Science Fiction

Machinehood

Machinehood

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-03-26 06:52:25
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：S.B. Divya
  • ISBN：1982148071
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

Zero Dark Thirty meets The Social Network in this “clever…gritty” （Ken Liu， author of The Grace of Kings） science fiction thriller about artificial intelligence， sentience， and labor rights in a near future dominated by the gig economy—from Hugo Award nominee S。B。 Divya。

Welga Ramirez， executive bodyguard and ex-special forces， is about to retire early when her client is killed in front of her。 It’s， 2095 and people don’t usually die from violence。 Humanity is entirely dependent on pills that not only help them stay alive but allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in an increasingly competitive gig economy。 Daily doses protect against designer diseases， flow enhances focus， zips and buffs enhance physical strength and speed， and juvers speed the healing process。

All that changes when Welga’s client is killed by The Machinehood， a new and mysterious terrorist group that has simultaneously attacked several major pill funders。 The Machinehood operatives seem to be part human， part machine， something the world has never seen。 They issue an ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week。

Global panic ensues as pill production slows and many become ill。 Thousands destroy their bots in fear of a strong AI takeover。 But the US government believes the Machinehood is a cover for an old enemy。 One that Welga is uniquely qualified to fight。

Welga， determined to take down the Machinehood， is pulled back into intelligence work by the government that betrayed her。 But who are the Machinehood， and what do they really want？

A “fantastic， big-idea thriller” （Malka Older， Hugo Award finalist for The Centenal Cycle series） that asks: if we won’t see machines as human， will we instead see humans as machines？

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Reviews

Miguel Azevedo ，

Genuinely poor。

Jack Hastings ，

Great social， political and technological world-building。 Somewhat over-written and a bit of repetition otherwise it would be ****。

Emily ，

Honestly not sure why I finished this one。 Overly detailed about extraneous characters in an annoying way， bad plot， sad world， bad discussion of philosophy of AI。 Definitely wouldn’t have finished if I hadn’t been listening on audiobook and it was good at putting me sleep。

Hank ，

I enjoyed this but it was kind of generic。 There wasn't enough drama to be a thriller， the social commentary was a bit one note （essentially the gig economy being bad） and although the future tech was sort of interesting it wasn't exactly mind blowing。I did like the characters and the story but it is a book that did lots of things well， just nothing great。 I enjoyed this but it was kind of generic。 There wasn't enough drama to be a thriller， the social commentary was a bit one note （essentially the gig economy being bad） and although the future tech was sort of interesting it wasn't exactly mind blowing。I did like the characters and the story but it is a book that did lots of things well， just nothing great。 。。。more

Andrew Salter ，

Wraps up a little neatly， squandering some of its potential scope， but it’s nice to have a complete story all in one go。 This is a great debut novel！

Crazyfoxxy ，

3。5 stars rounded up。 Multiple POVs， adult novel which read like a YA （which was kinda nice。） An exploration of how humans and AI might interact in the future， about 70 years from now。 A good book for the speculative and AI genres。 I'd read the sequel if the author writes one。 3。5 stars rounded up。 Multiple POVs， adult novel which read like a YA （which was kinda nice。） An exploration of how humans and AI might interact in the future， about 70 years from now。 A good book for the speculative and AI genres。 I'd read the sequel if the author writes one。 。。。more

Alyssabeth ，

I enjoyed this one。 It was just a good， fun sci-fi read。 Parts were a little cheesy， but it didn’t detract from the story — maybe that’s just because it made me nostalgic for all the teen sci-fi I read back in the day。 There were mind-bending concepts， sweet moments， & well-fleshed out characters。 What more could a girl want？

Red7paulbrennan ，

dnfI stopped within a 30 minutes。

Tara ，

There was too much story for this book。 I wish it could have been parsed into a trilogy to dive deeper。 But it’s super creative， really great speculative fiction; I recommend it！

