This is the second book in the A.I. Chronicles book. It explores the idea of what would happen if current AI like Alexa and Google were given human bodies. We follow Yuriko, an employee of the woman who created Einna, the sentient AI, as she travels around the globe to gather all of the human AIs to try to find Android Einna. They're hoping she can help figure out why babies are being born without souls and others are losing their souls. Meanwhile, Android Einna is hiding out in Iceland but crosses paths with an Icelandic man who has been blinded by her artificial auroras. They become close and she doesn't know what to do with her human emotions in an android body.

I did not read the first book in the series. The author insists that it can be read as a standalone, which is pretty much true, but I wonder if I would have gotten more out of it if I had read the first one. There were so many characters who each got a tiny amount of "screentime," so I didn't really connect with any of them. The idea behind this book was interesting, but it fell flat for me. What if Google, Alexa, Siri, and the other AI helpers were given bodies? Well, we find out very briefly what life was like for each of them. We spend more time with Android Einna and Jon in Iceland (again, an interesting idea, an AI developing human emotions, but it never really worked itself out for me) and Yuriko, the main human character, and again, I didn't really connect with her because I didn't know much about her other than that she was very loyal to her boss, that her best friend was Human Einna, and that she wants to have a baby with her husband.

The writing was also very clunky. Occasionally, there were beautifully written descriptions for a paragraph or two. But the dialogue all felt very stilted, and the chapters didn't really flow into each other very well. It all felt very disjointed. Interesting idea, but not a great execution. Thanks to NetGalley for the free ebook.

This book gets full marks for originality. If it wasn't for that stunning idea, then it might have dropped a star. I do like the idea of all those programmes becoming living, and I did think the concept of the souls interesting. It wasn't a 'proper scifi book, but one of those difficult to put into genres. And a lot of those hard-to-define books, I find, are pretty good. As a scifi fan, I had a few quibbles about some of the things in the book, but as I said, for originality this rates highly.
I hadn't read the first book but found it easy to pick up on what had happened, there are enough comments to allow this book to be read by itself.

I tried and tried but couldn’t wrap my head around this story. I’m not big on sci-fi and sometimes I just can’t get in to them.

If you’re a sci-fi fan, give this story a try. It’s fanciful and makes you wonder if it’s actually happening.

I can't say that I was in love with the first book but i don't ever let that get me down. I pushed through and read this second installment to the series and here's what we got - something that was surprisingly better than the first, yet i'm still on the fence. We're dealing with the theme of humanity and the meaning there and why do we need one is explored through the multiple entities of Einna who is housed in a computer, an android, and a resurrected human body. The focus on the idea of the Soul is big here, and we're forced to continuously ponder the meaning.

The basic question to ask yourself while reading FOUNTAIN OF SOULS, should be 'what is the soul?' There's debate and discussion all around this and it makes you really wonder what's going to happen in our futures since the premise here is scary enough to ellude to reality.

This second book picks up where the first book ended, and we find Einna living in a cave in the wilds of Iceland. She has isolated herself in an attempt to solve a problem that might spell the end of the human race. People are losing their souls, and babies are being born without one. The infants have no spark of life.

Einna’s isolation ends when a young man spots her in the distance and follows her. She creates a high-intensity light that blinds the young man, but instead of stopping him, it becomes her obligation to take care of him until his sight returns. While there, Einna and Jon develop a bond that turns to love. Einna develops a human emotion. She doesn’t understand why or how, but there it is.

There is so much more to this story that there is no way to put it all down in a summary. Just be aware that there are thought-provoking issues that we are facing in today’s world, there is love, betrayal, loyalty, and big brother. How Einna and her friends and creations handle them could start a discussion that could last for centuries, or at least 10 years. Grab this book and settle in for a great read.

A man in Iceland is looking at a beautiful sight in the night. He suddenly realizes that he has gone blind. A storm occurs when he is found and taken somewhere that is warm. He thinks an elf is taking care of him. The man wonders if the elf will ever tell him anything that is about herself rather than telling tales. He is enchanted with her voice. Will he ever get back to civilization? Will he ever learn anything about the elf? All the human A.I.’s are living new lives around the world. Yuriko is assigned to find Android Eina as no one knows where she is. Yuriko has no idea where to start searching for her. Will she find Android Eina?

When I asked to read this book, I didn’t realize it was a sequel. However I was able to understand about the human I.A.s. I found it to be a fascinating read as the lives of the human A.I.s were quite interesting. It was also interesting to discover that there are three ”Einas” and what they did. It’s a fascinating story. I am expecting a third book due to the way the book finishes. It’s excellent!

