We ’re agitate up from the outlandishness invN , Madeline Ashby ’s novel about artificial consciousness and ego - replicating machine . And now , she ’s written a novel about The Singularity , when artificial intelligence surpass our own and everything change . We ’ve got a cover reveal , and some details , below .
First up , here ’s the covering of Ashby ’s new novel Company Town , exclusively revealed at io9 :
And here ’s what she told us about this book , come in October :
After I wrotethe most fuck - up book about robot consciousness ever , followed byan even more have it away - up sequel * , people started take me about the Singularity . I ’m a working fantast , so I ’m supposed to fuck all about it . The problem was , I did n’t really have any answers . So I decide to drop a line a eff - up book about it . And sexual urge work . And serial slayer . That novel , about sexual activity employment and successive murder and the Singularity , is calledCompany Town .
Company Townis set in New Arcadia , a city of self-directed self - repairing towers floating around a dying offshore oil fishing tackle over the Flemish Pass Basin 500 km off Newfoundland,(where there was a major oil uncovering in 2013 ) . The champion , Go Jung - hwa , is an escort ’s date for the United Sex Workers of Canada , Local 314 , which mesh legally in town . As the novel opens , Hwa ’s escort job takes her to the courtly handoff between the many company that once possess New Arcadia , and Lynch Ltd , the kinfolk - possess company that has just bought the whole town ignition lock , stock , and drum . Hwa spots a man with a rifle up on a gantry high above the crew , and submit off after him . She kick him in the look , and he tender her a job : become the bodyguard for the young member of Lynch kinship group — a boy named Joel who has been getting death threat from the future . Why Hwa ? Because not only is Hwa fast on her foot , she ’s one of the last people in town without any cybernetic implant , potato chip , or other biologic augments . She ca n’t be hacked . She ca n’t be tracked . And when your enemy isa super - intelligence of the networked variety , an off - grid constitutional ass - kicker is exactly the one you desire on your side . The only catch ? take the job means going back to end high school with Joel — three years after having overlook out . But for the wage raise , Hwa ’s willing to deal with detention , cafeteria food , and wearing a uniform .
Until someone starts murdering her friend .
What follows is a story about being torn between your friends and your future : saving the people of a town that ca n’t be write , or keeping your head down and saving yourself . It ’s also about what it means to be the last ugly someone in a city of beautiful people . Or at least , what it mean to intend about yourself that way . Hwa hasSturge - Weber Syndrome , and the presence of her port wine-coloured stain and the absence seizure of a “ stim - industrial plant ” to control her seizure automatically identify her as poor — that is , if you may see her face . Most people in New Arcadia wear out specs or inter-group communication to layer their reality , and thanks to a canonic “ stop staring ” app , most of them do n’t even see her discolouration . Neither can most of the surveillance camera that bombilate and seethe around the urban center — her face is a instinctive dazzle design that inhibits facial recognition algorithms . So Hwa goes through lifespan either inconspicuous or star at , with no one see her dependable self .
In other words it ’s a human account , about human organism , and that ’s sort of a big measure for me . It ’s a big change from the irreverent killing machines I ordinarily publish about . When I wrote vN , I did it in part becausebecause I wanted to tell a story in which the humans were heart and soul . I was grisly of world being so fucking special all the fourth dimension . The Age of Men being the “ natural ” successor even after the Hobbits shew themselves far worthier , Bella Swan smelling so great to vampire , all that . deeply down , I ’ve always think that the Terminators should have win . I intend , Skynet really only deploy the artillery that mankind built decennary ago . We kind of had it come .
So really , I guess you could say that I wrote this book to decide how I felt about humanity . Really , that ’s no unlike from what all other writers or artists do , but science fiction writer get asked about it more . Nobody ever tear Dostoyevksy aside and said : “ Hey , Fyodor . So , are we as a species just toast , or what ? ” But science fable writers bask the rarified and compelling privilege of being asked where we think this whole matter is kick the bucket . We get inquire when the uniqueness will go on , which is essentially like being demand when to expect the Second Coming of Christ . ( Even if we did know the date , what would we do with that information ? Get a two-piece wax ? Do you get a bikini wax for the exponential ontogenesis of unreal word that treats human civilization the way metastatic Crab treats a human body ? ) We get postulate when to expect those jetpacks , too . ( Never . You ’re never getting them . Your generation wish well for jetpacks and all you got was Agent Orange . Stop being piddle about the jetpacks . )
None of these interrogation are the real question , though . The existent doubtfulness is not what the future will be , but what you want it to be , and how far you ’re willing to go to get it . What you ’re willing to give up . How hard you ’re willing to process . How goofy you ’re willing to look , follow up on your dream . How many times you ’re willing to get hurt , hoping for something better . And those are all human desires that ca n’t be quantified with poker chip or sensing element . They ’re in our personal histories , our personal timelines . And every moment we are uncoerced to work harder , take a risk , and get hurt is a moment that work up the future we really want .
- And if anyone ’s curious , there will be a third , incredibly fucked - up book in the Machine Dynasty series , called Rev. Which is also about the Rapture .
Holy Writ
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