this was a interesting read, I loved the plot and I really liked the character Paddy, this was a good read that I really enjoyed reading.

Thank you netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Very uniquely written. We first encounter our protagonists through the lense of a virtual conscience. We know that this conscienceness wants to come into being but is stuck without a body and then miraculously it becomes aware of life beyond the dark void . Other characters are introduced and there begins a virtual adventure that at times was hard to follow but entertaining nonetheless.

This is a great cautionary tale about what may come. It was a thought provoking science fiction book. Kelly makes you wonder would you or would you say no?

“All this time, we’ve had it drilled into our heads that we have to live in harmony with nature. But nature is brutality. Nature is nihility. Nature is a killing field where often one life is sustained only by another’s demise. How can you exist harmoniously with that which is intrinsically chaotic? Furthermore, how do we rectify an ethos in which all life has value with a natural order that necessitates suffering and death, that treats life as a mere commodity? If you ask me, Mother Nature needs a hard kick right in her callous ovaries.”

Disclaimer - I was sent a free digital copy of this book by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Wow, just wow. Attention grabbing from the first page. Some incredibly thought provoking concepts and philosophical ponderings throughout. Really well thought out storyline and characters. Fully enjoyable read!

I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

Aethyr is a science fiction novel with a mystery as it’s plot.

You follow Paddy who has been living in a virtual realm for 3 years. While Paddy was still in our world, he was working with a team to establish how to upload someone’s consciousness into the virtual realm. However, Paddy does not know the events that led him to be uploaded, as he does not remember the last year of his life. Though out the story Paddy attempts to recover his missing memories.

Let’s start with pros:

The overall concept of the story was compelling. What would happen if a human mind was became a part of the internet, and how would that be possible?

The world building. How our current internet would function as virtual reality was really interesting to see fleshed out.

I love the cover of the novel.

Cons:
I didn’t love the writing style.

The writing style was a mix between using scientific terminology and unique vocabulary, and a lot of cussing. This style fits the story, I just found it distracting. For example, the word ‘mien’ was used a lot, and a certain part of a woman was described as a ‘steamy swamp.’

While I didn’t love the writing style, I’m sure other people will. As I said, the writing style fit the story, it just want my favorite.

Paddy wasn’t very perceptive, which wouldn’t bother me if he wasn’t an extremely intelligent engineer.

Overall, this book was a fun read!

"Is reality not merely a factor of perception? Or, perhaps the question should be: what is reality to one who cannot perceive the world construed by the rest to be 'real'?"

Kelly takes on this pretty massive question in Aethyr, a story about a man whose brain/personality/thoughts have been uploaded into a network upon his death. This work is very much an investigation on what it means to be real, to be human, and to be whole.

Kelly's writing is good and reads smoothly, but I had to stop at least 30 times to use the dictionary on my kindle, which is not a great way to be jolted out of the reading experience. The plot was not particularly original, nor were any of the surprises that surprising, but Kelly used the story as a vehicle to investigate his central question rather nicely.

This is very much a book about ideas, and Kelly did a great job exploring those ideas through the experiences of Paddy, our protagonist. He fully explores transhumanism and many of its questions. He also gives a fair treatment to religion, touching on it without falling into the trap that many authors do of dismissing belief as fancy.

This is an author to watch for sure!

Spoilers - content warnings for the following. rape/abuse