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A review by bluejayreads
The Swan Riders by Erin Bow
5.0
This book is intense. It's not action-packed - in fact, most of the story takes place on a horseback journey across the Canadian wilderness - but oh god, the emotions.
This book has a bigger thematic element than The Scorpion Rules. Now that Greta is an AI, it asks the questions, "What is it that truly makes us human?" and "Can an artificial intelligence become more human?" Which are both very interesting questions to me, a person who is very uncomfortable with and kind of scared of transhumanism. The story leaves the second question ambiguous but does answer the first question - in a way that I liked but still felt a little clichéd.
There is a lot of really cool stuff in this book. There's a lot more about the Swan Riders, including several major Swan Rider characters, and Talis the head AI is a major character (and actually quite enjoyable). The world and the other characters are all excellently done, and provide an excellent backdrop to Greta's story.
If you don't like Greta, you're not going to like this book. This is very much her story, and not just because she's narrating. She's the first new AI in a while, she's the first one in ages to look at being AI with fresh eyes, and her processing it, learning to deal with it, dealing with feelings of love and caring, and figuring out what it means to be AI and what it means to be human is the story. Sure, there's a rebellion and some unexpected betrayal that adds tension, but that's not really what the story is about. The story is about Greta, love, and the nature of humanity.
Which I had no problems with, because I really like Greta.
There were a few minor details I had issue with. The romance from the previous book, even though it wasn't huge, was abruptly dropped. And a few of the AI-related details at the end got confusing. But the problems were small enough that I'm willing to overlook them - and besides, I was too busy enjoying the intensity of the emotions to worry about it.
I don't think there's going to be a third book in the series, and I'm okay with that. There's room for one if Erin wanted to write it, but the series also wrapped up really well here. The ending is somewhat open, but it still brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed this journey.
This book has a bigger thematic element than The Scorpion Rules. Now that Greta is an AI, it asks the questions, "What is it that truly makes us human?" and "Can an artificial intelligence become more human?" Which are both very interesting questions to me, a person who is very uncomfortable with and kind of scared of transhumanism. The story leaves the second question ambiguous but does answer the first question - in a way that I liked but still felt a little clichéd.
There is a lot of really cool stuff in this book. There's a lot more about the Swan Riders, including several major Swan Rider characters, and Talis the head AI is a major character (and actually quite enjoyable). The world and the other characters are all excellently done, and provide an excellent backdrop to Greta's story.
If you don't like Greta, you're not going to like this book. This is very much her story, and not just because she's narrating. She's the first new AI in a while, she's the first one in ages to look at being AI with fresh eyes, and her processing it, learning to deal with it, dealing with feelings of love and caring, and figuring out what it means to be AI and what it means to be human is the story. Sure, there's a rebellion and some unexpected betrayal that adds tension, but that's not really what the story is about. The story is about Greta, love, and the nature of humanity.
Which I had no problems with, because I really like Greta.
There were a few minor details I had issue with. The romance from the previous book, even though it wasn't huge, was abruptly dropped. And a few of the AI-related details at the end got confusing. But the problems were small enough that I'm willing to overlook them - and besides, I was too busy enjoying the intensity of the emotions to worry about it.
I don't think there's going to be a third book in the series, and I'm okay with that. There's room for one if Erin wanted to write it, but the series also wrapped up really well here. The ending is somewhat open, but it still brings the story to a satisfying conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed this journey.