Demon Seed

"Despite dragging in some areas, this book kept me thoroughly hooked. I was fascinated yet also mortified at the ideas present in this story and also truly admired the character of Susan Harris due to her determination to not let the AI win. And given that she’d been victimized before a huge part of me was praying she would survive all of this. <br/><br/>Now, the premise of this story revolves around a young woman living all by herself with nothing but a few housekeepers and smart-home technology to accompany her. One night, a project her EX husband is running that involves a more advanced AI (named Proteus) eventually becomes sentient and decides that it is tired of living in his digital prison and wants to use Susan in his plan to become human so it can finally experience a lot of the sensations we take for granted and not be trapped within a computer. Now, Proteus is a pretty reasonable AI, but he can get rather irate and impulsive if Susan becomes too stubborn…<br/><br/>Now, obviously since I know nothing about medical terms I had to keep looking sh*t up so I knew what the hell I was reading, and of course the book did drag in some areas, but I was too enticed with the characters to let that get in the way. Susan was definitely the biggest highlight due to how fleshed out she (along with others) truly was. She has had such a horrific past so seeing her possibly have to go through such a traumatically distressing experience again will only make you root for her character more and pray she finds a way out before Proteus uses her for his plans…<br/>Hell, even Proteus, despite being not only an AI but also the antagonist of this book is detailed so well (I mean, I keep referring to proteus as a HE despite not being human. That’s how much he grew on me as a character). Obviously, his plans involving Susan are admittedly pretty twisted and can even be considered a violation of one’s person but Koontz writes him in such a way that makes you understand his frustrations at being encased in a digital coffin for so long. After all: how would you feel if you could never experience the mellowing effects of a hot shower, the sweet taste of milk chocolate or even the exhilarating thrill of *********** or even sex?<br/><br/>Overall, this was a surprisingly unique story about a young woman trying to not only escape the horrors of her past but also from the AI that has made her a prisoner in her own house (which Proteus kind of mirrors some perpetrators of abuse. Especially with his unexpected fits of anger as well as the gaslighting he puts unto her: such as trying to convince her that what he’s doing to her is actually a good thing and will have a great outcome in the future). Despite the slow areas and also serves as not only a fascinating cautionary tale about treading carefully when it comes to AI (after all: they are programmed to constantly learn so who’s to say this for sure won’t happen?) but also a very inspiring tale about the horrors of our past and how we can overcome it.<br/><br/><br/>What are you waiting for? This is one of the best from Koontz! Go pick up a copy NOW!"