Review:
Trinity Jordan is a data analyst for the Hive (a massive futuristic employer that also seems to have a company town kind of situation going on), on leave while she recovers from a traumatic incident that left her with a knee injury, a spotty memory, and occasional panic attacks. She keeps busy by acting as a HiveDrive conductor (a person who remotely drives seemingly driverless cars) and spending time with her two best friends, Ru and Yana. She has zero interest in getting into a relationship with anyone...or so she thinks, right up until she meets her neighbor Dr. Zhang's nephew, Li Wei, who's visiting while he recovers from a traumatic incident of his own.
Li Wei is hot, frequently shirtless, and has issues with social interaction. There's also something about him that Trinity finds oddly reassuring. When Dr. Zhang has a medical emergency, Trinity takes it upon herself to check up on Li Wei...who is not, actually, a flesh-and-blood human but rather a highly advanced AI.
There were more highly advanced AI and robots in this than just Li Wei - T.I.M., Dr. Zhang's cat, featured fairly prominently, and Penny, the home artificial intelligence personal assistant for Trinity's apartment complex, was delightful. There were also some intriguing (and horrifying) sci-fi world-building details here and there, although this primarily took place in an apartment complex that, apart from Penny, didn't feel all that different from what you might encounter in contemporary-set fiction.
Human-AI/robot romance can occasionally feel a bit icky with respect to consent. Without getting too spoilery, Cole managed to avoid that issue with some aspects of Li Wei's programming and origins.
For the most part, I enjoyed this, even as the last part of it gave me emotional whiplash. It read like Cole maybe intended to continue it on as a series, likely with various side characters getting starring roles and their own romances. I'd definitely be interested in reading more.
No comments:
Post a Comment