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These are reviews originally posted to Amazon as customer reviews. They're intended for entertainment and informational purposes only. (Apologies for any typos, bad grammar, or offensive language.) This isn't sponsored by Amazon or represent them in any way, although they do have a very nice site and I recommend checking it out for your next book purchase. Feel free to comment on the books if you've read them or tell me how much my reviews suck or whatever.
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Monday, October 15, 2012

The Insanity of ZERO

The Insanity of ZERO
by Michael Offutt
(5/5 stars)

This is a good primer for the events in Offutt's novel "Slipstream" and its eventual sequels. It's the story of an apocalyptic event that unleashes ZERO, a sentient machine to care for the damaged alternate-Earth world of Avalon. Like most sentient machines (HAL-9000, SkyNet, the Matrix, Megatron) ZERO finds it difficult to relate to humans. He finally starts to merge his thoughts with some humans, with disastrous consequences.

Since it's a short story it moves at a brisk pace, without the typos or other gaffes you see in a lot of self-published fiction. It's recommended reading before you tackle "Slipstream," as it helps ease you into that world. And believe me, there's a lot going on in that book, so some easing in is very beneficial.

Plus at least for the moment it's free and only took me about 20 minutes to read. So it's not going to take much time or money to read.

That is all.