The Last Firewall (Singularity Series)

This is the third book in the series, and after the first and second, I did not think they could get any better than the previous books, but I was wrong, this was a great follow-up to Hertling's earlier books. Again I really enjoyed learning the possibilities of a growing artificial intelligence in our world and the good and bad that can come with it. This has just as original theme as the earlier books and I read through it in one sitting, so it kept me hooked. I appreciate the author's understanding and fluency with karate, meditation, and computerese, he should consider adding an appendix of definitions for his technical words that most people will not understand. I think the writing is as original and high quality as any other fiction book I have read. I will be interested to see if the author will be able to come up with a fourth book for this series, I am not sure he can but with his talents who knows. Again I would also hope that he leaves his day job and goes into writing full time. I hope that this book becomes a movie, I think it would be a great action flick and draw big audiences.

Singularity has many meanings, but here it means machines are overtaking humans in intelligence. This great leap has a problem. We are still searching for the actual secrets of human intelligence, and nowhere close to finding the truth. Life is believed to be the result of a geochemical situation that created an environment or setup to support metabolism. A particular arrangement of some elements helped the flow of elementary particles, initially naturally, later artificially, that can generate the power to create new organic molecules. In any case, we can consider all life as artificial in a sense. A protein molecule, the ATP synthase, somehow appeared on the scene. ATP synthase is a mechanical device that can be turned by a flow of energy to spew out ATPs - molecules that can store energy. These containers can then be used to produce more molecules as required somewhere else. So energy is used to produce molecules, which can serve a structural purpose or even generate energy. But what came first? Energy or the molecule? A is typical chicken and egg problem we are still wringing our hands to solve. Now we have a beautiful machine that can either use a natural source of energy to make molecules or use stored energy in molecules and liberate that energy to make molecules, including molecules that can store energy. This lovely little machine now needs to go autonomous. One way it could have done that is to exist perpetually, doing the same thing eternally. Eternal is a difficult situation - a thing that is born or brought to existence can’t be eternal. Given the vagaries of nature, the machine ‘realised’ things get ‘rusted’, wear out, and fall apart soon. So a blue print of the machine to self-replicate -to keep the eternal youth- was required. It found a solution in information. The storage of information in few easily available molecules, the RNA and later in more stable DNA, could solve the problem. Current science believes many things came together fortuitously, to make the first autonomous cell. This cell’s intelligence is encoded in molecules that are self-replicating, and hence it can make an unlimited number of copies of it self. In fact, all biological existence can be reduced into information. This information can have a beginning, but no end. Life seems to be today originated somewhere, but without an end plan. It originated maybe with Big Bang, but has no end in sight. Truly eternal means “no beginning - no end”, but we have a situation which says, “yes a beginning, but with no end”. A new kind of eternity is now possible. A being can be created, yet it can live for ever. Truly eternal? May be not. How this cell got the consciousness of its own is a few billion years long history. Forces of nature have shaped it at each step. It was all unplanned, undirected, except for the fact that the machine’s two primary functions to be preserved without change - the energy-molecule cycle that always fights against natural equilibrium and information encoding and transfers to multiple copies. The machine and its intelligence (the blueprint) become more and more involved with time. What we have today as Homo sapiens sapiens is incomparable with the machine had existed four billion years ago, yet some essential features remain intact. We can see the lines blurring between its actual existence and the blueprint. The intelligence is taking over, that is it. Welcome to the new age of AI. “The Last Firewall” do not go into the dreary details mentioned above, but leaps into the question of what will happen hence forth. According to the current paradigm, such an exploration is meaningless. Biological evolution is an unplanned and undirected process. We will never know where it will meander along. Much like the Big Bang, we don't know where this is going to end. The H.sapien machine is gifted with fertile imagination (now) - maybe as a by-product of some evolutionary mishap. So here we are, speculating on the future of humanism, the trans-humanism. Machines get human-like intelligence, but many times far superior. But they are still controlled by humans as tools. But we have to come back to the fundamental question of AI. We don’t know for sure how a brain works. Assuming we get to know that sometime soon, there is no obstacle in creating a similar one artificially. The next step is making it more powerful, which is also just one step away. AI now does all the back breaking jobs. Being invested with creative intelligence also has its pitfalls. Humans always lose sleep over AI going rogue and finishing them off. Adam, the powerful AI in this story is such a rogue. Humans also have nothing useful to d, “People don’t know what to do with themselves”. The humanity is caught between AI that can potentially turn against humans and humans themselves who are bored. But biological evolution is about two things - metabolism and information. For 4 billion years we had a fixed structure for both. Can this be changed? Can metabolism be done in a more efficient matter? Probably. Can intelligence be managed in a better manner? Probably. We have all characters in this story providing different possibilities. Humans enhanced humans or trans-humans with implants and autonomous AIs. Typical biological evolution would have envisaged a struggle for existence and allowing the most successful (meaning the one which can survive and propagate in a given situation) to forge ahead. However, like any biological life, we, the humans, are selfish. We want to be the successful one. But with implants, you are not H.sapiens sapiens anymore. It should be a new subspecies of H.sapiens. This subspecies now control AI. So AI is just another extension of the implants. Can the implants outgrow the humans? Possibly. Adam now needs to control the world. People with "humane" skills fight the rogue AI. We bank on our millennia old wisdom of karate and what not. Karate and other martial arts have a hoary existence. They spring from our attempts to imitate animals. Are such skills valid anymore? Apparently, yes. Humans, though aided by powerful implants finally subdue Adam. But is Adam gone for good?

