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Emergence

The Corporation Wars, Book 3

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Emergence

By: Ken MacLeod
Narrated by: Peter Kenny
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About this listen

The enemy is out in the open. The Reaction has seized control of a resource-rich moon. Now it's enslaving conscious robots - and luring the Corporations into lucrative deals.

Taransay is out in the jungle. Her friends are inside a smart boulder on the slope of an active volcano. The planet is super-habitable - for its own life, not hers. But soon the alien infestation growing on her robot body is the least of her problems.

Carlos is out of patience. With the Reaction arming for conquest, the Corporations trading with the enemy and the Direction planning to stamp out the rebel robots and their allies for good, he has to fight fire with fire.

Seba is out of time. Deep inside the enemy stronghold, the free robots have to spark a new revolt before the whole world falls in on them. As battle looms, the robots must become their own last hope.

©2017 Ken MacLeod (P)2017 Little Brown Book Group Military Science Fiction Fiction Robotics Technology
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Too hard to follow with so many different factions of rather similar robots fighting each other. Spoken well though and reasonable characters.

Well narrated & written, but aslow & too complex

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I enjoyed this book, I really did. And if you've listened to the first two, then you should absolutely get this one. Peter Kenny's narration is excellent (as always), and 95% of the book is exciting, well written, interesting and gripping.

But I can't help feeling a little short-changed by the ending. I was waiting for a twist that showed what you'd already read in a different light, and had even guessed at a couple of ways it might happen. But it doesn't.

A couple of mildly surprising things happen at the end, but they do nothing to make you think about what has already happened. And with those, one of them isn't really that surprising and the other (pretty much the last paragraph of the book) seems at odds with what we've learned about one of the main characters, and seems to have been put there just to mess with the reader.

The fate of another couple of characters isn't really followed up in any satisfactory way either.

The first 95% of the book is enough reason to go for it anyway though.

Great build up to an unsatisfactory ending

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Loved the series as it has intelligent views of what technology may bring. Along with a great action story with fun characters. Overall, 3 books later, I am left very happy. Especially with the ending. After all we all want a happy ending really. The story is complex enough to with the various factions motivations and politics. In particular the remote nature of the politics having to be run light years away from central parties. My only complaint is that it may have been a bit long over all. The whole series is worth it, after all don't we all love a rogue.

Don't we all love a rogue.

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Having listened to all 3 parts of this story, I’m left cold with both the ending and many plot points. At times the story is hard to follow and I found myself not caring about the characters and questioning the motives of the AIs, who seem too concerned with things and characters in a way incompatible with the much vaunted complexity we are assured this machines possess. All in all I’d would avoid this book.

Good performance, dull story

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sorry for the shoot 'em up brigade that didn't get it because it was too complicated or not enough bangs. this bring the trilogy to the end and is the best of the three. the narrator excels himself and it really helps having the quality in following the plot.
the story itself allows a host of questions to be posted about the legitimacy of different form of consciousness, life and existence. I loved it

it's so clever

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