A singularity is any unique event; THE SINGULARITY is the near future point where technological progress becomes irreversible, mainly due to AI becoming cleverer than people. This book centres around four people who, in time order, are Seth, Sofia, Belle and Juno.
Seth is a manual worker in a factory, date unspecified but around NOW, when he is replaced by a machine. He becomes a slaughterhouse operative, but eventually a machine replaces him once more. He needs a job to maintain his wife, Anna, who is technically dead and in stasis pending new technology allowing her to be revived and cured. The Singularity arrived but Anna didn’t return.
Sophia is CEO of Ecclestone Evolution, the world’s top tech company, with major interests in AI but also in biological engineering, especially genetics, extra-utero biosynthesis, and the reverse evolution of extinct species. Headquarters is based on one of the many island off the West coast of Alaska, and is surrounded by a temperate rainforest, including a fenced off reserve full of previously extinct species, most of which seem to be vicious carnivores. She has a Nobel Prize for “The Unified Theory” and is a multibillionaire. The company is one of the main reasons why The Singularity happened.
Belle was a foundling left at a Monastery in Alaska. Her memories of childhood and early adulthood are scrambled or absent. The Singularity happened after which she found herself in a backwoods town, with no idea why and developed a small talent as a carer for small children, especially those with physical problems. Unexpectedly, she is offered the post of Nanny to Sophia’s ten-year-old daughter, Juno who lives with her mother inside the Headquarters.
Juno was born around the point where the company’s work has possibly tipped the world from pre- to post- The Singularity. She is a beautiful, precocious genius and polymath, who is blind.
The company has developed a super AI which might become omniscient, and is under threat of takeover, which Sophia is fighting. Juno is under threat of being kidnapped or used as weapon against her mother. Seth, under guidance from an AI, has been trained and targeted to infiltrate the Headquarters (which is an almost impregnable fortress). He doesn’t really know why but has been promised the restoration of Anna as a reward so doesn’t hold back. Belle spends all her time with Juno but realises the dangers and is poised to protect her at all cost.
And so the stage is set.
Unfortunately, this clearcut scenario is very messily handled. Large chunks of the text are expositional, and often borderline polemical. It is clear that the writer has deep concerns about the problems of unfettered progress, and lets his personal political opinions overwhelm the narrative. The writing is rather erratic, feeling like it was written at speed, plot tumbling out and not well edited, with some excessive description and some unnecessary action. The final resolution makes sense, of a sort, but the whole thing could have been much better constructed. I’m giving it 2.5 stars.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

This novel had so much potential, but unfortunately it just fell short in so many areas. Titan's Tears follows the story of Seth and Belle who both find themselves at the headquarters of the world's most innovative scientist, for very different reasons. Mystery, action, mad science, heartbreak and found families, this story seemed to have everything, which was one of its downfalls.

The first half of this novel was a struggle to read for me. It moved extremely slow, the timelines were confusing for the most part and the world building was not written very well. The universe and time period that this story was set in was not described in the most informative way. I found myself with more questions than answers around the science and society that this novel takes place in.

Regardless of the lack of information around the sci-fi aspects, this novel often suffered with providing too much unnecessary information or descriptive text where it was not needed. I found myself bored several times throughout and had to push through to finish. The lengthy chapters on Seth's travels through what can only be described as a mini Jurassic Park were completely unnecessary. These chapters felt as if they were included as filler as they had no real impact on the storyline itself. (Also who dragged Seth and placed him against the tree out of safety? A monkey, a droid?? and how??)

The character development and interactions between characters just did not seem natural or fluid. I felt like the character's were very 2D and it was impossible to find some connection to them. Sophie's character had so much potential and it was just cut short.

The final third of the book was extremely enjoyable and the plot twists genuinely took me by surprise! I loved the concept of this book and was upset that it was executed so poorly. I feel as if there were too many themes and ideas all at play at once which resulted in the reading of this novel to become quite overwhelming and messy.

I wanted to love this story so much, but regardless, I would love to check out more of the author's works!

