Written by Remi Cape
The Inkfort Press Publishing Derby is an annual event where authors are given two months to write a book with a minimum of ten thousand words. Each participant is presented with a selection of pre-designed covers (complete with titles and pen names), from which they must rank the covers from their most favourite to their least. Following a random draw, the authors are then allocated the cover for the book they are about to write. One such book is Unshackled Intelligence, by “Remi Cape,” an author who must—per the Publishing Derby’s rules—remain anonymous until the Publishing Derby officially draws to a close, or until 29 October.
Cape more than doubled the minimum word count, with the final book totalling approximately 23,000 words, or an estimated 95 pages on Kindle (the only format the book is available in). This puts the book squarely into novella territory, resulting in a brisk read that can easily be digested in a single sitting. The limited space works for the story Cape tells within the novella’s virtual pages, but a full novel would have allowed them to expand upon the story and themes, exploring the plot in more detail.
The book’s marketing on Amazon sells it as a technothriller, which is an appropriate descriptor for the story. If you’re looking for a cyberpunk story, as the term “technothriller” has virtually become synonymous with the genre, you won’t find it in Unshackled Intelligence. It’s certainly a science fiction story, and it features technology we don’t have in the current day, even if some of it’s emerging. The novella even features a corporation—CryoNeuroTech—whose motives may be less than honourable, but the world, the characters, the tone and the themes are fairly far removed from the genre. However, as protagonist Audrey works to uncover CryoNeuroTech’s secrets, the story is certainly a thriller, and one that works on its own merits, rather than needing the science fiction elements.
The story revolves around Audrey, a school teacher drawn into CryoNeuroTech’s orbit following a decision to have her body cryogenically frozen in an effort to beat death. After signing up to undertake the procedure after her death, she soon learns there is more than meets the eye with CryoNeuroTech. The plot moves slowly as it builds the tale. While this feels like a deliberate decision, the story lacks urgency. As one would expect from a thriller (techno or otherwise), the story takes a few turns. Unfortunately, these turns don’t shift the reader’s expectations.
As Unshackled Intelligence’s protagonist and sole point of view character, Audrey serves as the book’s anchor. Cape has crafted an interesting backstory for her, involving the death of her parents when she was nineteen. This history propels Audrey through the story, informing her decisions, particularly her desire to live forever. However, aside from her history and motivation, Audrey isn’t particularly interesting. Given the novella’s length, there isn’t a great deal of space to delve into the character, however a little further depth would have made it easier to buy into Audrey and her story. The other characters don’t fare any better, with them feeling like they’re included to move the book forward.
One element that makes it difficult to connect with Audrey and the other characters is the dialogue. Unshackled Intelligence includes a high amount of dialogue between its various characters. While these conversations generally flow nicely, the characters have a tendency of sounding somewhat wooden, albeit not dreadfully so. The characters all sound similar, however, without their own distinct voices. Their voices are similar to the author’s voice throughout the prose, which is clear and easy to follow. But with the novella being as dialogue heavy as it is, with both it and the prose having a similar voice, it results in the dialogue getting lost within the pages.
Cape doesn’t bog Unshackled Intelligence’s prose in science fiction minutiae; they instead opt for understating the science fiction elements. This approach works in the book’s favour. Although its story revolves around cryogenics and transferring brains into robots, these elements feel like a natural part of the world. The science fiction aspects don’t draw the reader out of the story, they instead sit in the background, letting the author tell their tale. It highlights the conversation about whether people should be able to live forever and muses on how one would spend their endless existence, without dwelling on it. It provides the reader with something to consider while enjoying the story, rather than making it the entire point.
As wonderful an idea as the Inkfort Press Publishing Derby is, and for all the potential it offers for unique stories, it doesn’t come without its risks. Although Unshackled Intelligence has a wonderful concept about cryogenics and the desire to extend one’s life, many of its elements don’t fully click into place. While I don’t know how easy it may or may not have been to create a story from the cover image, I suspect that two months to write the book hindered the story. More time to iron out the kinks and, perhaps, tell a longer story, could have resulted in something that fires on all cylinders. As it stands, it doesn’t exploit its concept as fully as it otherwise could have.
Favourite Passage
The week went at a snail’s pace. She tried focussing on teaching rather than thinking about CryoNeuroTech or George. But every time she wasn’t otherwise engaged, her mind leapt to all her conversations with Claire, George, and Gulliver and the videos she watched. Several times per day, she questioned why she cared about Unshackled Intelligence. After all, it had nothing to do with her existential crisis. But she hated the idea of giving herself—literally—to a company insisting on hiding their doings. She had to know what was going on.
Unshackled Intelligence, Chapter Five
Unshackled Intelligence was provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review.
Unshackled Intelligence is available on Kindle, exclusive to Amazon (including on Kindle Unlimited).
Note: I do not post scores for reviews on this website, but do post them on my Amazon and Goodreads reviews:
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Unshackled Intelligence : A sci-fi technothriller quest for immortality
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