A.I. Is Salvation…?
5 out of 5 stars
Nicholas Sansbury Smith and R.C. Bray back together again. I mean, even just knowing that will help bolster sales of this book – but if I back away from my fandom of both and just look at this book critically, it’s probably Smith’s best work to date. I’ve read quite a few books from NSS over the years from Extinction Cycle to Hell Divers to Trackers to Sons of War. Each world has its own unique feel to it. Each one has insanely well built out characters and plotlines. But, sometimes you can tell when an author puts their heart and soul into a book. I think that E-Day is that book for Smith. Every page and every chapter I could feel Smith’s soul coming out through his words. E-Day was written with so much love and so much attention to detail that it just jumps off the page.
Now, backing up a bit from that introduction, knowing how much I like Smith’s other work – I jumped into E-Day without a ton of information. I knew that there was going to be AI in it along with all of the other things mentioned above, but I wanted to go into it as blind as I could so that every new thing would surprise me. I’m glad that I did because this book was just excellent from beginning to end. But even with that said, there were some parts of it that surprised me (in a good way). E-Day contains a lot of interesting characters along with interesting sects/groups. It also utilizes a lot of history to “show” who each group was. My particular favorite was the amount of Samurai influence that was in this book. I don’t know why, but I didn’t expect it, and because of that it made me enjoy the influence even more.
Now, I can’t talk too much about the actual plot points, especially the turning points of the book (the last quarter of it or so was a mad sprint to the finish with lots of reveals and surprises). But just know that as someone who has read 20+ Smith books, this book still had a lot of parts that surprised me. I will say, especially the part where I figured out what E-Day stood for was the biggest shock of them all. I didn’t realize I spent most of the book trying to figure out why he called it that, but once he mentions it (almost casually in the book), I was, for lack of better words, shook.
Now, I don’t even have to talk about R.C. Bray’s narration – I mean, he’s one of the top-selling narrators for a reason. But, if, for some reason, you still need a selling point at this point in my review… Bray sings numerous times in this book. Yeah? Enough said.
Book Description:
Artificial intelligence is our last hope of saving the war-ravaged Earth in this near-future science-fiction thriller from the apocalyptic mind of New York Times best-selling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith (Hell Divers, The Extinction Cycle, Orbs).
The most advanced soldiers in human history are about to become obsolete.
Engines. Genetically modified warriors that keep the great Nova Alliance war machine churning against the enemy Coalition. Most days, Engines are all that stand between salvation and chaos. Led by legendary Engine, Captain Akira Hayashi, Shadow Squad has fought on the frontlines for a decade. They are on the brink of victory when the Coalition launches a series of desperate and devastating attacks that cripple the Nova Alliance restoration sites vital to save the dying planet.
As the sites burn and Earth’s hope of salvation fades, Shadow Squad is equipped with neural implants to connect them to Apeiron, the first hybrid-human-AI entity. She is coded for what Captain Hayashi believes is an impossible task – peace. But war isn’t the only threat to the Earth. Apeiron has uncovered a deadly secret with implications that could end all life. This rapidly approaching threat can be stopped only if humanity bands together on what will become known as E-Day, a pivotal moment that will determine the evolution – or the extinction – of the entire human race.
E-Day by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Narrator: R.C. Bray
Length: 15 hrs and 10 mins
Series: E-Day #1
Published by Recorded Books on July 6th 2021
Genres: Science Fiction, Technothriller
Format: Audiobook
Buy from Audible
Also by this author: Extinction Horizon, Extinction Edge, The Extinction Cycle, Extinction Age
Also in this series: E-Day II: Burning Earth, Dark Moon (E-Day #3)
