Official Review: GR3T3L-1 by V.M. Sawh
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dhaller
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Official Review: GR3T3L-1 by V.M. Sawh
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "GR3T3L-1" by V.M. Sawh.]
3 out of 4 stars
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It is my belief that all the best stories start somewhere in the middle and then proceed towards both the end and the beginning simultaneously. GR3T3L-1 by V.M. Sawh is one such story.
It begins with a mystery, in the best tradition of both science fiction and fairy tales, the two genres to which it lays claim. Two robots, GR3T3L-1 (pronounced Gretel-1) and H4NS3L-671 (pronounced Hansel-671), crash land on a strange planet, their memories scrambled. Each knows with some degree of certainty what it is – GR3T3L is an advanced planetary survey prototype, and H4NS3L is a combat infantry drone – but neither knows what it happens to be doing there. They reason that they must have been dropped by a spaceship, and discover the ship’s name: the Swan, from the wreckage they were dropped with. The Swan is a Western Alliance Military Transport Ship, and with that label, the scope of V.M. Sawh’s novel begins to come into focus.
As H4NS3L and GR3T3L proceed along their journey, their memories begin to recover (they literally defragment their hard drives). And as their memories recover, the reader is slowly brought into the larger world that Sawh has begun to build. It’s a world of the not-too-distant future, where combat drones are regularly used to win wars, and humanity has begun its slow ascent into the stars. H4NS3L’s memories shed light on the aforementioned Western Alliance, a vaguely corporate, vaguely nationalistic entity that Sawh uses to ponder ideas of robotics, militarization and the ethics of warfare. It’s a discussion Sawh makes his own by having it from the perspective of a veteran combat drone.
GR3T3L, on the other hand, remembers its creation, and with that memory the knowledge that it isn’t like the other robots Western Alliance uses. GR3T3L has an advanced artificially intelligent brain, making it capable of thinking for itself. Throughout the novel, it muses on subjects as wide-ranging as hope, religion, warfare, morality, and motherhood, all from the perspective of a robot questioning what it means to exist, to think, and to be human.
I mentioned earlier that the story goes both backwards and forwards, and the forwards isn’t any less compelling than the backwards. The plot deepens as the strange planet’s atmosphere takes its toll on H4NS3L and GR3T3L, and in an electrical storm they find that they aren’t quite as alone as they thought they were…
I enjoyed this story immensely. While it took a few tries to really get into, the story proved to be much deeper than the average fairy tale, with few easy answers for the questions it raises. The two robots who the story follows are better characterized than most fictional humans. Not to mention that the story features an A.I. who doesn’t randomly decide to destroy the world. My main complaint is that the story didn’t feel long enough, as though the meditation the author embarks on isn’t quite finished when the novel ends. That may be in part because GR3T3L-1 is part of a larger fictional universe (the author calls it the Good Tales for Bad Dreams series).
Obviously a new take on the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, GR3T3L-1 has ambitions far greater than the retelling of old Germanic folklore. Through its two main characters, it presents a dichotomous view that resonates with important modern issues of robotics and the nature of the soul. I rate GR3T3L-1 3 out of 4 stars. Great work from the author, definitely worth a read – but not quite perfection. It's a little too short to really give the subjects it considers the deliberation they need.
******
GR3T3L-1
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
It is my belief that all the best stories start somewhere in the middle and then proceed towards both the end and the beginning simultaneously. GR3T3L-1 by V.M. Sawh is one such story.
It begins with a mystery, in the best tradition of both science fiction and fairy tales, the two genres to which it lays claim. Two robots, GR3T3L-1 (pronounced Gretel-1) and H4NS3L-671 (pronounced Hansel-671), crash land on a strange planet, their memories scrambled. Each knows with some degree of certainty what it is – GR3T3L is an advanced planetary survey prototype, and H4NS3L is a combat infantry drone – but neither knows what it happens to be doing there. They reason that they must have been dropped by a spaceship, and discover the ship’s name: the Swan, from the wreckage they were dropped with. The Swan is a Western Alliance Military Transport Ship, and with that label, the scope of V.M. Sawh’s novel begins to come into focus.
As H4NS3L and GR3T3L proceed along their journey, their memories begin to recover (they literally defragment their hard drives). And as their memories recover, the reader is slowly brought into the larger world that Sawh has begun to build. It’s a world of the not-too-distant future, where combat drones are regularly used to win wars, and humanity has begun its slow ascent into the stars. H4NS3L’s memories shed light on the aforementioned Western Alliance, a vaguely corporate, vaguely nationalistic entity that Sawh uses to ponder ideas of robotics, militarization and the ethics of warfare. It’s a discussion Sawh makes his own by having it from the perspective of a veteran combat drone.
GR3T3L, on the other hand, remembers its creation, and with that memory the knowledge that it isn’t like the other robots Western Alliance uses. GR3T3L has an advanced artificially intelligent brain, making it capable of thinking for itself. Throughout the novel, it muses on subjects as wide-ranging as hope, religion, warfare, morality, and motherhood, all from the perspective of a robot questioning what it means to exist, to think, and to be human.
I mentioned earlier that the story goes both backwards and forwards, and the forwards isn’t any less compelling than the backwards. The plot deepens as the strange planet’s atmosphere takes its toll on H4NS3L and GR3T3L, and in an electrical storm they find that they aren’t quite as alone as they thought they were…
I enjoyed this story immensely. While it took a few tries to really get into, the story proved to be much deeper than the average fairy tale, with few easy answers for the questions it raises. The two robots who the story follows are better characterized than most fictional humans. Not to mention that the story features an A.I. who doesn’t randomly decide to destroy the world. My main complaint is that the story didn’t feel long enough, as though the meditation the author embarks on isn’t quite finished when the novel ends. That may be in part because GR3T3L-1 is part of a larger fictional universe (the author calls it the Good Tales for Bad Dreams series).
Obviously a new take on the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, GR3T3L-1 has ambitions far greater than the retelling of old Germanic folklore. Through its two main characters, it presents a dichotomous view that resonates with important modern issues of robotics and the nature of the soul. I rate GR3T3L-1 3 out of 4 stars. Great work from the author, definitely worth a read – but not quite perfection. It's a little too short to really give the subjects it considers the deliberation they need.
******
GR3T3L-1
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like dhaller's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: "Off to See the Wizard" by Clay Johnson
