The Life Engineered - J-F Dubeau - World Engineered

The Life Engineered
World Engineered
J-F Dubeau
Sword & Laser
ISBN 9781941758595
eISBN 9781941758601
ASIN B01AXSGNTA

I was given a signed numbered limited edition copy of this book. But because I prefer eBooks it sat on my shelf for almost a year. But something about the cover and the jacket flap wright up kept causing it to come it mind. So I eventually picked up the eBook, and ripped through it over 2 days in three sittings.

For a debut novel this book really impressed me. It reminded me of the classic science fiction I enjoyed as a child, Heinlein, Herbert, and Betser. The story is compelling and the pace is very rapid. It is an intriguing concept . The description of the book is:

"The Life Engineered, begins in the year 3594, where humanity is little more than a memory a legend of the distant past destined to reappear. Capeks, a race of artificial creatures originally created by humans, have inherited the galaxy and formed a utopian civilization built on the shared goal of tirelessly working to prepare for their makers return. 

One moment a cop dying in the line of duty in Boston, the next reborn as a Capek, Dagir must find her place in this intricate society. That vaguely remembered death was but the last of hundreds of simulated lives, distilling her current personality. A robot built for rescue and repair, she finds her abilities tested immediately after her awakening when the large, sentient facility that created her is destroyed, marking the only instance of murder the peaceful Capeks have ever known. For the first time in their history, conflicting philosophies clash, setting off a violent civil war that could lay waste to the stars themselves. 

Dagir sets off on a quest to find the killers, and finds much more than she sought. As the layers of the Capeks past peel away to reveal their early origins, centuries-old truths come to light. And the resulting revelations may tear humanity s children apart and destroy all remnants of humankind."

The world is incredibly well thought out. With different lines of robots but all forming a single society. The mix of different earth mythologies along the different lines of Capeks.  There were some real twists in the plot that I did not see coming. First humans have gone missing but they have left behind a vast array of Capeks or robots but not dummy machines. These robots have personality from living virtually many many lives until they are ready to join society in physical form. A Form they design and build themselves. Nut now someone is killing off whole lines of robots. And in trying to figure out why the mystery of why Human's went into hiding starts to play a darker more ominous importance.

And my first thought upon finishing the book was I hope there will be more. My second thought was I wish I had read it earlier. It was a great little read.

Books by J-F Dubeau:
A God in the Shed

World Engineered:
The Life Engineered
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