Artificial Absolutes by Mary Fan

Jane Colt, just out of college works as an Interstellar Confederation office drone. Then her friend Adam is kidnapped, and she does not trust the Authorities to help her find her friend.

Devin, Jane's brother, does believe her and wants to help her find Adam. He is trying to have a good life with his new wife, and leave behind his old violent past. But soon he is frames for murder and he discovers some secrets he wish he never had.

Jane is very likable , she uncovers some secrets, and she must learn to cope with what she learns. Devin is just as likable, he too is faced with hidden secrets and must accept what he learns as well. The brother/sister bonding is unbreakable. They will both go to great lengths to protect each-other, and uncover the truth.

The story is in depth, easy to follow and moves at a steady pace. The characters are very well developed and we learn so much about them. There is plenty of action to keep you on the edge-of-your-seat, drama, and surprises. Overall I found Artificial Absolutes an enjoyable, page-turning intense read. I highly recommend to those who love a great sci-fi, A definite five-star read. ( )

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Because of CCLaP's policy of reviewing every book that gets sent to us, I tend to read a whole lot of titles exactly like Mary Fan's Artificial Absolutes, part of a scourge of mediocre genre novels that are quite literally choking the small-press part of the publishing industry to death these days. The problem with such books, and why they've grown to be so troubling for the industry in general, is precisely that they're not terrible, so can't just be automatically rejected or ignored -- Fan writes with just exactly the kinds of skills you would expect from some Creative Writing 135 student at some random community college somewhere, turning in a sci-fi actioner here with clunky but not horrible exposition, wooden but not horrible dialogue, expected but not horrible plot turns, and a heavy dose of "Cyber-Fill In The Blank" to remind us on every page that we're in the FUUUUTURE (at one point a character literally refers to a "holographic calendar" on the wall, 'cause THERE AIN'T NO READING DATES IN 2D IN THE FUUUUUUUTURE), all wrapped up in the generic-looking, overly Photoshopped cover that you would absolutely and exactly expect from such a book. In the past, such a manuscript would sit in every publishing company's slush pile until the end of time; but in the world we live in now, where every manuscript that's ever been written can be easily turned into a paperback book at Amazon a week after finishing it, that's exactly what is happening in the millions, leading to a publishing industry that is literally drowning in subpar genre thrillers and that threatens to fatally implode from the sheer overload of bland forgettable novels that will eventually be read by exactly 76 people. Like I said, you can't just dismiss a book like Artificial Absolutes, because it's just exactly not-terrible enough to justify its existence (and to be clear, its Goodreads page is filled with enthusiastic reviews from genre fans who liked it a lot more than I did); but reading too many of these blandly mediocre small-press books is enough to kill one's soul, or at least put a serious damper on one's enthusiasm for small-press literature. Buyer beware.

Out of 10: 7.0 ( )

An overall satisfying work of science fiction with good character development. I would have enjoyed more exploration of the difference between human and artificial intelligence, and of the nature of the soul and whether or not an artificial being can have one. However, such an exploration would have been difficult to pull off without disrupting the story pacing. ( )

I liked this science fiction story that focused on reality and not-so reality. The title really says it all, and kind of made sense after reading.

Absolute-This is the books God-like character, what they pray to in times of need. This represents the morality in the story and the choices that the characters have to make.

Artificial- Well this plays the opposite in the story and deals with the falseness that is portrayed.

I loved the main character of Jane, she was determined at times to prove she didn't need to be taken care of and this made me like her overzealous behavior. I had a hard time with the relationship between her brother and her, but as you progress you get to see why it is the way it is.





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