Speak

Turing stole the show
but what happened to Mary?
Not much is resolved.

Part meditation, part fugue–Speak weaves four narratives into an exploration of not only artificial intelligence but of what constitutes our beingness. [I'll admit, following the Turing narrative was made much easier by having read Hodge's Alan Turing: The Enigma].

A slow and thoughtful book, less about artificial intelligence itself, and more about the human stories behind the invention. This is a very unique addition to the sci-fi genre, and something I can see people who aren't usually drawn to that genre enjoying. Unlike some sci-fi novels, Speak is very much character centric, and perhaps the reasons for the developments in this changing society are less important. By the end, I came to the conclusion that there wasn't really much of a plot and most of the mysteries were left unexplained.

But then I don't think the point was to tie up every loose end and resolve every storyline. Told through several different narratives, it's more like a snapshot into the lives of several people from varying points in history, who have been effected by the development and introduction of artificial intelligence into society. Each narrator is distinctive and unique, both in their personalities, backgrounds and in the way their story is told. One is a diary of a girl in the 1600s, one a memoir of a disgraced inventor, several are letters and chat transcripts from online bots. Not surprisingly for a novel told by multiple narrators and through such a mix of styles, the shift between the perspectives can sometimes seem jarring and disjointed, but the book shines when you begin to consider how these stories are connected to each other and the overriding themes.

Saying that, there were two loose ends in the plot that I would have liked to have been explained more. Why exactly was Stephan Chinn sent to prison? I understand his invention had dire impacts on society, but I felt certain there was more to the story than that. His storyline in particular felt like it ended too abruptly. Secondly, what exactly caused the "freezing" of young girls without their babybots? How did that come about? Were any of them really "cured"? I appreciated the focus on the narrators as characters, but Hall also raised an interesting speculative vision of the future, when the connection between artificial and human intelligence and communication becomes too tightly entwined, and I wanted a deeper exploration of that.

An ambitious and imaginative novel, that I'd say Hall mostly pulled off, although I would call it slightly uneven. The beginning is a little slow and the ending could have been stronger, but I will be thinking of its characters and the issues it raised for some time. I cannot wait to see what Hall does next.