Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Reprise Review: How it Ends by Scott C. Lyerly

 


Genre: Science Fiction

Description:

Anita Lory is a grad student in robotics for Professor Brian Coleman. She is also his lover. Brian’s nemesis at Denlas-Kaptek Industries (DKI), the world’s leading robotics firm, is Eric Breckenridge, DKI’s executive vice-president. When Eric needs a professor to review DKI’s newest program, he requests anyone but Brian to perform the review. So Dr. Sidney Hermann is called in to examine DKI’s newest robots not realizing that he is about to set off a chain of events that will alter world history forever.

Author:

Born and raised in the Washington D.C. area, Scott C. Lyerly graduated with a degree in English Literature from the University of Maryland, College Park. Currently, Lyerly lives in Worcester, MA where he’s writing a hard-boiled detective novel.

Appraisal:

Author Scott C. Lyerly finds the worst in human nature as he develops characters that scheme to advance their own agendas with little thought for anyone else. Even Gammons, Eric’s personal administrative assistant, a robot that is so advanced it has become a sentient being, has his own plans for a future free of human bondage.

In an exciting 292 page tomb set a century ahead of our own, a servant class of robots are created to serve humanity. Lyerly’s premise shows what could happen when one of those machines subverts its programming, taking control of the robot slaves.

Lyerly’s greatest strength is his ability to create believable characters that tend to lack a moral compass. He does an amazing job of showing his readers the thoughts and feelings of his human and even robotic characters. Throughout the story the author provides his readers with potentially disturbing possibilities of artificial intelligence that makes How it Ends such a provocative read.

Buy now from:    Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Original review ran January 16, 2016

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Michael Thal

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

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