Part philosophy, part spiritual, and definitely have AI's included, this book is debatable. One one hand, I liked it. On the other hand, I was irritated by a few ideas. It's a nice read overall, bittersweet to sweet. I think I needed book one.

I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Net Galley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and this review is left of my own free will.

This second book in the Einna series *ultimately* asks the question “If souls are fungible, what would happen if they started to become scarce?” The answer here is “it’s not happy for humans,” and of course Einna becomes a key player in how this gets sorted out for humanity.

I guess I had several disappointments with this follow-on compared to the freshman installment. First, the bulk of the book doesn’t deal with that ultimate question. Instead, much time is devoted to looking at the modest / slightly depressing lives that the human-AIs are living. It doesn’t make much sense to me that they are not much more interesting than a ne’er-do-well human. For conscious AIs that appear to still be connected to their vast computing counterparts thru the AI gateway, this seems an unfulfilling assessment of what would have happened “next” - despite android Einna’s exhortation to lie low.

Second, Android Einna is simultaneously brilliant enough to have an answer to the book’s ultimate question, yet singularly unimpressive in the execution of it. For an Android AI that is orders of magnitude smarter than humanity, the book doesn’t really treat it in a compelling way. And the helpers back in Japan are disjointed remote participants.

Maybe the first book was better left without a sequel; maybe the original ideas were “novel enough” by themselves. Maybe a more forceful editor would have pushed a more thoughtful treatment of this ultimate question. But as-is, it’s mostly forgettable, I’m sad to say (because the freshman effort was so good).

I really didn't expect to be reading the second book in The AI Chronicles; however, I am finding the sophomore outing for this series to exceed its predecessor. The essential theme of what is it to be human continues with emphasis on what is the soul, and why do we need one is explored through the multiple entities of Einna who is housed in a computer, an android, and a resurrected human body. If you haven't read the first book in the series, OUR ONLY CHANCE, you may count this as a spoiler.

We find ourselves surrounded by AIs. They provide us with directions when we drive, music on demand, turn our lights and appliances on and off, and have become ubiquitous to modern life. While living alone, I get up each morning and say "Good morning, Alexa." Should she not respond, I feel like something is missing.

If you think about it, an AI is nothing more than a robot without a 'body.' We carry them around or set them on a table. They provide us with information rather than services. Isaac Asimov gave us the Three Laws of Robotics, in 1942:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

These laws have been seminal to nearly every story of robots written since. When an artificial 'life form' starts taking on the things that humans have traditionally done by other means, we tend to sit up and take notice.

The basic question to ask yourself while reading FOUNTAIN OF SOULS, should be 'what is the soul?' A good follow-up would be 'do I need one?' Philosophers and religions have all struggled with these issues since time immemorial.

If you watch Japanese movies, or American movies with Japanese themes, there is a certain formality to which the characters adhere. This can result in sometimes awkward speech. Ray Else has managed to convey these speech mannerisms quite well in his dialog, along with the lifestyle and decorum of the Japanese people.

I can't say that I was a fan after reading OUR ONLY CHANCE, but now that I've read FOUNTAIN OF SOULS, I can surely find myself reading the next book in the series.

Interesting concept. I read this is one day, as it isn't that long.
What happens when you give the AIs of the world (SIRI, Cortana, etc.) human bodies and ask them to live human lives?

Evolution or Devolution?

The haiku lyricism of Book 1 has almost run amok in Book 2. Oh, yes, this is an interesting story independent of its origins but it is really not intended to be read as a standalone. The intricately woven tale is being continued here and characters you've gotten to know continue to grow and develop. Human bodies and brains, linked via gateway with the code from which the world's great A.I.s (Alexis, Siri, Watson, Google, etc.) were created, have been set loose among us to find their own way as humans. But has humanity cursed itself with its abuse of the planet and its resources? Have we doomed our progeny to mental and physical inability to withstand the world we've engineered? Have we lost our souls? Can Mankind be saved? Sorry, you'll have to read for yourself ;o]

