Review of Shattered Numbers Duology

Copies of both books were provided by the author via OWI for a fair and honest review. I originally agreed to review book 2, Ameliorate but decided to review both books. This series needs to be read in order.
 
Fracture  (5 stars)
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I love scifi and action, this book did not disappoint. Meredith, a human, has a special skill set when it comes to AI. V is what is termed a malignant AI. Malignant translates to sentient with a galactic sized bad attitude. V’s goal, at first glance, seems to be to kill any human coming into contact with him. V presents as male. Meridith goes from one bad situation to another when she’s dragged from death row to ‘tame’ V so he can be recycled and turn a profit for his creators. Their initial partnership is orchestrated by Mr. Smith, he’s creepy and is only interested in results. Meridith is a talented con artist (another of my great loves), and uses her skills to keep V from overwriting her neural network, in essence killing her. Over time, they form an alliance. Meredith learns V has siblings he wants to be reunited with. Neither V nor Meredith are decent or upstanding, they’re both shellfish, driven by their own goals. Their relationship takes toxic to a whole new level. They’re fascinating, neither good nor bad and completely loveable! These two are focused on their own goals and find working together is to both their benefit.
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The world building is layered and amazing. I was sucked in from the beginning. The characters are fleshed out and over the course of the book they develop and grow. The action scenes are where this author’s writing shines. There is enough detail to know what’s happening, but not so much to bog down the flow.

This book ends on a cliff hanger, so be prepared to jump into the next book.
 
Ameliorate (4 Stars)
At the beginning of this book, there is a gap in time since the end of Fracture. Here we get to know more about V’s siblings. This AI family might be the most dysfunctional family ever. What was originally five siblings is now three. Being three distinct personalities, they argue, banter and compete with each other. They’re hilarious and creepy at the same time. I enjoyed the expansion of the world created in Fracture.

The story takes place on a space station, where one AI sibling is possessing humans, changing humans so often she’s like the toddler who has to wear different clothes every hour. These people are willing participants in a cult created by the AI and vie for a place on the space station and her attention. A second sibling thinks humans and their messy bodies with fluids are icky. The reader gets many of these AI observations and interactions with humans, driven by the AI individual personalities. The interactions alternate between horrifying and laughable depending on which AI’s POV we’re seeing.

Throughout the book the POV switches between the AI siblings, and Meredith, but in some cases the switch is not seamless, and there were times I had to reread a paragraph or two to understand which POV I was reading. The author does use font changes to distinguish the POVs, but that is not always successful.

As in book 1, the writing is best during the high action scenes, and I couldn’t wait to learn the outcome of each encounter. The next best parts are the banter between V and Meredith, there are truly some priceless interactions and one-liners.

The creepy Mr. Smith gets even creepier, especially when his part in the siblings’ creation and motivation to capture them comes to light.

During the story, Meredith’s relationship with V levels up. Her relationship with the other siblings, Cass and Orwell, develops in different and unexpected ways. Just like with humans, sometimes who you connect with the most isn’t always immediately obvious, and Meredith and the siblings are no different.

This book is a good ending of the story began in book 1, with all the threads tied together marvelously.