Review of The Prophecy of the Heron

[Hallie Cuomo]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Prophecy of the Heron" by Craig W. Stanfill.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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The Prophecy of the Heron by Craig Stanfill. I would rate this novel a 3 out of 5 stars. The concepts in this dystopian world are creative, such as the concept of the “panglobal” language and the associated pronoun use where everyone uses "we/our" and "she" as the universal pronouns. I also think that the author does a good job of exploring the morality around creating and controlling AI. For example, the AI’s homunculi are made in their creators’ likeness and are given their creators names. The mood of the creator at time of creation can also affect the personality of the AI created. This is all very relevant to the real world as we are quickly diving into the use of AI’s as ubiquitous tools in our day-to-day work and lives. This book is an exciting read because things happen quickly and there are a lot of action scenes, which I found enjoyable.

The reason that this book is not getting a full rating from me is that it was good, but not wildly better than the average book. The author did have some nice descriptions of some of the main character’s thoughts and feelings in some scenes in the book, but I felt like overall the main character lacked emotional depth. Some may enjoy a lack of in-depth emotional, internal monologues, but I find that at the right length, it connects me to a character and makes the book more enjoyable to read. I also thought that parts of the book that were about AI’s and the different simulations of virtual reality were a little confusing. Especially towards the end when dealing with the different perspectives from the original Kim, the Doppelganger Kim and the AI creation, Kimberly II. I was a little lost for some of that part of the book.
Overall, it was a good book and worth a read if you like action-packed, dystopian fiction novels.

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The Prophecy of the Heron
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