Cyber vs Robot: Commentary on Wilson’s Robocolypse

Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocolypse and Robogenesis, inspired by today’s world of robotics, are on the bestseller list and rightly so. In Makr’s Shadow may be a third such novel worth more than a look.

I’m glad to see a fellow writer who has a similar interest. He is a roboticist, while I am a psychologist.

Our aim is as similar as our approach. We both use an apocalyptic vision to show society at its worst and at its best.  To some literary publishing houses, the subject of robots is passe. Naturally, I disagree. I think it is a subject which time is now. I wrote an article on that recently.

Wilson and I have a similar vision in that our own creations “robots” or, in my case, “cyberts” could be the death of us; however, that said, these human generated or conceived creatures are something special and we can learn from our experience with them.

In Makr’s Shadow is the story of humans relying on technology to make problem-solving decisions that could result in our planet’s annihilation. I say that smiling, knowing full well, Wilson is the more established writer and has the creds to sell his books easier than I can sell mine. I heard his interview on National Public Radio, and I’d love to meet and chat with him. In my defense, In Makr’s Shadow is my debut novel and it needs some attention.

Why Cyber or cyberts and not robots? Semantics. I don’t think so.

Cyberts as I have described them in In Makr’s Shadow are sentient by connection to cyberserver; pure robots exist for mundane taskings–including street cleaning. Cyberts exist in such numbers as to be considered another race, the Cyber, more powerful in every way than their Bio counterparts.

The difference is significant. The cyberts are task- specific mobile extensions of the server, an evolving artificial intelligence called Makr. Robots are tools to aid Bios and perform perfunctory maintenance tasks, nothing more.

In spite of their inferior status, they are still connected and can bring superior “robots” with a connection or cyberts. Some cyberts perform tasks that require intellectual or combat and weapon skills to protect Makr, while others simply maintain the infrastructure of the planet.

In Makr’s Shadow, humanity had reached the end of its patience in trying to save their world from self-destruction–the problems, an “apocalypse” that they themselves caused. World leaders ultimately turned the operation of the planet to the combined intelligence of all the computers in the world, forming an evolving artificial intelligence, Makr.

There’s only one problem. Makr won’t give it back, and tries to create a whole new world populated by Cyber. To do that, he must annihilate the human race.

In Wilson’s Robogenesis, the remnants of society are picking up the pieces, while In Makr’s Shadow, most of society, 90 percent are imprisoned by illusion. Of the remaining ten percent that are not held prisoner, only one percent is actually fighting the cyberts. Interestingly enough, the survival of the human race at stake. Here, though, one man, who has the ability to see through illusions, manages to escape his imprisonment; he is different in a way that changes the world forever. It can never be the same.

“In Makr’s Shadow reads like an Isaac Asimov and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. novel combining, action, suspense and fun. Thought-provoking. Exciting. Shaw’s characters are dynamic and real. They are as flawed as all of humanity with fears, anger, regret and arrogance, yet heroes emerge from the strangest places. All that seems lost, is not lost.”

Goodreads has good things to say as well.

The biggest difference between Wilson and my novel is probably price and availability.

In Makr’s Shadow is available wherever e-books are sold for $2.99. I’m offering it for free to anyone who is willing to open a dialogue with me or write a review. We’ve all tried to read some horrible e-books, but I don’t believe this is one of those. I believe in this novel’s surprising message and I’m sure you’ll find it entertaining along with way.

At the risk of losing sales of In Makr’s Shadow, I can’t help but recommend Danial H. Wilson’s robotic fiction; they sound as terrific as my own. He said, smiling. By the way, if you are interested in Wilson’s books, here is a sample from this cool site, Science Friday.

I have posted my samples In Makr’s Shadow (previously published as Harry’s Reality) on this website and will continue to do so. I am also working on a new novel called The Jaguar, so you may find clips for that as well.

