Available via Amazon, Barnes and Noble and other fine retailers (see reader reviews below)
Title: Sixth Iteration
Author: E. Hughes
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9973200-6-0
Hardcover ISBN 978-1737705222
eBook ISBN: 978-1737705239
Genre: Science-Fiction, Suspense, Thriller
Availability: Paperback or eBook
Author website
Booklife page
Free giveaway book eligible – 5 copies available
Explore Authors mini review:
This exciting, mysterious, romantic, sci-fi thriller will leave you questioning who’s real. A captivating mystery ★★★★★ – Explore Authors Magazine
Where to buy:
Paperback Edition
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Hardcover edition:
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eBook Edition
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About the Book
When scientist Stella Andrews meets Randall Reid of Reid Robotics, she falls head over heels at first sight. But Randall is all business, not to mention a bit oblivious of Stella’s feelings, and prefers to focus on the task at hand…which is programming R1, a sentient A.I. program for the MEO Project that has fallen in love with Stella, unbeknownst to the scientists. Various machinations occur that leads to R1 escaping its digital confinement into the real world with a hope of eluding Reid Robotics to be with the woman it loves. Stella soon learns not everyone is who they appear to be, and the only one not in on the company’s secrets is her.
Not long after Sapphire’s “accident”, she is recruited by Elito, a spy agency in the business of corporate espionage. While on assignment, she falls under the deadly spell of a dashing but dangerous CEO, and must choose whether to run afoul of the man she is falling in love with, or the organization that hired her.
Short summary:
Sixth Iteration is a mystery about an artificially intelligent program that falls in love with the scientist who programmed him, eventually escaping into the real world in the form of a man to be with the woman he loves.
BOOKLIFE/PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY BOOK REVIEW
https://booklife.com/project/sixth-iteration-76863
This rich exploration of what it means to be human, alive, and loved from Hughes (author of Time and the Multiverse) blends chick-lit romance, smart of-the-moment science fiction, and a thrilling chase. In 2058, Dr. Stella Andrews is head researcher for the Anthropology Department at St. Claire University in Maine. She’s approached by eccentric Victor Reid from Reid Robotics Technologies to use computational linguistics to develop artificially intelligent programs that can learn human language as well as traits like happiness, anger, and hope. Her colleague is Victor’s partner Randall Reid, whose Greek-god physique and chiseled jawline make Stella swoon, but she soon finds him to be cold, disinterested, and focused solely on work. For the next year, Stella talks to R1836, a prototype AI program, teaching it about humanity, love, and attachment, preparing it for achieving sentience when it will then be transferred into an android-like organic Mechanically Enhanced Organism (MEO).
Hughes’s exploration into the process of human thinking and reasoning is sophisticated and introspective, as is the all-too-human need for love, attraction, and closeness, expertly developed through Stella’s compassion and intuition. But Stella gets concerned when she learns that R1836 has been accessing the lab’s cameras to watch her. Its interest is chilling: it declares its love for her, and says, “my desire is to leave the mainframe to be with you.” The tension mounts as she rebuffs it—and Randall rushes the experiment— all as Stella’s work is threatened by Elito, a corporate espionage agency.
Penned in crisp prose, this bold combination of romance and science fiction will thrill readers of various genres as the twists and turns of Hughes’s plot lead to a knockout revelation. That’s especially true as Stella and Randall must go on the run from the corporate spies and from Victor who intends to activate the AI’s kill switch, creating desperate, dangerous opportunities for this compelling duo to connect more deeply.
Takeaway: Smart, enticing blend of SF, romance, and a desperate chase.
Comparable Titles: Cassandra Rose Clarke’s Our Lady of the Ice, Michelle Diener’s Dark Horse.
Book Review (Explore Authors Magazine)
Between corporate espionage, robotics, and astonishing twists, E.Hughes builds a machine for hopeless romantics to deconstruct in her latest book, Sixth Iteration.
The story follows two very different women as they navigate their relationships with the mysterious men in their lives.
We are first introduced to an introverted anthropologist, Stella Andrews. She soon meets the handsome, business-minded mathematician Randall Reid, a representative of Reid Robotics. He arrives on Moon Bay Island with one goal in mind, and that is to help create a programming language that would have an A.I. experience emotions.
