Providence by Max Barry - an AI battleship, a hapless crew, and black-hole spewing aliens!

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Recorded11 Apr 2023

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Four soldiers are serving a four year tour of duty as the only crew members on a super-advanced AI battleship, dispatched to fight the alien Salamanders who have been spewing black holes everywhere and killing humans in space. The ship is fully controlled by AI, and as the mission goes on our heroes feel more and more like window dressing - they sure are killing a lot of aliens, but are they anything more than passengers on this ship? Or are they just window-dressing for the military industrial complex?Thanks to Lori from the Hugo, Girl podcast for joining us for this episode! Hugo, Girl is a monthly show featuring three very funny space feminists reading and discuss Hugo Award-winning fiction. Cody joined them on their most recent episode, talking about the hugely underrated book Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang. Join the Hugonauts book club on discord!Related books we recommend:The Forever War by Joe HaldemanBlindsight by Peter WattsLexicon by Max BarryOr you can watch the episode on YouTube if you prefer video (and see the short videos we've started posting every other week)

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