Anoop ，

A science fiction novel set out in the near future， about 75 odd years ahead- 2095 to be precise。 Machinehood is a thoroughly enthralling and an intelligently crafted book， and the future fictional world created by the author， SB Divya is most fascinating。 The good part of the book is that the author has not really attempted to dazzle us with jaw-dropping technological innovations of the future， but kept the future progress made pretty simple and straightforward。 Most of the tech mentioned in th A science fiction novel set out in the near future， about 75 odd years ahead- 2095 to be precise。 Machinehood is a thoroughly enthralling and an intelligently crafted book， and the future fictional world created by the author， SB Divya is most fascinating。 The good part of the book is that the author has not really attempted to dazzle us with jaw-dropping technological innovations of the future， but kept the future progress made pretty simple and straightforward。 Most of the tech mentioned in the book is simply a kind of extrapolation of what one sees around the world today， and she alludes in the book to certain historical progressions made in the field of technology， the ethical issues， the resistance and the protests， and how the World finally got to be what it is in 2095。AI Robots and Androids have advanced so much in the future that humans are literally left with no work and have to compete with machines to survive。 And humans can only survive and maintain their competitive edge if they take these pills – Nanobots that go to work inside the body。 The pills are either ‘flow’ pills to help function with efficiency in a given job， ‘Zip’ pills to enhance our strength and fitness or something called ‘Juvers’ for healing and reducing pain。 The very interesting aspect of these pills is that you need to constantly keep taking them to upgrade yourself， much like the need to upgrade or buy a new Smartphone every few months these days。 However in this future world， one can download the design and follow the instructions for making the pills and even create them using 3D printers at home。Social Media is taken to the next level， wherein each and every action of yours is captured in the Cyber world。 Eating， sleeping， intimate moments with your lover… everything is captured live by these swarm of nanodrones that are ubiquitous。 Privacy has become an alien concept。 And there are these ‘Tip Jars’ by which people vote for how you have fared in your day or rate how your last love making session was。 Your entire life is literally live streamed。 The theme of the book revolves around a rebellion by an extremist group who believe that the rights of machines have been trampled over with and advocate all Intelligence， be it artificial or biological， should be treated at par。One flaw in this book however， would be in the character portrayal may be。 The main heroes are monochromatic and everyone seems to be out to save the world- no hint of grey in them。 Even the Extremist group turn out not to be such bad guys， as they also have an altruistic motive for all the violence unleashed onto the world。 And of course， a dash of humor in the conversations and narration etc would have made the book more entertaining。Nevertheless a thoroughly great read for sure。 。。。more

Jared Kelsey ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 A heartfelt and very personal novel， it keeps the personal lives of our characters in sharp focus because， as always， family and friends， loved ones， have a great effect on our actions and our thoughts and our motivations。I really liked the ideas expounded here about the gig economy， cyberpunk-ish concepts of personal modification and integration with technology and artificial intelligence。 I really enjoyed the authors exploration of those， and the way the main character was written， with her in A heartfelt and very personal novel， it keeps the personal lives of our characters in sharp focus because， as always， family and friends， loved ones， have a great effect on our actions and our thoughts and our motivations。I really liked the ideas expounded here about the gig economy， cyberpunk-ish concepts of personal modification and integration with technology and artificial intelligence。 I really enjoyed the authors exploration of those， and the way the main character was written， with her interaction with the AI inside her。 That was fun。I was not so crazy about the very forward focus on Buddhist philosophy and it being a possible solution to the worst of mankind's motivations and actions。 That was unexpected， and not something I personally subscribe to。Overall I got caught up in the action， that flowed pretty well throughout。 There were times when the action slowed a bit。 I thought some of the scenes were unnecessaryand could have been tightened up a bit。 I could see the end/resolution coming a long way before I got there but it kept me curious enough to finish all 401 pages。 。。。more