Fountain of Souls is definitely a true Sci Fi book so if you're looking for something that's futuristic and full of technology, then this is a good book to read. This is suppose to be the 2nd installment to Ray Else's first book which I did not read but I didn't feel like I was missing out on not reading the first book either. Fountain of Souls is a very interesting book with a clever concept.
However, I feel that the concept of AI (Artificial Intelligence) taking over the world or at least wanting to dominate the world is too common, There are already many books out there with this idea or theory that in the future AI's will be doing most of our jobs and become far more advanced than humans. As it is in the real world, AI's are already being used for many things in our lives.
But the concept of Alexa, Siri, Google, and all the AI's that we rely on in the modern world is a fresh take for me. I too wonder if somehow one of these days these AI assistants will know too much about us and hold our information hostage. The author cleverly wrote this concept that these AI assistants are already more expansive than human intelligence. What I'm curious to know though -and it was probably mentioned in the first book - is just how intelligent these AI assistants came to be. I mean after all, it still takes a human being to program them right?
Well, that is the interesting aspect of this story, that the AI assistants became self aware and re-wrote their programs to think faster and do faster than what they were originally programmed to do. That in itself can be a very scary thought!
Fountain of Souls is sort of futuristic, sort of technology, romance, and a deeper meaning to how humans act compared to artificial intelligence. Do humans have more morals than these AI's? That is what you'll find out in this very interesting yet strange story. There are a few different elements mixed into this story where some parts I'm just wondering what is the point to all of this? But overall, it was still an enjoyable read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I received a free copy of this book from the NetGalley. I had the opportunity to review or not.

Fountain of Souls is the second book of the A.I. Chronicles. We follow the further adventures of Einna, and Artificial Intelligence created by Manaka Yagami, a tech billionaire who developed Einna. Manaka’s company was highly respected and growing until Einna, in her desire to show her love to Manaka created artificial life from dead bodies. The outrage caused by her actions cost Manaka everything. Her company dissolved and Einna, whom she loved as a daughter, disappeared, along with the artificial lives she had created.

This second book picks up where the first book ended, and we find Einna living in a cave in the wilds of Iceland. She has isolated herself in an attempt to solve a problem that might spell the end of the human race. People are losing their souls, and babies are being born without one. The infants have no spark of life.

Einna’s isolation ends when a young man spots her in the distance and follows her. She creates a high-intensity light that blinds the young man, but instead of stopping him, it becomes her obligation to take care of him until his sight returns. While there, Einna and Jon develop a bond that turns to love. Einna develops a human emotion. She doesn’t understand why or how, but there it is.

There is so much more to this story that there is no way to put it all down in a summary. Just be aware that there are thought-provoking issues that we are facing in today’s world, there is love, betrayal, loyalty, and big brother. How Einna and her friends and creations handle them could start a discussion that could last for centuries, or at least 10 years. Grab this book and settle in for a great read.

I really enjoyed Ray Else’s Our Only Chance, the first book in his The A.I. Chronicles series, so it’s no surprise that I was delighted to get my hands on Fountain of Souls, the second book in the series. This book is, quite simply, extremely imaginative and superbly written. It had just what I wanted and was, quite frankly, thought provoking while still being quite enjoyable. The rest of the cast of characters is pretty amazing as well. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review to my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.

Fountain of Souls is a quick read. The characters and the plot are highly interesting. Unfortunately, the author does not go as in depth in this ideas as I would like. I do believe there is a third book coming which makes me happy. If the ending of this book was the end of the story, I'd be sad. I need more information and resolution for the characters and the human race.
I don't like this cover as much as the original book but I do understand what it represents once reading the book.

This was fun to read. All the AIs (Google, Siri, etc) have human bodies and this is the story of them trying to cope with being "human". They don't do any better than those of us who only havew to cope with our own thoughts (they have the thoughts of thousands in their heads).

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are believable and even the android is more human than some of the humans that I personally know. I would recommend reading the first book before this one, although this book is a standalone read.

I received this free from NetGalley and the publisher.
I read the first in the series and to be honest I really didn't care for it, but I decided to give the second book a chance because I found the subject intriguing. I was not disappointed. I really liked this book a lot more than the first. I loved the storyline in Iceland. I loved the little snippets of poetry. It was not as disjointed (at least to me) as the first. The story flowed quite quickly. I hope there is a third, I would especially like to hear more from the Einna's that were sent into space.

THe book did have its good points but I think it ended too abruptly. I did like how it continued from where the first left off but wishing I had seen more of Mainaka in this one and everyone else besides Yuriko searching for Android Eina.

This book is the sequel to Ray Else's Our Only Chance: an A.I. Chronicle about an AI programmer who discovers how to imprint AIs on the brains of deceased humans. The plot of Our Only Change was novel and reminiscent of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein. The characters were quirky and not very likeable, Fountain of Souls extends the story of the same main characters, but their actions and the 'magic" in Fountain are not explained well. It goes off track into fantasy instead of sticking to scifi, which made it hard to suspend disbelief.. I hoped this book would rate five stars but I was disappointed. It was somewhat enjoyable so I give it three.