Queen of Roses [Formato Kindle]

The first AI's that I remember being exposed to were the Asimov Robots. R. Daneel and R. Giskard. After that, I read Anne McCaffrey's The Ship Who Sang. It seemed to me that while Daneel and Giskard were truly artificial and intelligent, Helva was the more alien even though she was human. Perhaps it was the economic differences. Daneel had no debt, but no chance of freedom, really. Helva

McCoy's Serafina blends the best of the Asimov and McCaffrey elements into one character. AI and limited by rules bound in her programming. Struggling for freedom and independence. And doing the best that she can in a nearly intolerable situation.

A delightful story that I will read again and again. If you'd like a chance to meet an AI that's understandable and that you can empathize with, give Queen of Roses a try. I sincerely doubt you'll regret it!

Sarafina has been given a huge job with low pay and ever increasing responsibilities. Yes, she's an AI personality, but any human who's held a job will recognize the problems. I loved the book!

I've been pretty sick lately (just got out of the hospital today actually) but I have to post the review of the Queen of Roses by Elizabeth McCoy. I've been reading a lot of McCoy's work lately and well...she's probably one of my favorite authors. Her work is not full of epic action and world-shattering events. It is about people. McCoy has a sort of razor sharp focus that allows her to show off a particular character in a particular set of circumstances without relying on the crash and boom of more traditional stories. This isn't to say that her work is boring, but it is a change of pace that makes me want to curl up in a chair on a rainy day and just read. Queen of Roses does this for me, it's a sci-fi cozy, it's what would happen if Agatha Christie wrote a science fiction novel. The book starts with a twist and it does not stop until the end (and really, not even then). Another bit I really liked is how the author differentiated between conversations between AI's and normal folks. The basic premise of Queen of Roses is that Sarafina (a AI) is bought by a skeevy starship owner for his cruise ship...and well...you need to read the book for the rest. It's worth it, seriously, go buy it.