As an Amazon Prime member, I purchased this book for no cost. Amazon Prime is wonderful! This is the first book of the series I've read. I am impressed with the author that I could "jump into" the book enjoying the read, even though it's the 3rd book! I have read many series works in the past by different authors finding it difficult to read the media unless starting at the begging of the series! Too often these types of series have drained the pleasurable aspect of reading, making it a labor to read! I liked the plausibility of this sci-fi book. I think many people today relate sci-fi, to something in outer space. Science fiction is often the outer space of a persons imagination. The references to people such as "Sarah" living in her VR virtual reality games makes me think about how society has drifted or been driven to this life style of living in virtual reality! How many people know how to cultivate a healthy imagination when virtually everything is done for them? Hoping that people reading this review will be spurred on to read, expanding; developing their imagination! I was compelled to continue reading, finding myself slowing down my read time to make the story "last longer"! The story and characters drew me in, becoming more believable and likeable. I liked how the entirety of the book compelled me to think while reading. I like a book that stimulates me intellectualy, while entertaining me! I found different aspects of the book conflicts with my beliefs. This however did not detour me , as I was able to enjoy reading this book even though my beliefs differ from context of the book. This book was well worth the read! I look forward to reading the final book in this series and look forward to reading more works by author William Hertling! Thank you William Hertling & Amazon Prime!

The Last Firewall rattles along at a great pace. That, and the near-future setting wherein Artificial Intelligence is ubiquitous, meant that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Enjoyed to the point where I was able to overlook, or at least forgive, the numerous inconsistencies and demands on my creduility. Although Hertling has done a good job in creating a future world, he is no Gibson or Dick: Hertling's future world is inconsistently fleshed out (why, for example, would there still be poor parts of town, and people working horrible jobs when there is a universal income provided to all? It isn't explained). Similarly, some of the action scenes (and there are many!) feel like so many present day action films or books where the heroes implausibly go unscathed (except for a few dramatic scratches to add colour) while managing to blow up entire armies. Finally, some of the cyber-action reads like the author has taken a thesaurus of IT terms and tossed them around in a salad of words. Maybe Hertling understands what was happening but to me, sometimes it was just gobbledy-gook. The capabilities of enhanced humans, and the speed in which they developed those capabilities, stretched my credulity beyond the breaking point (especially for a nineteen year old): Science fiction had become fantasy. Having said all that, you may be wondering why I gave the book four stars. It's fun! The underlying context is real enough - AI is rapidly becoming a reality - and the age old theme of technology as both a boon and a threat to humanity is well developed. The plot is interesting. Some of the technology is really good, although that can be hit-and-miss. This is the print equivalent of a summertime movie blockbuster: Great escapism for a few hours. I think I'll take a look at one of the other books in the series.