Scott Chapman ，

While this book wasn't as fun as some I've read in the past year or two， it's one of those books that make you think "what if。。。" more。 What if you have AIs that appear "only" as intelligent as a cat or dog？ How should we treat such an entity？ It seems like such an AI would deserve at least as much love and respect as we give our pets。 To be clear， that's not really the point of this book， which goes much farther than that， but that's what I was thinking somewhat early on in the book which is se While this book wasn't as fun as some I've read in the past year or two， it's one of those books that make you think "what if。。。" more。 What if you have AIs that appear "only" as intelligent as a cat or dog？ How should we treat such an entity？ It seems like such an AI would deserve at least as much love and respect as we give our pets。 To be clear， that's not really the point of this book， which goes much farther than that， but that's what I was thinking somewhat early on in the book which is set at the end of the 21st century。 And a lot of the dystopian themes in here seem like they could be plausible extensions of current trends ~75 years into the future。 Some are a little unlikely， but still， it's not so crazy that you say "that can never happen" but rather "what if that happens"。 。。。more

Peter Sidell ，

Am imagined time when population growth has continued， climate change has caused havoc and technology has produced sentient artificial intelligence。 The artificial intelligence is demanding human rights， to be considered human。 Conflicts has become theater with warriors being paid with tips。 Civilization is evolving to a new phase。 The characters don’t seem As believable to me as I’d like but produce an engaging plot。

Frederick Gault ，

This book looks carefully at the question， what should be the rights of Artificial Intelligence。 Not just an AI as smart as a human， but how about the so-called "Weak" AI's， that might be as smart as a dog？ In my culture it is a crime to knowingly mistreat a dog， so why should we tolerate it in a toaster oven that's just as smart？ Another interesting topic of the book is the competition between humanity and the machines。 In order to get work humans must use drugs to augment their intelligence an This book looks carefully at the question， what should be the rights of Artificial Intelligence。 Not just an AI as smart as a human， but how about the so-called "Weak" AI's， that might be as smart as a dog？ In my culture it is a crime to knowingly mistreat a dog， so why should we tolerate it in a toaster oven that's just as smart？ Another interesting topic of the book is the competition between humanity and the machines。 In order to get work humans must use drugs to augment their intelligence and strength to do what machines can。 Eventually， humans are so close to being shut out of the gig economy by machines that they go to unsafe extremes to keep working enough to survive。 Inevitably， a backlash occurs， sabotage brings the smarter stronger machines down and society all but collapses。 But what kind of new society is needed under these constraints？ 。。。more

Kate ，

2。75 stars rounded up。 Had such promise and such interesting ideas， but didn't quite land the execution。 The development of the main plot was frustratingly slow， while lots of little events happened that didn't really develop things much。 The constant repetition of the speculation about the Mahgreb got quite annoying too， like we get it， the USA is deeply suspicious and biased against the Islamic region。 I did like Nithya's story， sweet little Carma， and especially her helping Zeli and her famil 2。75 stars rounded up。 Had such promise and such interesting ideas， but didn't quite land the execution。 The development of the main plot was frustratingly slow， while lots of little events happened that didn't really develop things much。 The constant repetition of the speculation about the Mahgreb got quite annoying too， like we get it， the USA is deeply suspicious and biased against the Islamic region。 I did like Nithya's story， sweet little Carma， and especially her helping Zeli and her family。 。。。more

Scott ，

This was very enjoyable。

Anthony Philosophos ，

An interesting take on artificial intelligence and the molding with humanity。 I found the book engrossing and well thought out。

Cara ，

There were parts that just couldn't hold my attention but I did love all of the explorations of personal relationships here。 First good shippable couple of 2022: Olga & Connor <3 There were parts that just couldn't hold my attention but I did love all of the explorations of personal relationships here。 First good shippable couple of 2022: Olga & Connor <3 。。。more

