False Value

, #8

No cover

Ben Aaronovitch: False Value (Hardcover, 2020, DAW)

hardcover, 304 pages

English language

Published Feb. 25, 2020 by DAW.

ISBN:
978-0-7564-1646-1
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OCLC Number:
1005187602

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4 stars (2 reviews)

Peter Grant is facing fatherhood, and an uncertain future, with equal amounts of panic and enthusiasm. Rather than sit around, he takes a job with émigré Silicon Valley tech genius Terrence Skinner's brand new London start up - the Serious Cybernetics Company.

Drawn into the orbit of Old Street's famous 'silicon roundabout', Peter must learn how to blend in with people who are both civilians and geekier than he is. Compared to his last job, Peter thinks it should be a doddle. But magic is not finished with Mama Grant's favourite son.

Because Terrence Skinner has a secret hidden in the bowels of the SCC. A technology that stretches back to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage, and forward to the future of artificial intelligence. A secret that is just as magical as it technological - and just as dangerous.

2 editions

Good Expansion of the Rivers Universe

4 stars

Generally, as a geek and a tech worker, I enjoyed this novel. I thought the Douglas Adams references were on-brand for a tech entrepreneur, and they frequently made me laugh. Peter fits comfortably into this world, and gets to display his strong problem solving skills.

Peter’s relationship with Bev is developing and I enjoy their domestic time. They are funny together even when things are serious.

I felt like Peter and Nightingale collaborated more in this novel than the last two. Their relationship appears to be maturing, less student/master, more collegial.

I think the introduction of The Librarians and the Mary Engine creates innumerable opportunities for future novels, but this story was very simple compared to the other novels, and honestly as quick as a read as it was, it didn’t grab me. I’d like to have seen more of Skinner plotting and Ms. Chin’s history. I’d really like to …