as my brain is selectively effective at, the irritating portions are already slipping from my memory post walk-out-the-grumpy. If you thrive on interpersonal drama and don't mind some gray morality characters this may work for you. The premise might hinge on corrupt AI, but the plot is mostly messy humans. 🤷🏼‍♂️

⚠️Body horror 6mo

julesG Well said!!! 6mo

Robotswithpersonality @julesG Thanks! 😅 6mo

RamsFan1963 Well said! I gave it a so-so at the time, but after reading your review I'd go back and change it to a Pan 6mo

Robotswithpersonality @RamsFan1963 Good to know I'm a bad influence! 😈😅 6mo

3 likes12 comments

Robotswithpersonality

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

New strategy: disarm and distract potential allies' arguments by handing them a live chicken!
If the chicken “mutters suspiciously“ all the better! 😂🐔

7 likes

Robotswithpersonality

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

Today's 'scratched my brain just right' sentence.

9 likes

Robotswithpersonality

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

I appreciate the necessity conveyed by such a definition, but I'm picturing my updated introduction. 'I'm an information manager, I also answer to 'innards'. 😅

5 likes

Robotswithpersonality

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

Yeah, I think I'll stick with glasses! 🤓

5 likes1 stack add

Bookfan1414

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

pick

I am equal parts offended and extremely impressed by this book. Offended because the next book isn‘t out. And impressed because this whole book kept me thoroughly on my toes and out of my mind. I sided with and alternatively distrusted everyone and everything at all times. My brain hurts so good. 😊

9 likes

Bookfan1414

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

Okay, first of all, epic cover art. Like this is spectacular.

Secondly, I have, yet again 🙄, started a book without checking if it is from a completed series….. it is the first book and I see no second anywhere…

Thirdly, what exactly constitutes someone being a cyborg? Asking for a friend.

julesG This was published last year and yes, no idea when the next one is coming. Cyborg=cybernetic organism - a living/natural being that's been enhanced using technology. Think Borg, Robocop, but also Million Dollar Man. 9mo

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RamsFan1963

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

so-so

33/150 With vivid world building and some amazing ideas involving mechs, AI and human interfaces, this had the potential to be a five star read. Unfortunately, its let down by the execution. Shifting from third person to first person, shifting from various povs, I often lost track of who was talking, not to mention when characters merged through their AI connections to become each other. It's the first of a series. 3 ⭐⭐⭐

RamsFan1963 33rd book finished for #Readaway2024 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES @Andrew65 11mo

DieAReader 👋🏻👋🏻Next! 11mo

55 likes1 stack add2 comments

underground_bks

The Archive Undying | Emma Mieko Candon

pick

Expected June 2023 | Massive robot war machines meet spirituality, synthetic intelligence, and “soft queer feelings” in this ambitious work of mecha sci-fi! This first book in the Downworld Sequence is as violent and action-packed as it is tender and emotional, full of shocking betrayals and breathtaking breakdowns of the binary between mind and body, human and robot, self and other. 🤖🏳️‍🌈🤯

Suet624 I don‘t usually like this subject but you make it sound intriguing. 2y

underground_bks @Suet624 thank you! 2y

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