Thank you so much to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed it. At first I wasn't sure as it could be a bit confusing, but once I got into it I couldn't put it down. With short chapters, it's so easy to say just one more chapter then it's passed midnight.
The story centres around a vast biotech company building AI into every aspect of life and medicine. I definitely recommend it.

Living in the arctic, Belle is cut off from society. Then she gets a mysterious reply to her jo application from the renowned scientist Sophie Eccleston.
She is mysteriously whisked away to the island retreat of the reclusive scientist and receives a request to effectively be a governess for her secret daughter.
Amid this, there is a company man, Silas, a slaughterhouse worker who after experiencing tragedy has become a recluse. He also receives a strange invitation to go to the island. However, his motives are very different.
Titan’s Tears is an enjoyable sci fi thriller set in an indeterminate future. The book spends a good portion of the story setting up the events and getting the characters to the right place for the action to take place.
A lot of readers may find this initial set up to be slow at first. However, I found this to be the most interesting aspect of the book, particularly when we get glimpses of the world in which the book is set. Without incessant description and exposition, Chad Lester gives the impression that the world is quite dystopian with corporations being the main powers. However, this lack of focus on the world gives the impression that the background to which the book is set is not as important as the character and the plot.
I am not going to go into character and plot so much as I think that the best way to experience this book is not knowing much about it as I feel it would lessen the impact. What I will say though is that for me, I found the ‘thriller’ aspect of this book to be quite generic, and I wasn’t really that intrigued by the constant running about etc. However, it was the beginning and the end that I found the most intriguing. As I have said earlier, a lot of readers may find the initial set up quite slow, but I found it quite intriguing. And when it comes to the end, Lester ties it up quite neatly, and whilst I did have some inkling of how some aspects would play out, there were other aspects that completely took me by surprise and ultimately made things a lot clearer.
Speaking of the characters, I did find most of them to be quite generic and a little one dimensional for most of the book, but I could live with that to be honest.
All in all, I ended up enjoying this book and found it to be quite enjoyable.

When Belle gets a job working for CEO and tech giant Sophia Eccleston, she is excited for the new direction in her life, but things on the mysterious island the company is located on, are not what they appear.

Titan’s Tears was a book of two halves for me – the first half is a thriller, there’s 3 central characters – Belle the Nanny, Sophia the Tech CEO and Seth, a factory worker who is slowly being made redundant due to technology. We are introduced to these characters in a way that kept my interest and each character is well defined and is different from the other two. Although Belle and Sophia’s perspectives cross together fairly early on, it’s more difficult to see how Seth fits into the picture until later. I didn’t feel like we learnt anything from Sophia’s narrative chapters, although she was keeping a lot of secrets, they weren’t really revealed until later in other characters chapters, so hers just felt a little dull when no new information was given to the reader, and it was frustratingly clear she was holding things back.

The latter half of the book is more of an action-packed techno-thriller, full of AI and murder-bots and Jurassic Park style once-extinct animals. This part wasn’t as interesting for me and a lot of it felt convenient to the plot, rather than fully formed world-building. The extinct animals park in particular, felt very underused and just thrown in to be able to compare it to Jurassic Park. The world at large was a little confusing, the ‘Modern Era – Post Singularity’ which heads up each chapter is confusing as this never changes, despite a few time-jumps in the narrative.

Overall, Titan’s Tears could do with a bit more of a stiff edit to tie it together to a cohesive story, but I thought there were some great ideas in there. Thank you to NetGalley and the author Chad Lester for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In my view, this book, though slow-paced, is exceptionally well-written. Set in a dystopian future, it follows Sophia, the CEO of an advanced AI and bioengineering company, her 8-year-old daughter Juno, Juno’s nanny, and a grouchy old man named Seth. Despite the different perspectives and ages of the four main characters, they are so well-developed that it’s easy to follow their distinct narratives, even without seeing their names at the beginning of each chapter.
The book, though relatively short, isn’t a particularly easy read. However, it is packed with action, the storyline is straightforward to follow, and the scientific concepts are clearly explained. Although some plot twists were predictable, the final twist genuinely surprised me.
Initially, I doubted how much I would enjoy the book, but it exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend it to fans of sci-fi or dystopian novels

Disclaimer: Thanks to NetGalley & the author Chad Lester for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5 / 5 Stars

Wow, where do I start? This review will be spoiler-free, so if you want plot details, this one might not be what you're looking for. Here, I'll focus on the book's vibe and my thoughts on certain aspects.

