Sentience by Courtney P. Hunter -Review & Giveaway

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date October 30, 2020

Robots, sex, lies, adventure, and chaos. Who can you trust when you can’t trust yourself? And what truly defines humanity and consciousness?

Running from a violent past, Leo Knox desperately decides to participate in a scientific experiment conducted by the infamous and greedy tech-giant, AlgorithmOS. Soon, Leo learns that she has agreed to take part in a Turing Test, a test that measures the ability of artificial intelligence to blend in among humanity, but what she doesn’t know is that the test set to take place is unlike any other of its kind.

Leo enters Eden, the contained preserve where the test will occur, with twenty-three others. While everyone appears to be human, four of the individuals are an indistinguishably advanced form of humanoid AI. The task is simple: identify the AI while trying to survive. The twist? The four AI are completely unaware of their nature, causing every participant to question what they know as reality.

The group embarks on a journey within the preserve, rigged with obstacles devised by the controllers of the experiment to elicit human response and emotion. Quickly, madness ensues and divides form, partnering Leo up with Avery Ford, a Marine who wears his demons on his sleeve. Romance falls together for the two as the world around them falls apart, revealing the lengths people will go to protect those they love, to achieve monetary gain, or simply to survive.

Back at AlgorithmOS, the story unfolds on the screens of Nathan Aimes, a scientist responsible for monitoring the experiment’s surveillance cameras. Nathan studies the humans involved as they wrestle with where they stand on the polarizing issue of AI and its applications. He watches the AI unknowingly fight to prove their humanity just to leave the experiment unscathed. All the while, Nathan is intimately aware of his company’s plans to weaponize or commodify the AI should they pass the test, and he must reconcile this with the chaos that plays out before him.

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REVIEW: SENTIENCE by Courtney P Hunter is a sci-fi story line, set in the not too distant future focusing on a sociological and psychological experiment grouping AI (Artificial Intelligence) with human beings.

NOTE: Due to the graphic nature of the story line premise, there may be triggers for more sensitive readers

Told from several third person perspectives SENTIENCE follows twenty-four volunteers and recruited participants on a dangerous journey of survival. The tech-giant AlgorithmOS is conducting a closed experiment known as the Turing Test to determine if artificial intelligence is able to integrate into human society without being detected. Unaware of which four of the twenty-four are human or machine, two weeks together will prove that humanity, whether real or artificial, is unable to resist the drive for power. Emotions running high, injuries, murder, the fight for food, issues of trust, and a struggle for control split the group where survival of the fittest plays out on the screens of AlgorithmOS.

The group of twenty include physician and lawyer, prisoner and biker, former service men, teacher, student, priest, dancer, architect ,corrections officer, FBI forensic artist librarian and more. The mixed blend of professionals and ideologies is perfect fuel and fodder to pit man against man, whether real or machine.

SENTIENCE is a haunting, twisted and edgy amalgam of Westworld™, The Hunger Games™ , I,Robot, and Lord of the Flies™. A sociological experiment, of ‘man’s inhumanity towards man’ regardless of the real or perceived, SENTIENCE delves into the perspective of Karl Marx’s Conflict Theory where social order is maintained by power, domination and control. On the flip side, can artificial intelligence be aware, autonomous, conscious or able to distinguish between right and wrong-if they are soulless, will punishment fit the crime if the conscious is not aware?. As AlgorithmOS directs the story line, the end result will prove whether or not artificial intelligence can be programmed to be the ultimate weapon in man’s ability to survive.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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Courtney Hunter is a serial creator from Philadelphia, PA with experience in writing, the fashion industry, and live performance. After eighteen years of studying contemporary dance, she set out to carve herself a path in fashion and retail buying. Upon graduating from Philadelphia University and settling into her career, she turned back to dance. While working as a retail buyer for Burlington Stores, Courtney began producing contemporary dance and burlesque performances under her production company Stolen Fire Collective, aptly named after Prometheus the fire-stealing god. Sentience, her debut Science Fiction novel, is a written extension of a contemporary dance piece that was produced for the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in 2017 based on artificial intelligence.

A lifelong Sci-Fi fan (her favorite movie as a little girl was and still is Jurassic Park), Courtney loves anything Promethean in nature and her favorite books, movies, and television shows are the ones that challenge the ethics of the future that we are rapidly heading towards. Some of her favorites include Jurassic Park (obviously), The 100, The OA, Westworld, The East, and Ex Machina.

She still resides in Philadelphia with her partner, Will, and her rescue pups, Rickie and Billie. In her free time, she records a podcast called The Sentience Podcast, which started as a behind the scenes look at the making of her novel and has evolved into an auditory hub for all things science fiction, creative process, true crime, and the occult.

Sentience is due out Friday, October 30, 2020, three years to the date after Courtney first started writing it.

Courtney P Hunter is graciously offering a paper copy of  SENTIENCE  to ONE lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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9. Giveaway open to INTERNATIONALLY

10. Giveaway runs from October 30-November 4, 2020