Bonnie ，

A thriller about a new terrorist threat which may be the uprising of sentient AI， or may be a human force with an agenda， set in a future where social media and the gig economy have been taken to their extremes。 2095 is a time of great conveniences - 3D printers in every kitchen and most mundane tasks taken care of by bots。 At the same time， privacy is nonexistent as tiny cameras follow everyone and broadcast every detail （something that， surprisingly bothers none of the characters - no one seem A thriller about a new terrorist threat which may be the uprising of sentient AI， or may be a human force with an agenda， set in a future where social media and the gig economy have been taken to their extremes。 2095 is a time of great conveniences - 3D printers in every kitchen and most mundane tasks taken care of by bots。 At the same time， privacy is nonexistent as tiny cameras follow everyone and broadcast every detail （something that， surprisingly bothers none of the characters - no one seems to appreciate the downsides this would create in terms of having a stalker， an overbearing parent or spouse， or a bully）。 Extra money can be earned via "tip jars" when viewers appreciate what they're seeing。 And since machines can take care of almost every job， most people are stuck in the gig economy， picking up odd jobs or tasks that could be easily done by a bot but are allowed to be done by a person to create work for humans。 To compete against machines， humans have to take various performance enhancing drugs， such as "flow" for increased mental acuity。 Into this mix comes the Machinehood， causing destruction for their goal of machine rights and ending human reliance on the performance enhancing drugs。 There were moments I truly enjoyed and the world building was an interesting speculative take （although， as I said， the lack of care about the voyeurism with the hand wave that "no one had time to look at every feed" seemed to gloss over important implications of this constant media presence in everyone's lives）。 However， I felt that the Machinehood's message became kind of muddled （they want to get rid of all the pills that people take to compete with machines but want people to become cyborgs。。。I think？）。 And I found myself in the climax of the book continually putting it down every couple of pages and getting distracted， forcing myself to come back to finish the last 20 pages。 I feel like the climax is exactly when it should be at its most engaging。 Still， Divya has shown that she is willing to engage with thought-provoking concepts and has shown promise with this novel， and I am anticipating her next one。 。。。more

Sarah ，

This is set in a really interesting near future （2095） that had a lot of thoughtful worldbuilding put into it。 Unfortunately， the plot and the characterization don't quite live up to the rest of the book。 There's definitely some first book growing pain issues in here- the climax is rather disappointing and doesn't match the buildup， there are a lot of MacGuffins that don't actually move the plot along， and there are some scenes and elements that probably should have been cut for clarity。But it's This is set in a really interesting near future （2095） that had a lot of thoughtful worldbuilding put into it。 Unfortunately， the plot and the characterization don't quite live up to the rest of the book。 There's definitely some first book growing pain issues in here- the climax is rather disappointing and doesn't match the buildup， there are a lot of MacGuffins that don't actually move the plot along， and there are some scenes and elements that probably should have been cut for clarity。But it's still creative， engaging， and thoughtful， and I'll definitely be curious to see what comes next。 。。。more

J。 ¯\_（ツ）_/¯ ，

Didn't do much for me。 Not much happens and most of the book was buildup for meh。 There was plenty of gender/pronoun lunacy。 Another case of a book's reviews being based on its woke status rather than the quality of the writing。 Didn't do much for me。 Not much happens and most of the book was buildup for meh。 There was plenty of gender/pronoun lunacy。 Another case of a book's reviews being based on its woke status rather than the quality of the writing。 。。。more

Marie ，

One of the most fresh， truly different futures I've seen in a long time。 Divya takes the gig economy and social media and modern medicine and turns them all up to eleven， and also shows very different ways of living evolving around them。 I enjoyed the way the main characters were part of an extended family， and how the story was able to split between the front-lines action and the difficult research work。 My only complaint is that the part right before the ending was rushed 。。。 though I have sym One of the most fresh， truly different futures I've seen in a long time。 Divya takes the gig economy and social media and modern medicine and turns them all up to eleven， and also shows very different ways of living evolving around them。 I enjoyed the way the main characters were part of an extended family， and how the story was able to split between the front-lines action and the difficult research work。 My only complaint is that the part right before the ending was rushed 。。。 though I have sympathy。 It's hard to show worldwide change and shifts in political policy from the point of view of the individual。 。。。more