Styles and approaches vary with every novelist. I hope you like mine. If you decide to take me up on my free offer, leave me a comment. Thanks.

What Qualifies a God?

This is an important question. Can we create a god? Not in our minds, hearts or souls, but in science. First, this is not a religious debate. Second, I don’t wish to offend anyone with this rhetoric. The big question is can we create a deity, or something that defines our definition and criteria? Some would say it’s all in our minds… We still need a criteria.

How about we play with the definitions–just those that appear in our society today?

We have gods and a god concept in our minds. Our definition of a personal god is easy; we are taught what defines the presence of one in our lives. Most of us believe in something whether it is spiritual or science, i.e., the Christian vs the atheist, or it could Islam versus the Unbeliever  It’s not really that complicated is it?

Ironically, some people know the definition because their religion tells them, but allow “other gods” to exist in their imaginations–not believing but accepting another god concept for a moment.

We all will accept that a character on a screen, in a book, or even people in reality may be god-like totally separate from our beliefs. For example, super heroes–Thor in particular is a demi-god; Hercules is also. They come from the past but we accept them for the sake of a good story. Maybe there’s more.

Mythology, of course, is full of gods, many of them the basis for a people’s religion. Some doctors have a god-complex. Kids are told through stories that some beings are superior in such a way as to be gods. Fantasy tales, for example.

Science fiction plays with the concept as well. It depends on how we define god. Belief systems have a criteria, or you wouldn’t believe. Sure, we all believe in truth, but we “humanize” everything. As we do so, we are pretending we live in a different world. From talking to our pets to reincarnation–a whole different matter.

Then, there is the concept of power. Why do some want it or need it?

Who wants to be in charge of everyone or be responsible for everyone?Those who really believe they are gods are institutionalized away somewhere away from us sane people.

Is it supreme intellect, the ability to create miracles, or have super powers, or by virtue of being a more powerful species overall?

The last would make us all gods, wouldn’t it? It is the basis for many myths that include two worlds, one stronger and more powerful and a lessor one, subservient to the first.

In Makr’s Shadow, humans save their planet from self-destruction. To do so, scientists create a super cyber server by combining the power and data available in the world in one place. The idea is that the machine can make all the hard decisions needed to save the earth so neglected by humanity. Unwitting, they have created a monster that believes he is a god–the only one on the planet. Nothing on earth is more powerful. I didn’t set out to discuss the question in my novel. The idea and discussion evolved as I imagined the society, and the splintered groups, in particular, that go separate ways. While ninety percent of the population are under Makr’s spell, ten percent are not.

These humans are unpredictable. It’s not belief or disbelief in a deity; they resist as humans do–to change. However, that group naturally splinters into smaller groups of varying beliefs and other reasons, some being just survival. This splintered society is our society.

We are all different, but that’s about to change when a man appears who is unique to both groups. Is he a freak of nature, a missing link, or a messiah? Makr creates memories and realities proper to run a Perfect Society. In this society, there is no dissention, no laws, no feeling or thought that cannot be controlled and managed.

That is, except for one man–an anomaly named Harry Bolls who can see through illusion. He doesn’t know how or why he is able to do this, and he has lost a chunk of memories. It is enough to send him on a quest for the truth.

Is the world around us real or an illusion? Is reality what we see, we think we see, or what we know? And, how do we know it?

Whereas the omniscient Makr, as the most powerful and intelligent being on the planet believes Himself to be a god. In Makr’s Shadow, the truth is not so simple. Anymore, and I give away the ending. Rather than face religion head-on, I tried to create a satirical situation begging the age-old question: which came first the chicken or the egg? Or, in this case, Makr’s goal is to make humanity believe, in fact, that they are Bios–simply a weaker species of machine using a biological design.

Why doesn’t Makr delete the humans and clear the planet in favor of better, more controllable inhabitants? Human behavior  does not compute; it’s not predictable. Could it be he wants to know all that the humans know before he eradicates the entire race? Still he has to fight those who attack his PerSoc.

