Ray Kurzweil is known for writing precise and futuristic material for the generations he can be considered as a modern wizard because we can see in the future and his predictions have been 87% accurate so far his latest book Daniel The Chronicles of a Superheroine is different it's a fiction novel a story of a younger with intelligence beyond any other human being on the planet, unlike the non-fiction works we have been receiving from Ray Kurzweil Danielle packs a story with the futurism we are used to in the Ray Kurzweil books.
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| Futurist Ray kurzweil |
The story can be considered loose, childish, and not very well thought of given the fact that it is written by Ray Kurzweil, while the story is not up to the mark but I think the author knew this, and the main focus is not the story itself but the technology is discussed and the use of their technology in it.
The book serves as a guide for those who have a desire to change the world starting from the technology of water cleaning device made by inventor Dean Kamen named Slingshot which is a water vapor distillation system to string theory and A.I. powered Life Bits that record life through contact lenses.
Later in the book, we are introduced to more social and political problems like Female Genital Mutilation, Israel and Palestinian conflict, and Communism in China. Danielle besides solving all the problems above mentioned also is a famous music artist. There are some points that may seem stupid and unbelievable but that was the reaction to the great book age of spiritual machines and now we are living the predictions made by Ray.
who should buy this book?
The book is a must-buy if you don't care about the storyline and details of the fiction world but are interested in technologies and ways to change the world and the non-fiction style of Ray Kurzweil's previous books like The singularity is near, a great book for every single age but not meant for the nitpickers and people who don't like technology and sci-fi, readers who like to ponder over social problems can also enjoy this book as it touches several sensitive social topics throughout the chapters.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Danielle is a superheroine and you are going to be amazed by the list of things she accomplishes by the age of 20, She is the president of China, a democratically elected president, a superstar musician, and also the president of the united states of America simultaneously, yes she is the president of America and democratic china at the same time. Needless to say, it's horrible in execution because even Ray Kurzweil does not know what he is talking about in this book because problems in Ray Kurzweil's brain are just too simple. This book is a disappointment if you are a Ray Kurzweil Fan.
She does all this somehow with the power of language translator A.I. and the internet after she resolves a long and deadly issue of Israel and Palestinian conflict by talking and understanding both sides. it's stupid? yes. is it overly optimistic? yes. is it ever going to happen? yes.
She as a child also bends law as in the story she buys drugs for her friend to cure her without any doctor's advice, makes one thing if this story is written so horribly why is it directed and marketed towards kids given that the artwork made by Amy Kurzweil, Ray's daughter is childish and cartoonish like something you will see at the back of an old newspaper to illustrate some boring joke or comment politically on something without offending anyone, which Ray Kurzweil has done beautifully when he discussed issues like Israel and Palestinian conflict and capturing of Osama Bin Laden to make him surrender.
She is a child prodigy with great language, mathematics, and artistic abilities, she lives with her parents and a sister who's from Haiti, adopted after her parents died in the Haiti Earthquake of 2010 which claimed 250,000 lives and is older than her, it's through her eyes we see the story of Danielle unfold.
The story also shows focus on real-world problems and their solutions with the real-world machines and science this is where the valuable part lies. It serves as a blueprint for those who are Danielle in real life, the book encourages the reader and so many ways to get up and change the world.
The book is divided into two part one for the story the other for the references and strategies to change the world in so many ways including instructions to help promote world peace, prevent future genocide, promote democracy in China, learn how to program computers from a young age, start your own company, cure cancer, and other ailments, become a physicist Foster learn by doing and the list goes on for the stuff Ray Kurzweil dedicated the second half of this book.
The last chapter ends on a cliff hanger and a warning from some terrorist organization probably that has nuclear weapons, so this outlandish but not very well written story may continue if the sales of this part is good enough after all at the end of the day Ray Kurzweil is an entrepreneur first then a book writer.
RATING
If this book was not containing the second half of the resources and the technologies discussed in the story I would have given this book a 2 Star rating. The story is pathetic and the technology is described vaguely if you want to ignore all of that the resources and information you will gain from this book are just amazing but again everything is already available on the net seriously all the resources are on the net and are available for free. This book is a waste of money from that point of view.
3.5/5