To get the bad news out of the way first: Hertling's books, so far, have a somewhat rough, "indie" feel to them, compared to his more polished contemporaries Suarez and Naam. This indieness, for me, shows up mainly in the form of questionable character motivations: several times in this book I was jerked out of the story, mentally yelling "what?! Why would they do *that*?" This wasn't such an issue in the past books, because the battle lines were essentially human vs AI, so everybody was just doing what they had to to survive - but here, there are multiple factions etc, people choosing sides for reasons that didn't always seem that great to me, or doing things that only *seemed to me* to make sense as plot devices. I'll list a few at the end of this review. The good news, though, is that I find Hertling more technicallly ambitious than either Suarez or Naam - which is saying something - so he may be my favourite author of the moment. His skills with character and plot are visibly improving with each book, so who knows what he'll write before the real singularity hits us ... **MASSIVE SPOILERS** - probably not worth reading unless you've read the book yourself. CHARACTER MOTIVATIONS THAT DIDN'T RING TRUE FOR ME: Why wouldn't Cat just go to the police in the first place? I got the impression that she was a straight arrow type kid, not someone ready to accept a life on the lam rather than try to plead her case honestly. I also didn't think she'd be so adept at thinking of how to be dishonest - she seemed to go from hard worker in the land of the lotus eaters to master criminal in a few days. Why would Slim keep that necklace, except to get caught? Were we even presented with an attempt at an explanation? Maybe he felt bad about the torture? I got no impression of his motivation here. Why would Helena side *with* the person who killed her friends, against the AI who sent her against that person? Cat even wonders this, and ... yeah. Good question, I thought. Why would mass murdering torturers-for-hire care remotely about doing the right thing? Tony, maybe, but not Slim IMO. I gathered this was supposed to be a redemption type thing, but I didn't buy it - they didn't seem to have any reason to change, or go through any believable process of change. The big dogs were a bit too ineffectual at the end - five minutes lost in false memories seems like too much time for two untrained guys to fight off a plausible threat to the whole world. Maybe this was an attempt to make them seem more heroic? Seemed like overkill. MILD COMPLAINTS/AREAS I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO HEAR MORE ABOUT: How does doing tai chi equate to network stuff? I like the idea of blending two activities like that, very "Avatar the last Airbender", but I didn't get a feel for what it was like, which meant that reading about it didn't convey much to me other than "oh, she's winning/losing now". What does it feel like to use an implant - it's just presented to us in the form of "he sent a message window", but I would have loved to hear more about how it felt to use one for the first time, how trying to use it got tangled up with ordinary mental activities, etc. The climax of the book is all about people blending with tech, but the implants get us most of the way there compared to our current minds IMO. How, exactly, can you see from multiple eyes at once and not, for instance, get a bunch of overlapping, semi transparent worlds appearing in front of your attention? Again, not a criticism of the concept - I just think that this idea, alone, could have supported a whole book by a less ambitious author, but it's barely nodded at here - just treated as another battlefield tactic. Incidentally, this reminds me that people often make huge discoveries about what's possible while fighting - Cat taking over a machine for the first time, for instance - it might seem more plausible if it's clarified that the adrenaline makes them more creative ... I dunno, it just seemed odd that they didn't test out their capacities as soon as they get them. This is something Suarez does really well, giving long, in-the-moment feeling descriptions of people testing out new powers - the "learning to fly" sequence from Influx comes to mind. That's all I got. Everything else was awesome, and the ending was like three awesome endings piled on each other.

The novel is engaging and easy to read, especially for those who have read and enjoyed the first two books of the Avogadro saga. However, I didn’t really like the turn towards action very focused on firearms and the transformation of people almost into Marvel superheroes. For a moment, the novel reminded me of the work of Daniel Suarez. Some aspects related to the wonders of nanotechnology and nanobots may be somewhat exaggerated or excessively anticipated in time. I am familiar with Arthur Clark’s famous quote: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” However, I think that in the novel, the possibilities of the nano are not realistic in the timeframe of this story. I liked the references to karate and Cat’s personality in general. Some romance that is born in the middle of the action seems somewhat out of place and more typical of a Hollywood script than a novel in this saga. I liked it and I will read the fourth book, but I expected more from this third one. I hope the level returns to that of the first."

Nothing more to say. Just what I said in the heading. Loved it. Great futuristic ideas! Great ending! Can’t wait for your next book.

In the third installment of the Singularity series, The Last Firewall, there are three converging story lines with the continuation of the Elope AI creators and characters from the first two books, another person with extraordinary and to be discovered implant abilities, and a sinister entity that is introduced early on, but not fully elucidated until later on. As with all great sci-fi suspense novels, Mr. Hertling does a good job of creating tension between each story line and then providing closure later. As the sideline, and continuing theme..."The Singularity is Here" each book in this series has presented very interesting and thought provoking ideas underneath the action of the plot line. The Singularity is when machines have greater intelligence and insight than their creators and human evolution is fundamentally changed. (see Technological Singularity in Wiki for other explorations of the concepts explored in Hertling's books). In The Last Firewall, AI is now considered sentient and provided a caste structure within human society. More interesting and discussed in the other books of the series is that AI has largely provided a society that does not require anyone to "work", providing for food, clothing, shelter, etc. This replacement of human management and work has created a lot of understandable angst among humans. That anger spills over into outright violence early on and continues throughout the story. It is hardly the world that Gene Roddenbury shows us centuries down the road in Star Trek, where they rarely discuss "money" and then tread lightly on the topics of current society and personal fulfillment. Case in point, The Next Generation "The Neutral Zone" where 20th century people are unfrozen... and this exchange: Capt. Picard: A lot has changed in the past three hundred years. People are no longer obsessed with the accumulation of things. We've eliminated hunger, want, the need for possessions. We've grown out of our infancy. Ralph Offenhouse: You've got it all wrong. It has never been about possessions. It's about power.... Capt. Picard: This is the 24th century. Material needs no longer exist. Ralph Offenhouse: Then what's the challenge? Capt. Picard: The challenge, Mr. Offenhouse, is to improve yourself. To enrich yourself. Enjoy it. Of course, this Star Trek fiction is a couple hundred years removed from the time line of The Last Firewall... with the The Last Firewall probably providing more realism that the optimism provided in the Star Trek world. Further this type of AI evolution is interesting in the current sci-fi world along with the real world discussion of increasing connectivity between humans and machines, our increasing dependence on the web, how we consume information, and the generational differences between the "connected" and "less than connected" (even those who "do not want to be connected" at all). In the prior books, the choice is really not even a choice--AI provides more benefits than detriments--economic stability, peace, efficient production structures, etc. That concept is unsettling in itself because humans hold choice in the same realm as freedom. To remove one, removes the other, even with the perception of a no choice best choice. If you have read the other two books in the Singularity series and enjoyed them, you will enjoy this book. If you have not read the other two, you need to start at the beginning with Avogadro Corporation.

Brilliant and engaging near term science fiction.

An absolutely fantastic read for A.I. and Sci-Fi enthusiasts. Reads a lot like a Neal Asher novel, but set in the near, not distant, future. Kept me up late, an absolute page turner. William's story telling prowess increases with each book in the series ... can't wait to read the next one!

What a brilliant book! Easily the best so far from William Hertling. An exciting story set a little further into the future than the previous book. AI's have taken over most jobs and most humans access the internet via direct implants in their brains. The details are really well imagined and Hertling makes this imagined future feel very real indeed. The characters are engaging and the plot draws you along at a decent pace. Short chapters make it easy to read a little at a time - very handy if you're busy. The satisfying ending sets things up for adventures stretching even further into the future. I'm looking forward to that!

Chiude la trilogia sulla singolarità ... Scorre e mantiene una giusta tensione, facendosi leggere senza fatica. Il finale probabilmente poteva essere più ispirato ma va bene così. Non aspettatevi un romanzo d'autore

I love the series. It seems to me that Hertling sat down to think about how AI might emerge, if (or when) it eventually does. Each book describes a scenario of how the AI could evolve, and what impact that would have on the world and society. Every scenario is disruptive and violent (how could it not be?), but then Hertling explains the impact and the possibilities that open because of the disruption. He poses some really good questions, describes likely consequences, and ties all the evolving stories together really well. I just bought the 4th book, and can't wait to find out what new ideas are in there!