Do we know the minds of the lower species? In this case, Homo sapiens sapiens. What happened to Homo sapiens neanderthal? We can only speculate, but the fact remains, our species survived and theirs did not.

In Makr’s Shadow, the social sciences are at work, too. As is the psychological impact of living in such a society. Would we one day be willing to live in a world that had no consequences, or design a life of our choosing? It’s tempting. Some humans worship Makr as a means to personal survival, believing that a superior being must be merciful. Even the splinter groups recognize Makr’s superiority and power. However, they are only admitting that there is a sentient being of superior intellect, strength and power is worthy of the highest respect.

If we compare Cyber and Bios as separate species, which they are obviously, there are differences. Makr has created a “race” of Cyber or specialized cyberts. Each is task-oriented; each one in its place. Cyber appear superior to Bio machines in intellect, adaptability, strength and durability. But no human is exactly the same (except in the subset) and so unpredictable. A human’s place is where he or she chooses in the theoretical world. Unfortunately, that isn’t always true in reality.

Is Makr a god? For his Cyber maybe. The rest is for you to decide.

In Makr’s Shadow is available wherever e-books are sold.

Giant Robots Are Passé

For novels that is… Some who publish young adult books still use them, I suppose. And, graphic novels. Movies, on the other hand, get away with giant robots flying around the sky destroying everything in their paths.

A very smart scientist–an off-the-chart smart scientist–found a way to work around the effects of gravity, the pull of the sun and other space objects revolving around it, and some basic rules of aerodynamics.

We don’t bother to count errors in the science of an action film. Robots can fight on the ground, in the sky and even in space. Spacecraft or other flying machines stop in mid-air so we assume they are equipped with anti-gravity devices. Ordinary machines evolve into superior, “cool-looking” warriors.

It’s exciting…in film.

Unfortunately, if writers do write something comparable in a science-fiction novel today, it would most likely be trashed or sold to Hollywood, but not published traditionally. (Okay, maybe it can pass for a young adult novel, but that’s the market anyway.)

With today’s economic conditions, most any novel dealing with the above would be considered hackneyed by the editors, and I can’t say I’d disagree. Robots, with the exception of microbots and other variants, have lost the top spot in science-fiction genre literature.

Cyber warfare is different. Here we are still dealing with a human-made attempt to create a helpful artificial intelligence and that becomes sentient. What happens after it is created and placed is the story.

So, I broke the publisher’s cardinal rule, knowing that the conflict, war against machines, is passé, over with, and done in. But, I did it anyway. I used the Cyber Bio War as the backdrop for my novel. What my characters experience is an unwinnable war against an evolving enemy with not just some, but all of the resources. Yet, the continue the fight. Humans are and always will be inferior with the usual weaponry, but they will not give up their humanity.

After I extrapolated existing science and societal trends I had to go there–to that world I created. Good writers can break the rules of good grammar in telling a story. Why can’t I explore content in the same way.

In Makr’s Shadow, I broke the rules of the latest publishing trend and paid the price, publishing an e-book instead. But I still think it is worth it.

Robots in science fiction literature seem to be window dressing, an accepted part of future society, but there’s always the exception. A different use, an unusual place. Creative fortune.

However, my “robots” are different. Cyberts, my “robots,” are mobile extensions of a central evolving artificial intelligence. Cyber are not the automatons of the past but a new accepted, sentient species–a race of thinking machines–machines that can do anything a Bio can do, only better.

At the moment, these Cyber are effectively maintaining the planet and pacifying its inhabitants by waging war on dissidents.

We see a lot intelligent machinery in films–especially with the Marvel and DC comic book superheroes. Who else could giant robots fight? Normal humans would be crushed in a minute. The story would read like a metallic Jurassic Park, except there would be no eating the dead. I’ve yet to see a robot that does that. Massive destruction, yes. Eating its victims, no.

