This sequel to the book Wanderers picks up the story after the main characters – Benji, Shana, Marcy, Matthew, and Nessy – begin realizing that Black Swan no longer has their best interests at heart. For some context, Black Swan was the A.I. that set upon humanity a plague that would kill almost everyone and did so because it thought humans were killing the planet. Now, five years later, Shana wakes up from the Black Swan induced slumber and realizes as time passes that her baby is growing too fast inside her. That Black Swan has manipulated it and commandeered it for its own selfish desires.
Eventually, Benji and Shana must head to the CDC on the other side of the country to see if they can stop Black Swan (it was created there by Sadie who died in book one). Black Swan has other plans and sends what remains of the army to the CDC as well and uses a character who is one of the worst of us. Divisive. Hateful. Racist. And willfully divided our country just so he could lead it. Somehow he survived the apocalypse because of course he did.
What is so interesting about this sequel is that the first book was released before the real world pandemic of 2020 but shared many similarities with it, and the second book was written during the pandemic. The A.I., as it turns out, never had our safety in mind. Imagine that. An algorithm didn’t know the full truth with absolute certainty but destroyed us anyway, and because it used nano technology to take over 1000 people’s bodies for a length of time it also took on human personality traits. It grew feelings. And when humans hurt the A.I. feelings, well, it wasn’t going to act in a mature way. Why would it? It already considered itself a God. Why not smite us to teach us a lesson.
Fortunately for us, or at least the main characters in the story, they had grown beyond the emotional maturity of teenagers and decided to do everything in their power to stop the A.I. from using Shana’s baby as a vessel for itself to become a God. Something to be worshiped by the survivors. And it took much longer for some people to realize how bad Black Swan was for the world than it did others because some people are willfully ignorant.
The audiobook I listened to had a blurb by the author who described his writing process during the process. It was something I experienced myself with my artwork during 2020 and 2021. Was probably my favorite part of the audiobook listening to that because I had experienced almost the exact same thing about creating something when the world genuinely feels like its falling apart. Highly recommend not skipping it if you decide to give the audiobook a listen.
4 out of 5 stars for giving us a story about the best and worst of humanity and throwing up a red flag on the dangers of A.I.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
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This sequel to the book Wanderers picks up the story after the main characters – Benji, Shana, Marcy, Matthew, and Nessy – begin realizing that Black Swan no longer has their best interests at heart. For some context, Black Swan was the A.I. that set upon humanity a plague that would kill almost everyone and did so because it thought humans were killing the planet. Now, five years later, Shana wakes up from the Black Swan induced slumber and realizes as time passes that her baby is growing too fast inside her. That Black Swan has manipulated it and commandeered it for its own selfish desires.
Eventually, Benji and Shana must head to the CDC on the other side of the country to see if they can stop Black Swan (it was created there by Sadie who died in book one). Black Swan has other plans and sends what remains of the army to the CDC as well and uses a character who is one of the worst of us. Divisive. Hateful. Racist. And willfully divided our country just so he could lead it. Somehow he survived the apocalypse because of course he did.
What is so interesting about this sequel is that the first book was released before the real world pandemic of 2020 but shared many similarities with it, and the second book was written during the pandemic. The A.I., as it turns out, never had our safety in mind. Imagine that. An algorithm didn’t know the full truth with absolute certainty but destroyed us anyway, and because it used nano technology to take over 1000 people’s bodies for a length of time it also took on human personality traits. It grew feelings. And when humans hurt the A.I. feelings, well, it wasn’t going to act in a mature way. Why would it? It already considered itself a God. Why not smite us to teach us a lesson.
Fortunately for us, or at least the main characters in the story, they had grown beyond the emotional maturity of teenagers and decided to do everything in their power to stop the A.I. from using Shana’s baby as a vessel for itself to become a God. Something to be worshiped by the survivors. And it took much longer for some people to realize how bad Black Swan was for the world than it did others because some people are willfully ignorant.
The audiobook I listened to had a blurb by the author who described his writing process during the process. It was something I experienced myself with my artwork during 2020 and 2021. Was probably my favorite part of the audiobook listening to that because I had experienced almost the exact same thing about creating something when the world genuinely feels like its falling apart. Highly recommend not skipping it if you decide to give the audiobook a listen.
4 out of 5 stars for giving us a story about the best and worst of humanity and throwing up a red flag on the dangers of A.I.
Discover more from Becky Tyler Art and Photography
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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