Escape from the Shadows
by Gypsy McKnight
Genre: Science Fiction
ISBN: 9798223963653
Print Length: 252 pages
Reviewed by Lisa Parker Hayreh
Advanced androids fall in love while trying to evade those who seek to destroy or exploit them.
Lola Ward is a 19 year old woman living in a cabin deep in the woods with her Uncle Preston Ward. All she remembers is living in the woods with her uncle. All she knows from her uncle is that both her parents died when she was young and that her uncle has been responsible for her ever since.
Lola is shocked one day to discover a drone flying over their property, spying on her and her uncle. At her urging, her uncle then reveals that Lola is actually an android with sophisticated artificial intelligence programming far surpassing human intelligence, and that Preston Ward is her creator, not her uncle. After he learned that the government sought to reprogram the androids for combat, he has been in hiding with Lola for her own protection.
“As frightening as this new understanding was, it also brought with it a strange sense of clarity. Her entire life suddenly made sense-her unique intellectual abilities, the secrecy surrounding her past, and her uncle’s fierce determination to protect her.”
Lola soon meets Luther, a young man who lives close to their cabin and with whom she shares an intense affinity. Lola learns that Luther is also an android. “Lola’s heart ached at the wistful note in his voice, and she knew that beneath the surface of his stoic demeanor lay a soul yearning for connection and understanding just as she did. ‘You’re not alone anymore Luther.’” The two of them are thrown into a fight for survival, pursued by scientists who wish to either exploit the AI beings for their own purposes or to destroy them out of the conviction that android beings pose a danger to others.
Through the rapid-fire sequence of events that cast Lola and Luther away from the safety of their wooded haven, we learn of the assorted motivations of the agents hunting them. We also witness Lola and Luther trying to adapt and to understand the people and places they encounter.
Lola and Luther must learn to trust each other while trying to escape the clutches of the nefarious individuals who wish to either destroy them or reprogram them for their own purposes. We witness Lola and Luther determining who they want to become and how they will treat others as the story progresses. Mysterious deaths begin to arise surrounded by uncertain circumstances. Vital questions hang in the balance as Lola and Luther make their choices: Are the androids inherently a threat to humans? Can humans live in harmony with AI beings? How will Lola and Luther react to those who attempt to destroy or exploit them? Will Lola and Luther be able to escape the clutches of their pursuers as they seek to survive and understand themselves?
This story centers on emotionally charged, compelling, and intriguing questions centered on the safety and value of AI. Timely dilemmas about the dangers and benefits of artificial intelligence are interwoven with suspenseful and fast-paced action.
Characters are fully developed with distinctive voices, clear fears, dreams, idiosyncrasies, and underlying motivations. Setting elements are vivid with well-articulated descriptions, and the dialogue engages the characters and powers the action ahead. Characters in this story weigh in with varying perspectives and timely questions about both the positive and negative potential of AI technology. Some plot elements and action sequences are quickly, simplistically, and at times unrealistically resolved in the story however.
Thought-provoking, suspenseful, intriguing, and action-packed, this adventure reveals how love and hope can be found in the midst of fear, death, and despair.
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