Reviews of free sci-fi with titles beginning with Z
*** sex = 1, action = 5, prose = 8
In the mid to late part of this century a personal companion robot murders its owner and the project engineer for that model is called in to investigate. He finds a conscious mind in it which he copies. This makes him the target of the massive conspiracy that has developed that mind as an assassin. His escape from them is the story and it is an action adventure that is not too gory so it is interesting and fun to read.
The world it takes place in is also interesting. Asian and Western ways and people have mingled and merged to the point where it isn't obvious whether this is taking place in England or China or even somewhere in Africa. The business meetings have an Asian feel, at least they seem more like business meetings in Japan than in America or Europe. The parking garage many of the characters live in and some of the action takes place in seems just like the one in the ruins of Reston where Ava grew up. The ending of this story gives me all the more reason not to bother writing the story of Ava's resurrection in the labs of the Warlord of Pennsylvania. The details might be different, but it wouldn't be a very unique story. Someday soon, this story and the others like it will be told in real life.