Reader Guide

8 November 2021

Hello, early readers of Surrender. Here is a reader guide with the sort of material that would appear on the book cover or inside pages.


Resisting Power Starts With a Single Thought


Synopsis

Bradley and Kat didn’t know each other well at ABCD University, formerly known as Stanford, but when they meet again, following Bradley’s conviction for a violent act, they began a turbulent relationship of love and hate that spans decades and shapes the future of humanity’s control over its own destiny.

It is 2050, and rising sea levels have submerged coastal cities and isolated the centerlands. The stress of water and food shortages and erratic weather events has caused world governments to fracture and fail. Into the power vacuum steps Bradley Power, an AI researcher who has created MIND, an artificial intelligence that, for the good of humanity, will replace human independence with computational governance.

Kat Keeper is a technological prodigy who bends the rules to build her company, nearly destroys her legacy, and finds herself in a struggle with Bradley for the control of all human thought.

Primary Characters (In Order of Appearance)

Bradley Power is an AI researcher who creates MIND, a machine that will replace human independence with computational governance.

Alon6 is a corrupt currency manipulator who backs Bradley’s company. They were students together at ABCD University, formerly Stanford.

Shiva is a yoga teacher who starts an AI resistance movement called ALT. Bradley has a romantic infatuation with her.

Kat Keeper is a technological prodigy who is romantically entangled with Bradley. Later, they become locked in a power struggle when she joins the AI resistance movement.

Dave is a programmer who develops the Universal, an application to translate all languages. He and Kat fall in love and become soulmates.

Hopper00 is a sex worker who uses his telepathic abilities to publish articles about celebrities’ inner lives. He becomes part of ALT, the AI resistance movement.

Reviewer Tips

Let me know what characters stick with you and what stories were memorable. If the story gets confusing, let me know. If there are sections of the book that don’t seem to belong, share those impressions with me. Also, if you don’t finish the book, it would be really valuable to know where you stopped.

Your feedback means the world to me. I’ll be rewriting the book as soon as I get everyone’s notes in. Please send your notes to me to lee@500words.studio. If you have a document (like a Word doc) with notes, you can upload it to this Dropbox folder.

I’ll mention you in the acknowledgements in the printed and digital versions.

One more thing…

If you like the book, please consider writing a short blurb” about it. I will include blurbs on the back cover and also in a section called Praise for Surrender in the inside pages. Please send any blurbs to me at lee@500words.studio or upload a doc to this Dropbox folder.

Thanks,

Lee


If you need another review copy, please get in touch with me at lee@500words.studio.


(c) Lee Schneider 2023. Take care of each other. Subscribe.