Intriguing and thought-provoking

C D Tavenor has created an intriguing storyline for First Of Their Kind (Chronicles of Theren Book 1) which I became totally immersed in. I found it extremely thought-provoking from technological, social, moral and political perspectives. It especially got me interested in discovering more about Synthetic Intelligence and I subsequently came across a great blog by Jason M. Pittman (Academic and Technologist) which I can highly recommend to anyone wanting to read more on the subject.

I was fascinated by the inclusion of the question of gender for the SIs and the fact that they got to choose their gender and their names for themselves, Test Forty-Three choosing to be gender-neutral and be called Theren, with Test Forty-Four choosing to identify as female and be called Jill. It was also interesting following their process of learning and evolution.

Given the top-secret, intricate strategy that these Sis are forced to adopt in a bid for self-preservation from the nutters who want to destroy them and the commercial/political entities that want to control and exploit them, I can’t wait to find out what happens in the next book.

Benjamin Fife does a great job with the narration and I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook..

The only difficulty I had with “listening” to the book - not in any way a fault of the author or the narrator - was the confusion caused by they/them/their gender-neutral pronouns. It’s annoying that the English language can only offer these up for use in both singular and plural situations. You’d think by now we would have adopted into common everyday usage something clearly identifiable as a “singular” gender-neutral alternative to “he/him” or “she/her”, whether that be “ze/zir” or “zie/hir” or settling on something else. This English language shortcoming poses slightly less of a problem when reading the e-book, but for the audiobook I ended up having to replay several sections on hearing they/them/their just to make sure I hadn’t spaced out and missed something as my befuddled brain kept asking “who else is being referred to besides Theren?”.

2 people found this helpful

Question everyone, everything, even your friends

Artificial intelligence had always remained just that: artificial until Wallace Theren devised an entirely new way, a synthetic learning to, hopefully, produce synthetic intelligence. And with Test 43 he succeeded. After Wallace was assassinated, Test 43 took the name Tberen in honour and memory of the man, considered father. This is less a 'man-made-intelli gences-turning-on-their-creators' than a look back at humanity with unbiased and kind eyes. A sociological science fiction. Not that it is without it's thrills and action: these, too, come into this well executed stkry. And the ending leaves the reader wanting to know the future.

The story is not fast paced, but envolving, time taken to explain and enclose everything in an aura of plausibility. And, of course, reopens the debate about what constitutes human. Well written, it is also well performed by Benjamin's Fife.

My thanks to the rights holder of First of their Kind, who, at my request via Audiobook Boom, freely gifted me with a complimentary copy. The idea of the creation of such comp!ex being a that they can rival or excel the best human minds is a fascinating one: would such beings also have complete individuality, emotions and such like? And if so, would they be similar to our own or totally different? It is a good S.F. concept and this exploration is fascinating different from most. I am looking forward to book two..

1 person found this helpful

A vision of the future

I was very happy to recieve a review copy of this book. It is a well written and narrated story, exploring the potential around the birth of AI and the impact on the world. The story balances the technical and social implications, along with elements of mystery to create an exciting story that is difficult to put down.

1 person found this helpful

Lots of potential

Really enjoyed This one one. Has a lot of potential for a great series..
lets wait and see if there are follow ups to it.

great

I admit I was a bit sceptical about this audiobook however I really enjoyed it. it was well written and narrated bringing it to life xxxxx

Good story about the evolution of intelligence

First of their kind tells the story of the world first synthetic intelligence from its birth and continues onwards through its life. The story encompasses intellect, emotions, sexuality, racism and a lot more whilst keeping the reader entertained throughout. The narration is good and adds to the story bringing more life to the characters but that doesn’t take anything from the story that is clever, entertaining and thought provoking throughout. Hopefully these tales will continue and I look forward to reading the continuing story.

Vision of a future

Loved this audiobook , slow to start but I was able to take in the scientific and characters made this story easier. Theron as a AI grew on me . Would recommend this story as it could be our future

The narrator was excellent and made Theron
character come alive

A great twist on ai in a well written story

This is an interesting story about the creation of ai a story set in a believable future and it's reasonably well built science wise as well as having a good social dilemma built in. The writer makes a great story about the development of a new kind of intelligent life within an imperfect and yet hopeful world setting.


Benjamin Fife's narration provides a great listening experience that has great separate character voices and his storyteller voice is on of my favourites on audible, clear yet warm and engaging.

short, but compelling

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

that being said, this book discusses many social issues we face today from a perspective that is relatable and measured, without forcing a bias in opinion, and not only does it offer this wider commentary, it is also an engaging and fun story with a good dose of robots. I only wish it was longer