Film producers want to create images that astound, not literature that fascinates and discusses the way we interact with our technology. There are a few exceptions like Gravity,  Apollo 13, and a few others that deal with existing technology are still able to do that. Most films that pretend to be science fiction contain little plot or character development.

Now-a-days, most science fiction is about the effect of new science discoveries or technology gone awry, i.e. the atomic bomb. Still, the weird variations get in. You know them when you see them and put the book down, sorry you picked it up in the first place.

The definitions and types have grown far and wide with the interest and imagination of those who read SF. Still, the genre experts (call them publishers) say science fiction literature should focus on the “higher levels” of hard science for the most part; however, some publishers like to throw in fantasy (personal choice?), wars fought against superior alien technology and war’s that end the world, leaving a few survivors. All of these conflicts and situations, too, are obvious and overused.

However, there was a time when robots (uncool now) served in the background and often played a leading role in a novel of ideas. Isaac Asimov started a trend in 1946 when his I, Robot was published. It was also made into an science fiction action film with Will Smith.

Asimov created the Three Rules of Robotics:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

For the most part, these rules have been respected by colleagues whenever robots are in contact with human beings.

In Makr’s Shadow was influenced by the work of Isaac Asimov (a highly underrated author) and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (a mainstream writer). Both were writers of the literature of ideas. I hope I’ve managed to merge the essence of each, and have done so respectfully.

Unlike Asimov, who wrote science fiction and was delighted by it, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. denied that any of his fiction fit in the science fiction genre, when all of his novels have elements of SF by definition, and easily fit a definition of SF very well.

It may have been an act, but I think he wanted to be accepted totally in the mainstream rather than appear side by side with that SF trash–genre fiction. You know, the kind that had aliens or robots in it?

Because it’s satire, does that make it mainstream literature. Vonnegut made fun of science fiction in The Sirens of Titan, but if you look at all his books you will find they either fit the definitions or contain elements of science fiction. And, unless he’s poking fun, you won’t see any robots. Ironically, his imaginative and thought-provoking novels make excellent cases for writing soft or social science fiction.

With the exception of Cat’s Cradle (atomic bomb), he uses the soft sciences of psychology, sociology, economics, history, time travel, and alternate realities or universes to make his point, as opposed to the “hard” sciences like chemistry, physics and biology.

In Makr’s Shadow, the ongoing conflict is the background in the same way as Vonnegut’s parody of science fiction masks his underlying idea. That one day we will develop artificial intelligence one day is certain. How we choose to use it will be more important than the development itself.

My dystopian digital novel, In Makr’s Shadow is a rock and roll, roller coaster of action, suspense, humor and character development– highlighted with positive values–and, if you can believe it, an evolving family.

According to Tricia Johnson, The Word Weaver, UK, In Makr’s Shadow is ” a superb read…edge of seat stuff until the very end!!”

And, she should know because she helped fine tune it. The ending is, of course, to be kept secret; however, it can be said the story is more about people than the machines.

Science Fiction: What’s The Big Deal?

The big deal is this: representing science fiction as a jumbled, juxtaposed mass of gee whiz elements, great for special effects, is just not fair! And, we see it all the time in blockbuster science fiction films. The obvious intention being to entertain, but to call what we see science fiction or imply, infer or state that it is good or great science fiction is wrong. Good science fiction, whatever the definition, involves the use of the brain to process ideas as well as emotions. Of course, that’s why it’s called the “literature of ideas.”

Although there are more authoritative sources, one only needs the online source, Wikipedia, to get an idea of the broad base of science fiction definitions, and not be overwhelmed. There are two separate pages: 1) literature genre and 2) film. Check out this link from the University of Michigan about the various types of science fiction literature, and this link from SciFi Lists.

As broad as those definitions are, the best to me seems to be the notion that science fiction (SF) genre exists as a way of communicating with society about humanity’s relationship with science and technology.

