Review of The Prophecy of the Heron
Posted: 03 Feb 2023, 09:37
[Following is a volunteer review of "The Prophecy of the Heron" by Craig W. Stanfill.]
In his 2022 book, The Prophecy of the Heron, Craig W. Stanhill spins tells a captivating story about a female protagonist trying to preserve the fate of artificial intelligence. Demoted, humiliated but ever defiant Kim has just been sent to the crime infested slum of district 33 as punishment for gender related crimes. Despite working hard to survive and make the best of her new situation, Kim finds herself hunted by her own AI and racing against time and peril to uncover the dark and twisted lies spun by the creators and directors of the AI Centre while trying to prevent what seems to be an inevitable descent of the AI world into chaos.
The author, from the very first page took my attention and held onto it for the entire story, first with the perceived storyline which can be regarded as a sort of cautionary tale given that use of Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming more prevalent within our ever- evolving society. As the story progresses, it was quite a pleasure to see how Kim’s character evolves after being plucked from her life of comfort and ease into a place of violence and constant battle for survival. Although Kim is the main protagonist of this dystopian tale, the author has written each character so well, each with their own strong personalities, that I could not help wanting to know the backstory of each of these characters, especially Len, in order to gain some insight as to where said strong personalities originate. This book held my attention from start to finish, and I felt as though I was right there along with Kim trying to unravel the mysteries while evading the dangers that hid at every turn.
While the storyline in and of itself makes for a very captivating story, there are many gaps and holes within said plot that left me very confused and would easily be solved by one or two backstories to give some context as to why things were they were. Take for example, the non- use of genders. The fact that everyone uses the same she/her pronouns, regardless of sex, had me questioning whether or not men actually do exist in this story. This, along with the use of the supposedly “universal” language, Panglobal, was not very clear as there was no indication in the book that hinted to another language being spoken unless English was specifically mentioned during dialogue. As the book started coming to an end, I found myself having to go back a few pages a few times thinking I had missed some parts because events started happening so quickly, as though the author himself had grown tired of this story and had started rushing to finish it. This was extremely frustrating because this story has amazing potential and so much more could have been done with it in order to reach said potential.
I usually love dystopian era type reads, however, for this one, specifically, I rate it 3 out of 5 stars. I give this rating because while The Prophecy of the Heron was an exciting journey to go on with Kim and the other characters, there was a lot left to be desired in terms of the many missing pieces that would have served make the story better.
I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy the cyberpunk/dystopian type theme ONLY on the condition that Craig W. Stanhill revises and makes the appropriate changes to this book so it can live up to its full potential, allowing readers to experience an what seems to be a creative mind at work.
******
The Prophecy of the Heron
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
In his 2022 book, The Prophecy of the Heron, Craig W. Stanhill spins tells a captivating story about a female protagonist trying to preserve the fate of artificial intelligence. Demoted, humiliated but ever defiant Kim has just been sent to the crime infested slum of district 33 as punishment for gender related crimes. Despite working hard to survive and make the best of her new situation, Kim finds herself hunted by her own AI and racing against time and peril to uncover the dark and twisted lies spun by the creators and directors of the AI Centre while trying to prevent what seems to be an inevitable descent of the AI world into chaos.
The author, from the very first page took my attention and held onto it for the entire story, first with the perceived storyline which can be regarded as a sort of cautionary tale given that use of Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming more prevalent within our ever- evolving society. As the story progresses, it was quite a pleasure to see how Kim’s character evolves after being plucked from her life of comfort and ease into a place of violence and constant battle for survival. Although Kim is the main protagonist of this dystopian tale, the author has written each character so well, each with their own strong personalities, that I could not help wanting to know the backstory of each of these characters, especially Len, in order to gain some insight as to where said strong personalities originate. This book held my attention from start to finish, and I felt as though I was right there along with Kim trying to unravel the mysteries while evading the dangers that hid at every turn.
While the storyline in and of itself makes for a very captivating story, there are many gaps and holes within said plot that left me very confused and would easily be solved by one or two backstories to give some context as to why things were they were. Take for example, the non- use of genders. The fact that everyone uses the same she/her pronouns, regardless of sex, had me questioning whether or not men actually do exist in this story. This, along with the use of the supposedly “universal” language, Panglobal, was not very clear as there was no indication in the book that hinted to another language being spoken unless English was specifically mentioned during dialogue. As the book started coming to an end, I found myself having to go back a few pages a few times thinking I had missed some parts because events started happening so quickly, as though the author himself had grown tired of this story and had started rushing to finish it. This was extremely frustrating because this story has amazing potential and so much more could have been done with it in order to reach said potential.
I usually love dystopian era type reads, however, for this one, specifically, I rate it 3 out of 5 stars. I give this rating because while The Prophecy of the Heron was an exciting journey to go on with Kim and the other characters, there was a lot left to be desired in terms of the many missing pieces that would have served make the story better.
I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy the cyberpunk/dystopian type theme ONLY on the condition that Craig W. Stanhill revises and makes the appropriate changes to this book so it can live up to its full potential, allowing readers to experience an what seems to be a creative mind at work.
******
The Prophecy of the Heron
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes