I had great fun with this one. I wish I had known that it appears to be the first in a series...that would have helped me adjust my expectations. The theme of Data Domination reminds me of Eggers' The Circle but this is a bit more mystical or fantastical than that, with plot elements that either stretch your willingness to suspend belief or simply make you realize that you are perhaps not in the genre you thought you were. I learned about the Amazon Echo was announced, and so I was primed to like this book.

So take this as genre-fiction, the genre being something like sci-fi/fantasy/thriller/caper/spy and sit back and enjoy.