MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Free (Kindle) The Silent Voice by Christopher Hodder-Williams [Sci-Fi vs AI Thriller]

ATDrake · 05-30-2016, 04:08 AM

The Silent Voice by the late Christopher Hodder-Williams (ISFDB, Wikipedia, obituary which mentions his many talents, among them jazz musician and songwriter) is his standalone man-against-machine science fiction thriller set in a future where some astronauts return from a space mission only to find that the AIs may have taken over, as they do, free courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press's Venture imprint, who are e-printing it from its original 1977 edition originally out from Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

Currently free @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and probably pretty much everywhere else they sell worldwide, since this is being done via the KDP Select exclusive-or-else program)

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day.

Because sfnal freebies are always welcome, and it's really quite nice of Venture to generously give us these semi-regularly to promote their back-catalogue of reprints introducing us to older, but hopefully now not forgotten authors.

<-- also, in this battle, who'd win? -->

Enjoy!

Description
The Machines are taking control…

Four men return to Earth from space. Barnes, Ullard, Hewitt, and Staffer have spent years orbiting Mars to collect data. But now they get to come home.

Suddenly, the onboard computer directs them to a new landing path. The men are beginning to feel uneasy. They haven’t been in contact with another human at Mission Control for a long time...

With no reserve fuel and tensions rising between the crew, they don’t question the new coordinates and safely touch down, back on Earth again.

But there’s no welcoming party.

No help.

Nothing.

The entire population seems caught by some mass delusion. The country is at war. Destruction reigns.

But the crew sees nothing wrong and no one can tell them anything.

What is going on?

Pieces slowly start to fall into place. Pieces about computer-generated, Blake-level poetry, about radio waves and controlling frequencies, and about warnings that were given before the launch.

Have computers taken over?

Can the crew fight back and regain humanity’s control of itself?

The Silent Voice is a gripping sci fi tale, examining the psychology of man as it butts up against the artificial intelligence of machine. Hodder-Williams mixes it all in an action-filled, cognitive thriller that asks the ultimate sci fi question: what happens when the computers take over?

05-30-2016, 04:08 AM	#1
ATDrake Wizzard Posts: 11,517 Karma: 33048258 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Roundworld Device: Kindle 2 International, Sony PRS-T1, BlackBerry PlayBook, Acer Iconia	Free (Kindle) The Silent Voice by Christopher Hodder-Williams [Sci-Fi vs AI Thriller] The Silent Voice by the late Christopher Hodder-Williams (ISFDB, Wikipedia, obituary which mentions his many talents, among them jazz musician and songwriter) is his standalone man-against-machine science fiction thriller set in a future where some astronauts return from a space mission only to find that the AIs may have taken over, as they do, free courtesy of publisher Endeavour Press's Venture imprint, who are e-printing it from its original 1977 edition originally out from Weidenfeld & Nicolson. Currently free @ Amazon (available to Canadians & in the UK and probably pretty much everywhere else they sell worldwide, since this is being done via the KDP Select exclusive-or-else program) And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat) free ebook thread of the day. Because sfnal freebies are always welcome, and it's really quite nice of Venture to generously give us these semi-regularly to promote their back-catalogue of reprints introducing us to older, but hopefully now not forgotten authors. <-- also, in this battle, who'd win? --> Enjoy! Description The Machines are taking control… Four men return to Earth from space. Barnes, Ullard, Hewitt, and Staffer have spent years orbiting Mars to collect data. But now they get to come home. Suddenly, the onboard computer directs them to a new landing path. The men are beginning to feel uneasy. They haven’t been in contact with another human at Mission Control for a long time... With no reserve fuel and tensions rising between the crew, they don’t question the new coordinates and safely touch down, back on Earth again. But there’s no welcoming party. No help. Nothing. The entire population seems caught by some mass delusion. The country is at war. Destruction reigns. But the crew sees nothing wrong and no one can tell them anything. What is going on? Pieces slowly start to fall into place. Pieces about computer-generated, Blake-level poetry, about radio waves and controlling frequencies, and about warnings that were given before the launch. Have computers taken over? Can the crew fight back and regain humanity’s control of itself? The Silent Voice is a gripping sci fi tale, examining the psychology of man as it butts up against the artificial intelligence of machine. Hodder-Williams mixes it all in an action-filled, cognitive thriller that asks the ultimate sci fi question: what happens when the computers take over?