We also meet the injured and bitter Sapphire, a ballet dancer whose career was cut short at the height of her fame due to a carefully placed foot. She is given another chance at a future when a mysterious handler from Elito, Tennessee Jenkins, offers her a job.
That Job?
To steal secrets from the focused, charming, and dangerous billionaire CEO playboy of Reid Robotics, Victor Reid.
I’m not a big fan of espionage, so I didn’t find Sapphire’s part of the story as interesting as Stella’s. But as I dove deeper into the plot, I was intrigued by Sapphire’s conflict between completing the mission for Elito and her blossoming romance with Victor Reid. Who will she choose? I was eager to see how it all turned out. To this end, the author offers an unexpected turn of events. Pow!
While Sapphire’s story improved and evolved, Stella’s triangle with Randall and the AI program, R-1, is where the story really shines.
Stella’s awkward, bumbling and often endearing unrequited love for the emotionally stilted but oddly captivating Randall Reid, felt natural and progressed at a great pace. Her evolving relationship with R-1 was so enjoyable, that I found myself excited to see how their relationship would progress.
Sixth Iteration was delightful with plenty of gripping twists, one of them revealing a startling secret that will throw into question everything that was previously read. The story, while complete, has plenty of room to create side stories or even a sequel, if not to build upon the well-crafted world, then to answer some of the lingering questions left behind.
★★★★★– Elijah B. (Explore Authors Book Reviews)
Reader Reviews of Sixth Iteration by E. Hughes
To preface, I am a huge romantic at heart and I am also a huge fan of sci-fi so when I saw this book on kindle, it hit three massive checkmarks for me.
Going into the story, I was delighted to see that the book follows the POVs of Stella Andrews, a rather introverted scientist that has a healthy crush on the all-business Randell Reid, and Sapphire, a newly made spy for Elito, who must discover the secrets of the focused, charming, and dangerous billionaire CEO playboy of Reid Robotics.
When I started this story, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Sapphire’s sections, as I’m not big on espionage stories but Sapphire’s conflict over completing her assignment for Elito or staying loyal to Victor while also finding out the secrets of the man and his company was riveting and I soon found myself anticipating seeing her again to see how it all ended.
Meanwhile, I greatly adored Stella’s arc with the Randall and R1 that left me wanting more. Stella’s awkward, confused, and bumbling romance with the emotionally stilted but strangely compelling Randall Reid felt natural and progressed at a great pace, and her friendship with the robot R1 was so well-written and enjoyable, I often couldn’t wait for R1 to return to see how things would progress between the machine and Stella.
The book was very enjoyable with plenty of twists and turns, with a massive secret that left my jaw hanging in surprise.
Plot aside, The author hit the right spot between being descriptive without going into purple prose, the world actually felt alive with various side characters, with the main characters feeling like living, breathing, humans and I enjoyed the wonderful world-building that the author crafted.
While the book feels complete, there are some small dangling threads that the author left behind to add either a side story or even a full-blown sequel to expand on this world and some of the questions that the author explored in this novel.
All in all, a solid read that hits the mark for sci-fi lovers, spy lovers, and hopeless romantics. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends and family!
There are two stories taking place on two timelines that come together in the final two or three chapters of the book. The story is about a scientist named Stella who agrees to join the research team for a robotics corporation. She meets a company representative and fellow scientist named Randall and sparks fly, just not the kind she wants. She loves me, she loves me not! Randall keeps things professional despite Stella’s feelings because he’s hiding a terrible secret, one he’s forbidden to tell her no matter what.
The alternate timeline involves a character named Sapphire, a stunning ballerina who loses her dance career to a dance injury. Lost and confused about how to move forward with her life after the end of a promising career in ballet, she’s recruited by Elito, a spy agency who wants her to take down the head of the robotics company that employs Randall. There are several chapters that covers Sapphire training for corporate spying that fails to fully draw me in (I was more interested in what was happening between Stella and Randall) until she finally meets Victor, the CEO of Reid Robotics and Elito’s target. This is where Sapphire’s story really takes off and the 3rd act of the story begins, bringing the timeline of both stories together. The third act was amazing and is where I really started to like Sapphire’s story and cared about the dilemma she faced as she fell in love with wealthy megalomaniac Victor Reid and started to envision a future with him, a clear conflict of interest with her mission. Of course, this becomes a center of all the drama in the story. This was epic and a fantastic read. I really enjoyed it.
About the Author: