NBtM Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway - Can Machines Bring Peace?: Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age (The Thinking Machine Trilogy #1) by Floor Kist

Welcome to my stop on the NBtM virtual book tour for Can Machines Bring Peace?: Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age by Floor Kist. This book tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book and a great guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $30 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Can Machines Bring Peace?: Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age

Series: The Thinking Machine Trilogy #1

Author: Floor Kist

Publisher: Movement Publishing

Publication Date: March 3rd 2021

Print Length: 238 pages

Genre: Science Fiction

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Can a machine bring peace? Or are humans built for war?

450 years after Earth was bombed back to the Stone Age, a young diplomat searches for lost human settlements. Kazimir Sakhalinsk narrowly escapes an exploration mission gone wrong and searches for ways to make future missions safer for his people. A festival introduces him to the Marvelous Thinking Machine.

A machine Kazimir believes can change everything.

For his admiral it’s nothing more than a silly fairground gimmick. But Kazimir is convinced. Convinced enough to go against orders and build one of his own. Convinced enough to think he can bring peace. Convinced enough to think humanity is worth saving. What if he’s wrong?

He asks his hikikomori sister, a retired professor filling her empty days, the owner of the festival machine and the admiral’s daughter for help. Will that be enough?

**The eBook is only $0.99 to buy!**

Goodreads * Amazon

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EXCERPT:

Aisake sees Kazimir at the kissaten, eating a bowl of rice and a roll. Aisake’s stomach gurgles. He hasn’t eaten since yesterday. Nothing in Kazimir’s demeanor suggests he is hiding accomplices, no nervousness, no sneaky peeks at hiding places. Had it been anyone else, then Aisake would have spun around and left quickly. But he saw Kazimir respond to the Marvelous Thinking Machine. He wants something. And he’s probably willing to pay for it. ‘A meal for today, at least’, Aisake imagines as he walks toward the open seat.

Aisake is surprised Kazimir stands as he approaches. ‘Hmm, maybe even two meals today.’

“Mr. Tūmatarau, thank you for taking the time for me,” Kazimir says, making a short bow.

Kazimir eagerly sits down. “Mr. Tūmatarau, perhaps you remember me. I visited the Marvelous Thinking Machine during the festival.” Aisake grunts, looking around bored.

“Well, I’m trying to build a Thinking Machine myself, and I was hoping you could advise me on how to proceed.”

Aisake makes sure to eat his food slowly, as if considering what Kazimir says. He can’t believe this continental is actually trying to build a real thinking machine. Is that at all possible? But the opportunity is too good to pass up. If he plays his cards right, there will be much more than a meal, much much more.

“We’ve already constructed a geo-demographic module, and presently we are working on a settlers network module. But our progress is slow. Would you give us the benefit of your experience?”

Aisake orders tamagoyaki. All the while, he tries to find the best way to make this work. If they are really building a thinking machine, maybe Aisake can use it as well. ‘If their progress is slow, let’s keep it that way.’

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Floor Kist lives in a Dutch town called Voorburg with his wife, two sons, two cats and their dog Monty. He is currently deputy-mayor for the Green Party and an AI researcher. He’s concerned about current divisive public and political debates. But he’s also interested in how AI can be used to resolve society’s big issues.

This is his first novel. He’s been carrying the idea about a story about AI bringing peace for a long time. The Covid-19 lockdown in the Netherlands suddenly gave him time to actually write it.

Website * Amazon * Goodreads

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GUEST POST:

- What is it about the science fiction genre that you love the most?

How can you not love science fiction?

Every book allows you to live another life. Russian author, Anton Chekhov wrote a short story about a bet between a wealthy business man and a young man. They bet that it would be impossible for someone to live alone, without any contact for twenty years. The young man accepts the one million rouble bet on condition that he can ask for books. After twenty years, the businessman isn’t as wealthy and can’t afford to pay the bet. In desperation, he decides that he must end the young man’s life before the end of the bet. So, he sneaks in at night, only to find the cabin empty. The young man left a note saying that he could not accept the money, because he was given the priceless opportunity of living so many different lives through books.

What science fiction does, is allow you to live fantastical lives. Walking on the moon and more distant planets, flying in cars, talking to planet minds, meeting intelligent androids, to boldly go where no man has gone before! It's a genre of wondrous discoveries and of unlimited possibilities. But what I like most about science fiction, is that it gives us hope. That they will still love their children, that their relationship to others still means something.

Hope that new discoveries will solve some of our current problems. Hope that we will continue to find ways to work together in the face of disparity. And especially, hope that people will still be people in the future.

Jules Verne wrote From the Earth to the Moon in 1865. It took us one hundre years to actually make that trip. In Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Verne designed a submarine powered by electricity. Twenty years later, it was built. In 1964, Isaac Asimov predicted the rise of cars with "robot-brains". Now, almost sixty years later, we are building them.

How can you not love science fiction?

Sure, there are also a lot of dystopian novels, where terrible things happen. Especially when we caused the terrible things ourselves, through greed, carelessness or ignorance. But I tend to see those novels as cautionary tales. That’s something we don’t want to happen. So, let’s work together to avoid that.

Not for nothing, the sub-title of my novel is "Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age". A group of diverse people suddenly find themselves working together on something that none of them have done before: build a Thinking Machine to bring peace. And their first major task, is to actually work together. This is not as easy as it sounds. Not in real life either.

But it’s always worth trying, and it always makes something possible that wasn’t there before. All it takes is for people to connect in a meaningful way. Now and in the futures we create through our stories.

This is what I love about science fiction.

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GIVEAWAY:

Floor Kist will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. Good luck!

(All the Ups and Downs is not responsible for this giveaway, its entries, or the prize. Goddess Fish Promotions assumes all responsibility for this giveaway.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway