After On: A Novel of Silicon Valley by Rob Reid (audiobook)

OMG, I loved this audiobook!

After On was published last August and I have to confess that I didn’t hear anything about it when it came out and I was not familiar with its author Rob Reid. I decided to check it out because it kept appearing in the “also bought” recommendation list at Amazon, and because it was near-future and sounded like it was going to engage in themes similar to my own work — you know, near-future manipulative AI, that sort of thing.

I listened to the sample and I was still sort of “Hmmm…” But if I didn’t like it, I could always return it, so what-Ev-er!

And yes, so to-tally worth it. (I’m trying to capture the voice of one of the characters here.)

This is a smart, funny, ingenious, and informative novel. As the title suggests, it’s set in Silicon Valley and follows several entrepreneurial (OMG, I spelled that word right on the first try!) characters as they try to stay afloat in their highly competitive world while striving to come up with the NEXT BIG THING.

There is lot of informative discussion in this novel. EULAs and privacy and Pascal’s Wager, venture capital, how to make a fortune while your company fails, the implications of “Super AI”, Twitter lynch mobs, fiction as thought experiments that might be applied to life, Fermi’s paradox, people-people, and people who aren’t so good with people, just for a few examples.

It’s possible some of this might be a little tedious to read, I don’t know. I found it all fascinating to listen to.

The audiobook is read by a large and very talented cast. They put a lot of effort into their performance, and I found the story fun and fascinating.

Highly recommended.