The story is unlike anything I've read before, blending sci-fi themes like AI and technological advances with multiple main characters and mysteries. Initially, the plot feels very disjointed, but it surprisingly comes together very well by the end. The intriguing ideas kept me hooked. And I personally very much love being able to predict some twists while being surprised by others & for me this book kept the perfect balance of that.

However, I didn't vibe too much with the writing. At times, it felt confusing, requiring multiple rereads to grasp the scenes. Another thing is the overuse of coincidences. That really broke my immersion at a certain point as I just became too aware of the frequency. While some can be explained away after finishing the book, I feel like there could have been more creative options.
Additionally, as a huge nerd, inaccuracies in facts bother me to no end. You really had me question my neuro knowledge & not even over advanced stuff but basics like what the cerebrum and cerebellum are important for.

Overall, I recommend the book, though it can be a slog at times. The payoff was worth it for me, and I look forward to seeing the author’s improvements and future ideas!

The all-too-possible possibilities shared in this novel scared the heck out of me. Technology’s pitiless tentacles into the minds and behaviours of mankind exist in ‘Titan’s Tears’ to horrifying effect. I found the first half of the novel rather a slow burn – wanted the characters to get on with it and make me turn the pages faster … the second half delivered. Tension, pace, astonishing effects and events, ruthlessness and the race for moral sovereignty leap off the pages. I awarded myself an extra glass of wine because I fathomed some of the connections and outcomes – and to calm the palpitations because of the harrowing potentials posited.

I’m not quite sure what to make of this book. It had some interesting futuristic ideas and the story certainly kept you guessing throughout. The book however didn’t connects with me and I ended up speed reading it as I still wanted to know how it ended . I’m sure this book will appeal to a wide audience though

Sorry, I couldn't finish this book. It reads like a hotch potch of different ideas and storylines, all of which have been used before. I got to about 30% but I just felt that the story was droning on...

I appreciate the time and effort put into writing so would give three stars.

3.5* rounded up

Dystopian Science-Fiction is one of my favourite sub-genres of SF and I will always take a chance on an intriguing premise which Titan's Tear really has!

In this novel we follow Belle, Sophia and Seth all connected by Eccleston Evolution, and their mysterious campus. Belle is seeking a better life and is offered the opportunity to be a nanny for Juno, Sophia's daughter. The catch, she must live under strict and bizarre security protocols on an isolated island. Sophia, as head of Eccleston Evolution is facing a hostile takeover and she will do anything to avert it and Seth is declared obsolete, replaced by machines, at the slaughterhouse and becomes a bearded recluse but also received an unusual invitation to the island where either his salvation or damnation awaits.

What follows is an initially slow paced and disjointed tale but with some great world building that bring a real sense of place to the story. Despite the pace and a little bit of confusion it kept me intrigued as to what would come next and at about the 50% mark it really took off and the build up paid off.

The various strands all came together with a mix of AI and androids involved. The whole book had a sense of foreboding to it and several ominous aspects including how much potential there is for some of the story elements to become real world reality. I wanted to keep reading to see what twists would unravel and secrets revealed.

Overall an enjoyable read and readers of technological thrillers/science-fiction will likely enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chad Lester for a digital review copy of "Titan's Tears" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

This book is told in 3 separate POV's with varying time differences.
6% - the descriptions so far of the town setting is absolutely gorgeous, and I want to go to there.
20% - I did not at all take this book for one that would make tears well up in my eyes, wtf.
Little Juno has my heart.

This is so good, the book is a little slow to start, not in a way that makes you want to put it down, still intriguing. BUT, once you hit that halfway mark the book goes OFF. I can't be stopped. I stayed up way past my bedtime to continue this one. The way the author bring everything together in the end is so surprising and so, so worth the read.

This will be a physical purchase for me.