Katie Duffy ，

The first half of this book went pretty slowly for me—I would read just a little at a time instead of my usual binge， or I would grab my phone to look up the meaning of a word and then get distracted！ The fascinating plot kept me from just putting it down entirely， and I’m so glad—by the second half I could not put this book down。 I loved the characters and the alternating viewpoints， and the printed manifesto included with the book was a great touch。

Rach A。 ，

Machinehood is a dark picture of our future， a future where gig work dominates， where AIs and robots do most jobs and where people can design drugs in their own kitchens。 The worldbuilding in this is phenomenal and absolutely the best part of this book。 I am absolutely loved that though this is set 100 years in our future， little tidbits are dropped （e。g。 the line about Arizona abortion law） to see how we got from where we are now to where the world in Machinehood is， making it all the more terr Machinehood is a dark picture of our future， a future where gig work dominates， where AIs and robots do most jobs and where people can design drugs in their own kitchens。 The worldbuilding in this is phenomenal and absolutely the best part of this book。 I am absolutely loved that though this is set 100 years in our future， little tidbits are dropped （e。g。 the line about Arizona abortion law） to see how we got from where we are now to where the world in Machinehood is， making it all the more terrifying and realistic。 The world itself is also just fascinating， this world where funders hire people to design drugs in their own kitchens， the reliance on pharmaceuticals to do anything。 There are hints dropped about a pandemic era that occurred that led to this which was particularly eerie and unsettling now。What I was less sure of was Welga， one of the POV characters。 She was a bit too “pro US/our military is the most ethical even though they abandoned me and my team and left us for dead” for me （not a spoiler）。 I will say， it’s definitely a novel that makes you uncomfortable and will make you think regarding the worldbuilding around military and protest and pharmaceutical companies though I’m not sure it always felt *intentional*。 But altogether， a very interesting read with an absolute fascinating world！Content warnings: abortion， forced pregnancy， miscarriage， gore， drug use， addiction， withdrawal， violence， gun violence， war， racism， death， assault， body modification 。。。more

Amarachi ，

Free the machines

Denise ，

This book had a lot of potential to be better。 I gave it a generous three stars because I liked the originality of the book but was a bit bored with its execution

Esmay Rosalyne ，

3。5 starsVery interesting SF concepts， fun plot， but a bit of a 'meh' execution and resolution。 3。5 starsVery interesting SF concepts， fun plot， but a bit of a 'meh' execution and resolution。 。。。more

Luke Burrage ，

2。5 stars。Full review on my podcast， SFBRP episode #480。https://www。sfbrp。com/archives/1952Luke talks to Juliane about a book that has all the best aspects， and the worst aspects， of a debut novel: Machinehood by S B Divya。 2。5 stars。Full review on my podcast， SFBRP episode #480。https://www。sfbrp。com/archives/1952Luke talks to Juliane about a book that has all the best aspects， and the worst aspects， of a debut novel: Machinehood by S B Divya。 。。。more

Glenda ，

I only got 50 or so pages in and just couldn’t get into it。 The fight scenes and tech jargon lost me， which is too bad as the whole idea of this sounded so interesting。

Jacqueline Moss ，

3。5 stars。 I enjoyed this book and the concept was interesting with the new developments of machine and humans becoming more like machines。 The sci fi aspects were well done and believable while not being overly scientific in the writing。 Welga was a fun protagonist but sometimes a bit one dimensional in her motivations。 I also found some of the side characters to be very well rounded while others fell a bit flat。 Overall a decent read but not quite as good as I wanted it to be。

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Machinehood

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Machinehood&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Machinehood&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0