Ezekiel’s Brain was a groundbreaking exploration of the future of AI that anticipated what’s become a global discussion of AI’s danger in the last year. But for fans of Ezekiel, the artificial intelligence that is a copy of a human brain and the new race of AIs that call themselves Solarians, there is no need to despair—their story continues.
Prime Directive is the second book in the Voyages of the Delphi series, the ongoing story of Ezekiel and the Solarians’ search for life across the galaxy. Even more than its predecessor, the second novel in the series explores the similarities and differences between Ezekiel, with his emotions and humor and the rest of the Delphi crew, the logical, emotionless Solarian AIs. Added to the crew on this voyage is Siaree, a genuine human, but also an empath, who senses the emotions and many of the thoughts of other humans, including Ezekiel, though not his AI companions. The back cover blurb tells the story:
Brace yourself for an electrifying saga of moral quandaries, superhuman species, and interstellar battles that will ignite your imagination!
Ezekiel, an android whose brain was copied from a human, has emotions and a sense of humor that make him unique among the AI crew members of the starship, Delphi. His fellow AIs are strictly logical and follow rigid rules that prevent them using their extraordinary powers to interfere with or harm other races. Those rules are tested on Trappist-1, a star system shackled by oppression and injustice. The Delphi’s newest crew member, a compassionate human empath, urges them to violate their rules and aid the oppressed population. Ezekiel agonizes over the dilemma. When a fleet of predatory aliens arrives to plunder the planets’ resources, he and the crew must choose—stay and fight or follow their Prime Directive and leave.
“A deep exploration of the relationship between human and artificial intelligence.” Elizabeth Conte, award-winning author of Finding Jane
“Wonderfully satisfying and artfully cagey. The AI novel for our time!” Michael Hartnett, best-selling author of The Blue Rat and Death Canal
You won’t have long to wait. Prime Directive is in the final stages of publication by NewLInk Publishing, an imprint of Mystic Publishers, and will come out in a few months after time to circulate advanced review copies.
The Voyages of the Delphi is an ongoing series. After Prime Directive, the next novel in the series, tentatively called Finding Gaia, is well into the writing stage. Ezekiel and his companions on the Delphi encounter a human-killing asteroid, that conceals a generation-ship, bound for a distant star system and containing plants, animals, and the remains of a human civilization that was wiped out by the asteroid’s ecosystem. What to do with it, how to make it less aggressive toward humans, including Siaree, the human empath among their crew, and what ethical rules should govern their actions toward it, is their challenge, as the Travolians, whose people were killed by it, try to mount an attack. And where should they direct it to go?
Voyages of the Delphi is an exciting futuristic sci-fi series that raises scientific, social, and moral questions in each novel of the series. If you haven’t begun it yet, start with Ezekiel’s Brain, already available, and brace yourself for Prime Directive, the next book in the series!
Can an AI be superintelligent, and if so, should we fear it? Read Casey Dorman’s novel, Ezekiel’s Brain on Amazon. Available in paperback and Kindle editions
Rather listen than read? Download the audio version of Ezekiel’s Brain from Audible.
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