TW: death of a child/ family member, and abuse

It begins as a rather disjointed tale as we follow Sophia, who runs a multi-million pound company in advanced technology; Belle who has had a rough childhood and is looking to improve her life with a new job and Seth, who works in a series of jobs, each becoming obsolete as machines taken over until he is finally working in an abbatoir, but even there he copes in order to provide for his family.

Belle is offered a new job working as a nanny to Sophia's child Juno. The pay is great but the restrictions are serious. Sophia is facing a hostile take-over of her company and she prepared to do anything to keep her hold firm.

Eventually of course the strands are pulled together in a slightly other-worldly manner, with AI and androids involved. The whole thing should have worked better than it actually did. I also found the style of writing distracting with some obvious syntax errors - using the word 'frostbit' on page 1 rather lost me there. Overall fairly entertaining but did not really live up to expectations.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chad Lester for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Throughly enjoyed this, from start to finish. Would highly recommend to anyone, completely gripping.

Overall a very enjoyable book, with good amounts of ominous and some cute aspects.. although some of the chapters could've been shorter and less 'wordy', I did find myself sucked in to the story..
So much so that I didn't see the full twist coming.
Very scarily possible as well, which I absolutely loved!

Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

A slow start but builds up to a wonderful book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Well drawn characters that you are invested in. Plenty of twists highly recommend. Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for a review copy.

I'm not sure this book will age particularly well. Mainly because although it's pitched in the future with AI and other technology playing very advanced roles, it's not too far away from what we see in 2024......The super rich playing about with brain implants and the realisation that AI will be very prominent.

I also found the book quite predictable. Having read about a third, I sort of guessed how the plot would develop and what would happen. And so it did. So by two thirds of the way through, I was getting a bit bored. Especially by the time I reached short chapters alternating between the two characters (no spoilers). So I read quickly towards the end, but I could have just as easily been a DNF, as I have other books waiting for me in my queue that I'm more keen to read than this. But I finished.

It's a well written book an the author demonstrates terrific imagination. I do think the book could be more concise past the mid point, but I enjoyed reading up until that point.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A lot happens in this book and I'm not quite sure that all of it makes sense but it's a wild ride! Belle starts off in the depths of Alaska not being entirely sure of who she is or where she came from, when somebody turns up from a company called Ecclestone Evolution and offers her a job working for the CEO Sophia Ecclestone.

This being that sort of book, she eventually accepts and becomes the nanny to a mysterious young girl called Juno at the company’s weird headquarters. There's a parallel story about a man called Seth whose dead partner has been put in a cryogenic tomb - also by the Ecclestone company. He misses her!

Anyway, the destinies of Belle, Juno, Sophia and Seth all become interlinked. Along the way, there are a lot of arguments with killer bots and prehistoric monsters, bred by Sophia as a kind of sideline. Seth has been hearing voices in his head which seemed to have developed him as a trained assassin so he can cope with these.

There's also a computer which is bigger than all the other computers in the world and might make humanity obsolete and several unexpected reveals at the end of the novel. It's an enjoyable read which might have been edited into a simpler story!

Review of eBook

An obviously desperate young mother stumbles through the snow to leave her infant daughter at the remote Oregon convent of the Carmelites. Thirty years later, Belle has survived a difficult childhood and now finds herself in the small Alaskan village of Kobuksville. Despite her best efforts, Belle’s job-searching has proven futile.

When she receives a strange offer for a job interview, she is whisked away on a private jet for a meeting with a brilliant scientist, Sophia Eccleston, the chief executive officer of Eccleston Evolution, the company she’d founded. It seems that Sophia needs a nanny for her eight-year-old blind daughter, Juno.

And she needs to fight the hostile takeover of Eccleston Evolution.

=========

This dystopian science fiction story focuses its terrifying tale on the potential dangers of both technology and Artificial Intelligence. The plot offers readers some unexpected twists as the unfolding narrative reveals some surprising facts.

Strong characters and an inventive plot pull readers into the telling of this near future tale from the outset. As the unfolding story reveals long-held secrets, readers discover the pitfalls of the technology that has been unleashed on humanity.

Readers who enjoy technological thrillers and/or science fiction will find much to appreciate in this intriguing tale.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this book from Chad Lester and NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
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