The continuation of Cosimo's journey and growth within the world of the Empire.
Size: 151 KB (28,666 words)
Genre: Science Fiction
Sex Contents: No Sex
Tags: Ma/Fa, Science Fiction
Review by NC-Retired [other reviews by NC-Retired]
Reviewed: - (Review Updated: )
Charlie Foxtrot started posting in this universe nearly 3 years ago. Cosimo
I read the first story and did not like it much, a blah kinda tale. But I do like science fiction so I bookmarked the universe and life went on.
Now, late 2023, the seventh tale has just concluded and this is a review of that one.
This series is a coming of age one. A far future society is dominated by families and their respective businesses. This families business is spy craft, pleasure clubs and (apparently) pharmaceuticals.
The protagonist, Cosimo, is in university and learning about what the family does to support the Empire from his Grandmother, the family Matriarch.
Early in chapter 1 of this tale, Charlie Foxtrot details why this society came into being. They fled from AI generated reality that featured mind manipulation and the resulting wars. Cloak and dagger kinda spy stuff. And let’s not forget human greed and how that influences people and their actions.
Commentary. It has been clear for centuries that the human mind is extremely susceptible to manipulation by propaganda.
It matters not what your worldview is, all of us have been manipulated by our ‘leaders’.
It was not long ago that most manipulation were by word only, written or oral. As photography matured, some photos were altered, most in a not credible manner.
But photo manipulation is changing as AI created images gain traction.
Visual evidence will be manipulated by the unscrupulous. For most folks, our near future is going to get even more confusing than it is now. What to believe and what to dismiss as fake will be near impossible. Fact checkers? Ha!
As Aldous Huxley said, “The purpose of propaganda is to make one set of people forget that other sets of people are human.”
/Commentary.
But this tale goes beyond just a different sort of society that’s built on not allowing computers to manipulate the minds of citizens. It involves a social strata that I almost cannot conceive of. Personal responsibility, duty to family and Empire figure strongly in the tale. I’ll give nothing else away, just that the series is too scary for how close our 2023 reality is to succumbing to the evil of mind manipulation via AI.
As usual with CF’s tales, there are a few minor grammar or spelling errors that take away from readability.
I rate this one a 10-9-10 across the board.
Highly recommended!
