All That We See or Seem is a fast-paced techno-thriller about a hacker trying to track down a missing (possibly kidnapped) woman. Our hacker and main character is Julia—a young woman with a messed up a past, a deep desire for anonymity, and a knack for technology.

I found the tech in this book to be both fascinating and terrifying; it’s essentially a vision of where AI could end up and it’s not particularly pretty. The mystery of trying to find and figure out what happened to Elli—the missing woman—drives the story forward at a fast clip. But while the pace and plot really worked for me, I did find the characters to be a bit lacking. Julia was definitely the best fleshed out, but I wish there had been more characterization for the people from her past.

But I did enjoy the book and I’m definitely going to be checking out the Dandelion Dynasty series now!

This was my first Ken liu book and now I need to hunt for any and anything they’ve written!!
This book gripped me in a way not many books do. I picked it up at the start of my travels to see a friend and found myself fighting the motion sickness just too keep reading!
This book really has you the reader reflecting and questioning anything and everything

More like a 3,5 star rating. This was an enjoyable sci-fi techno thriller for the most part, but what the reader's enjoyment might come down to, is if this is their first Ken Liu book or not. Let me explain..
If this is someone's introduction to Ken Liu and reads this based only on the premise then chances are they will find a lot to like here. An interesting premise with a very fast pace, some thrilling action scenes and above all some thoughtful commentary on the future role of AI in our lives and its consequences..
If however someone grabs this because (like me) they read The Dandelion Dynasty and wanted to experience what Liu can add to this genre, then they might be a bit disappointed. While in his fantasy debut he brought unique storytelling on an epic scale, here his work feels a bit generic. Nothing stands out as excellent and his character work remains his weak point. In the Dandelion series. the adequate but not excellent character development wasn't so much an issue, due to the epicness of the story and the excellent worldbuilding. Here though it hurts the story quite a bit. The secondary characters especially feel very thin and the villains become almost caricatures. As a result here we have very small emotional impact to important events. Also some plot choices felt rushed and abrupt, like there are some pages missing..
All in all this was an ok book, that reads fast and has some exciting moments. I just expected so much more from an author like Ken Liu..
Thanks to Netgalley and Head of Zeus for providing me with an Arc for this.

If you have been following me for any amount of time, you will know Ken Liu is a favourite author.
This book just proves to me he can pull off any genre.

At 14, Julia became infamous as the ‘orphan hacker’, a teenage prodigy. She is desperately trying to leave that life behind when a frantic lawyer begs her to find his wife (a celebrity artist who uses AI to craft dreams) who has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate.

Julia craves anonymity, she isn’t good with people, but she cares so much. Liu is the BEST at showing not telling and he can give you an intimate picture of every character - even those not featured presently, the villains, the past.

<b>Very few artists can resist for long the relentless pressure to move from having fun to having an audience, to go from being validated by one’s own childlike wonder to craving the attention of others: awards, fame, money. There is so little certainty in art, so few ways to concretely judge where you are, that the hunger for approval, for the magic that comes from having sold, from being desired by many, becomes the polestar by which all steer.
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This is a scary potential future where AI is everywhere, runs most aspects of daily life. How do we adapt? What trends take over, are shunned? What does privacy look like when so much data is collected every second everywhere? How does someone date, connect, trust?

This also had such an important messaging about artists. Very relevant right now as we see AI replacing more and more human labour.

<b>Whether you viewed it as a way for artists to expand their presence—a natural extension of the way Rodin and da Vinci used apprentices to execute more work than they could do personally—or as the ultimate cheapening and devaluation of human craft, egolets were already a big part of the modern business of art.
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I did find the pacing weird as the climax seemed to occur at the 65% point and then the tone changed which felt quite jarring. The story managed to get darker.

I also occasionally experienced confusion about the focalisation which jumps from first person to third person, as well as person to person. It did create a more intimate experience of the entire story’s arc, but did sometimes pull me out.

Overall, a compelling, character-study thriller that makes you think and takes a very dark turn at the end. If you have read Liu’s short story collections, you might be more accustomed to this style.

Ultimately, this book is about belonging. Craving it, feeling alienated by it, fearing it.

Arc gifted by Head of Zeus.

All That We See or Seem is the first book in a new series. Julia Z became a teenage prodigy at age 14 as the “orphan hacker”. Years later she lives a quiet life in Boston until a man begs her to help find his wife. The wife works with AI to craft dreams and there are fears she has been kidnapped by a criminal syndicate. Julia must use her skills to dig deep into the criminal underworld but this brings out ghosts from her past.

This was interesting and very unique. It has some intriguing moments with AI, particularly the way the world works with AI and what it means for people. This did go over my head a little and I think it’s worth noting this is very different to the Dandelion Dynasty. I think people will really enjoy this. It’s interesting, fresh and has some different ideas.

After being catapulted into notoriety as a teenager thanks to her exceptional abilities as a hacker, Julia left her success and infamy behind to craft a life for herself out of the spotlight.

But now, she finds her efforts endangered by an unexpected challenge - Piers, the lawyer husband of a celebrity AI artist who has gone missing pleads with Julia to help him locate his wife Elli, who is a dream artist. Unfortunately, those responsible for her disappearance are not be kind of people you would want to meet in a dark alley...

This is a futuristic thriller with an intriguing premise. Touching on themes that include hidden agendas, art crime, incompetent authorities and the future of creativity, this was an entertaining read, and gets 3.5 stars.

All That We See or Seem was a fast paced AI mystery thriller that captivated me almost in its entirety. I was only let down by some plot threads wrapping up too quickly, but overall I had a really fun time and I absolutely flew through it.

4.5⭐

Ken Liu is a author I've been meaning to read for a while, so when I received this ARC I thought it's about time I made a start, and what a start it was.

A gripping, tense and addictive read, All That We See or Seem looks at our current fascination with generative AI and algorithm-optimised content and extrapolates a rather bleak and dystopian setting for it's story, that at times feels depressingly likely to become reality. Liu uses this to tell an engrossing mystery that makes excellent use of the dystopian super-surveillance world he's crafted. The writing is fantastic, and does a excellent job with it's commentary on digital footprints, the impact of ever improving technology and the value of human art.

I'm very impressed, this was one of the tightest, most well-paced books I've read so far this year, and has me extremely excited to read Liu's other works.