In Makr’s Shadow is a story about what happens a man creates a machine smarter and able to evolve faster than all humanity, but it means more than that. The story is an entertaining conveyance of a deeper message. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. uses The Sirens of Titan, not only as a vehicle to parody science fiction, employing as many SF devices as possible, but also to discuss something else he thinks is more important. The deeper question is not the parody (although entertaining), but contained within the whole piece. For both novels, even if you don’t understand the underlying message, you will still be remarkably excited by the adventures.

In Makr’s Shadow, the obvious man against machine conflict sets the stage to say something more. For humanity, the obvious underdog, the fight against the machines seems hopeless, so what is the real conflict here? It has to be something deeper.

Violence (human against human) exists in every quarter of society today, but in my future world–In Makr’s Shadow, technology is the villain, so most of the violence is machine against man and vise versa. However, that’s where it stops.

The world we see is in the middle of war against machines, but the war is not what propels the action. Harry, an Insider, who has the ability to see through the fantasy to reality, is the impetus. His drive to know the truth affects the world.

The obvious is not so obvious anymore. The war is an element as entertaining as it may be; however, is not the most important idea…although a reader could be content reading the novel as a simple adventure tale.

There are human questions like how others perceive us, how we see ourselves and what is best for us–or for others are what we struggle with everyday. What is it we have over the machines that make us at least as powerful?

When you add the “evolving artificial intelligence” to the equation, the answer is far more complicated.

The question becomes about power: who has it and what do we do with it?

The machines are limited by logic. We, humans are not. Human behavior is irregular, but not a defect. We have the ability to be spontaneous; the machines do not. There are quite a few moments where the conflict is man against man, but that happens in any fractured and stressed society–like the one we live in. Here, In Makr’s Shadow, the conflict really becomes man against himself.

Humans have psychological and sociological reactions to this dark reality. Some become twisted and hateful, some grow in positive ways, becoming leaders and even heroes. Some conflicts are baser as a young woman fights back against a human who tries to rape her, and the violator is punished immediately without trial or hearing.

Sexuality is generally treated with satire, and in a love story, and yet the novel’s essence is about discovering truth (why I am the way I am). “What are we?” is a trivial human question in comparison, but still important nonetheless. In Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.’s The Sirens of Titan, he explores the sophomoric question of purpose in the universe. Why do we exist?

Science fiction can explore many issues–some quite basic–and some quite deep. It can provide a platform for addressing and discussing sensitive issues we may not want to confront head-on. Using extraterrestrials in a story allow us discuss certain aspects of society we might find uncomfortable like racism, sacrificing a few to save many, positive and negative effects of cloning, the same of religion, etc. It can teach like a fable or a fairy tale. Often, SF is exactly that. In fact, In Makr’s Shadow, could easily be considered a fable or fairy tale with science as the magical force that affects everyone.

In fighting to save their world and their humanity, my heroes, physically and mentally, must confront the world they nearly destroyed. Once they understand, they don’t know what they can do about it. Why would anyone give up a world so perfect? It’s about choices we make, and about what makes us unique in the universe–even unique among other humans.

The exciting “action” is in the backdrop of a war against lethal machine-made weapons and the artificial intelligence that created them. In fighting what seems to be an unwinnable war, humans face their own demons–their own nature.

The thought-provoking underlying question is: are humans worth saving? They face their own splintered society, face universal fears and persevere. The story twists and turns as our heroes uncover myths of their own making.

And, the ending…well, let’s just say it should surprise you. If not, e-mail me and let me know. The best news is that the price of this fantastic ebook is a mere $2.99 at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and other retailers of ebooks. You can also go direct to Smashwords.com and download it in virtually any format.

What Your Friends Can’t Tell You About Self-Publishing

What Your Friends Can’t Tell You About Self-Publishing

This article is from an author who has self-published and has gone the traditional route. What do you think?