Antithesis: A Collection of Science Fiction and Other Short Stories
by Svet Rouskov
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GENRE: Science-Fiction
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BLURB:
Antithesis is a collection of vivid and exhilarating science fiction stories, tied together by characters whose moral challenges offer windows into humanity and the human condition. These stories are cautionary tales, flights of fancy, terrifying psychological journeys, humorous romps, and even a space opera.
A speculative tale about humankind becoming obsolete from the perspective of the machines we created. The story of an airline pilot who loses his faith in the physics of flying as his rational and irrational mind fight for dominance. An ancient being born of human evolution that strips us of our memories, feeding on one precious reminiscence at a time. An audacious fable that explores a new galaxy, one where humans are irrelevant, but the conflicts of a class-based society are not. A novella-length saga about a mission to Mars, the origins of humanity, and an atrocity that stretches across time and space. And finally, a story that asks the question whether an unstoppable artificial intelligence would indeed be happier traveling the vast reaches of space, or back amongst the flawed beings who created it.
Escape into worlds unlike anything you have seen before, but some eerily similar to our own. Antithesis – where the opposite is to be expected.
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Excerpt One:
Samantha also knew Kenji was sweet on Ellie, but Ellie wasn’t interested, as she found him dreadfully boring. Sam didn’t know why, but people trusted her. Maybe it was the fact that she was middle-aged and had done enough to know something, but still felt young at heart. Either way, Samantha loved being in the middle of the drama.
“Listen, Kenji, I don’t think she likes you that way,” Samantha replied.
“Has she said so?” “No. But it’s just … you guys are so different,” she said.
“How?”
“She’s an adrenaline junkie, rides a motorcycle, climbs mountains, hang-glides …”
“I’m not exciting enough for her?” Kenji asked, the hurt plainly visible on his face.
“No, that’s not it at all. It’s just—” But she was cut off as Ellie stormed into the room, face flushed, eyes wide, looking like she was going to hyperventilate.
“It’s building!” Ellie blurted out.
“Calm down, Ellie,” said Samantha.
Ellie took a deep breath, then continued, “The line is building something.”
“What did you program it to make?” asked Kenji.
“I didn’t. No one did,” she replied.
Kenji and Samantha exchanged a shocked look, and then both jumped to their feet.
Samantha and Ellie stared out the control room’s observation window. Below them, the assembly line hummed with activity. Kenji was behind them at the stations, madly entering commands on the panels. Sam turned to look at him and could see the look of shock in his eyes.
“No plans were entered into the system,” he said.
“Then what’s being made?” asked Samantha.
The door burst open, and Ross stormed in. He first went to the window—eyes wide, practically frothing at the mouth—but then whipped around and glared at Kenji. “What the fuck is going on?” he barked. “I don’t know,” said Kenji.
“What do you mean you don’t know? What are we building?”
Kenji didn’t answer, just curled his shoulders and lowered his head. Ross whipped around to look at Ellie. “Don’t look at me,” she said.
“You integrated his code, didn’t you? Take some responsibility for once!”
“Take it easy, Ross. Yelling’s not going to help,” said Samantha.
Ross slowly softened; Samantha knew the calming effect she had on him and wasn’t afraid to interrupt one of his outbursts.
Ross turned back to Kenji. “What happened?”
“As far as I can tell, the system chose to make something on its own,” said Kenji.
“I thought we followed the anti-artificial-intelligence laws, you know, so something like this couldn’t happen,” Ross said accusingly.
“We did. I can’t explain it—” Kenji began, but he was cut off by Ellie, who was at the viewing window.
“It’s done!” she cried.
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My review: Stories are fairly interesting tales with a sci-fi and theoretical theme. The writing was intelligent and well-done for the most part. The narrative was finely tuned and detailed, but it was a little too complex at times. If you like stories that are out of this world, then give these a try.
My rating: 3 stars
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Svet Rouskov started his career as a graduate from the University of Toronto Mechanical Engineering program and became a successful automotive industry executive. After fifteen years he discovered that his real passion was writing. Once he took an introductory screenwriting class, Svet realized he was hooked and continued his filmmaking education at Norman Jewison's Canadian Film Centre. Since that time, Svet has written, developed, and produced feature films, television shows, video games, and web-based series. His passion for writing has now extended to literature, which offers him another exciting avenue to tell stories. This is Svet's first work of fiction.
Please check out his IMDb page for details of his work and representative contact information.
CONNECT WITH SVET ROUSKOV
WEBSITE: https://svetrouskov.com/
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3118508/
PURCHASE LINKS for ANTITHESIS
AMAZON.COM https://amazon.com/dp/0228840317
AMAZON.CA https://amazon.ca/dp/0228840317
BOOKSHOP https://bookshop.org/books/antithesis-a-collection-of-science-fiction-and-other-short-stories-9780228840329/9780228840312
INDIGO CHAPTERS https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/antithesis-a-collection-of-science/9780228840336-item.html
BARNES & NOBLE https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/antithesis-svet-rouskov/1138748979
BOOK DEPOSITORY https://www.bookdepository.com/Antithesis-Svet-Rouskov/9780228840312
SMASHWORDS https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1067295
APPLE BOOKS https://books.apple.com/us/book/antithesis-collection-science-fiction-other-short-stories/id1552933427
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
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ReplyDeleteThis sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your review and the book and author details, this sounds like a good read
ReplyDeleteGreat cover.
ReplyDelete