Drenched in some deeply thought-provoking moral and ethical dilemmas, Emily Eternal manages to deliver a message of hope through Emily, an artificial consciousness designed to help humanity navigate trauma. The book has an eerie feel throughout that might unnerve some readers, but if you’re willing to stick out the journey, it might give you quite a bit to think about how humans could potentially survive both in space and inhabiting planets not quite like our own. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would and would definitely be a conversation starter. I could see it potentially becoming a book club book, there’s so much to discuss!
To start, Emily is an artificial consciousness designed to help people process trauma and also do a bit more: solve mathematical equations and even help fix your car’s a/c problems…but unfortunately she can’t restart the sun. As the sun is dying out billions of years before intended, Emily is under the impression the human race is done for, until she finds a potential answer within our DNA. Before she can even test the potential solution, the lab is brutally attacked and Emily goes on the run alongside two human companions: Jason and Mayra. It becomes a race against time to save humanity both from extinction and potentially what makes us human.
There was something alarmingly eerie from the start of this book, aside from the potential existence of an artificial consciousness in the book. Maybe it was the thought that we might not be that far off from it technologically and the implications of that. This book delved into a lot of “science” that caught me off guard, mainly in the sense that not everyone might be able to understand some of the things that are happening. Other than that though, it was fairly understandable. By no means am I someone in the science field, but I would like to say it felt believable while I was reading.
Emily is by far one of the most fascinating characters I’ve come across. Her development grows as she begins to understand more and more of what encompasses the human existence as well as what that means for her. It’s also where a number of ethical dilemmas seem to rise. As an artificial consciousness that has been treated as “humanly” as possible by her labmates, creator, and some peers, there is no notion of privacy for Emily. Despite her attempts at a human existence, she is just as much under a microscope as anything else might be. Her behaviour is logged and actions are scrutinised, so it just makes it all the more interesting when it’s all taken away. Take her away from the servers she resided in and it becomes something more.
Another thing that caught me by surprise was the romance. Again came an ethical question: could an artificial consciousness learn to process and understand love? Moreover, would it be a voluntary or programmed response? If you don’t think about these questions, then the romance was sweet albeit a little stalkerish. It also helps Emily develop more as a character and quite a few things that I won’t spoil here.
At the crux of the story are a few dilemmas that I felt can be the cause of lengthy discussion that might not have an actual answer. One of them is genetic modification for the sake of saving a planet, especially the way that they attempt to go about it in this story. Without going into too much detail it is MOST DEFINITELY unethical (at least to me). I do understand how far some might go to save the human race but this was something that rubbed wrong…and for good reason. Another would be free will vs. determinism and the implications that someone or something might “save” the human race by guiding/controlling it forever. Taking a darker turn, this book also ventures into “master race” territory, and sacrificing the rest of the world. Obviously none of these things make you feel good, but they are definitely excellent discussion topics.
While the ending was satisfying for me, I wished that there would have been a little more character development than I saw. There were interactions that I wished had been better established that faded into the black and conveniently re-appeared at the right moment, and some characters that I would have loved to see developed just didn’t get their chance. I also would have loved to get an alternative perspective in this book. I felt that it would have worked well in this book, especially if we got the villain’s perspective.
I’d rate this book an 8/10. It’s a great story that will make readers think quite a bit, but there were definitely some parts that I felt needed some development. Character-wise, Emily was a shining star, but others just needed a little more to shine alongside her. Still, this was a very wonderful story, even if it felt a little like science fiction that might soon become reality.
Emily Eternal is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other book retailers. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing for sending The Nerd Daily a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Have you read Emily Eternal? Or will you be checking it out? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Meet Emily – she can solve advanced mathematical problems, unlock the mind’s deepest secrets and even fix your truck’s air con, but unfortunately, she can’t restart the Sun.
She’s an artificial consciousness, designed in a lab to help humans process trauma, which is particularly helpful when the sun begins to die 5 billion years before scientists agreed it was supposed to.
So, her beloved human race is screwed, and so is Emily. That is, until she finds a potential answer buried deep in the human genome. But before her solution can be tested, her lab is brutally attacked, and Emily is forced to go on the run with two human companions – college student Jason and small-town Sheriff, Mayra.
As the sun’s death draws near, Emily and her friends must race against time to save humanity. But before long it becomes clear that it’s not only the species at stake, but also that which makes us most human.
