Early Adopter is a thought-provoking collection of short stories that contemplate the risks, benefits, and ethics of emerging and fictitious future technologies. Harrison’s poetic prose demonstrates rich characterization and unique, complex worldbuilding, especially for short stories. Each of the stories tackles the risks and social implications of future technology and their moral implications in a completely different context. The alarming concept of having our own consciousness overlayed or replaced by an artificial intelligence counterpart, whether it be for medical, societal, or creative benefit, is ingenuously conceived. With OpenAI and new nanotechnologies rapidly emerging in our real world, the reality of such scenarios coming to fruition is not that far-fetched—and there’s a powerful message that we, as “early adopters,” must anticipate all the ramifications and be prepared.

In the first short story “To Run Again,” a brilliant and blindsighted researcher utilizes a cutting-edge treatment to cure a man’s body paralysis. From the start of the story, there is a sense of impending doom of how it might all turn out. The story is filled with compelling dialogue, and some scenes are quite heartbreaking, especially those that see the patient’s mother pleading when the technology has gone awry. The dramatic, abrupt ending is very effective at making readers contemplate a very disturbing prospective future for medical research.

The second story, Commercialopolis, is very short and has more of the feel of an interlude between the longer and more interesting stories in the collection. The narration is quite dramatic and entertaining, making for a quick slice of entertainment.

The third story, Alignment, involves a researcher’s moral dilemma of supporting a military endeavour. This story starts off strong but gets somewhat muffled with all the different characters interjecting in the middle. The ending comes somewhat full circle but also offers no satisfying resolution for the protagonist or the conflict. It may have been more effective to have stuck with a more central theme in this story.

The fourth story, Early Adopter, is the most straightforward of the stories and possibly the easiest to digest. The story follows a man experimenting with a relationship with an AI girlfriend, a concept that is already being advertised in our world today. The direction of the story is quite unpredictable, as is the fascinating dialogue between the protagonist and his AI companion. The moral dilemma of romanticizing an artificial being that offers a real connection and much-needed emotional support is strongly pronounced in this story.

The fifth story, The Terminal on Europa, follows a man ostracized by others due to his ancestry and occupation. There are some intense fight scenes and really interesting future technologies depicted that make this story dramatic and exciting. The ideation of extreme punishment and banishment for breaking “dystopian rules” is also explored in a very unique manner.

The sixth story, The Final Artist, is one of the shortest in the collection and involves an email exchange between a writer and a malicious sentient Al artist. The exchange is both captivating and terrifying, especially in our current world where OpenAI technology is rapidly evolving in its increasing ability to mimic human artistic content. As we are on the brink of a new world where AI writers and artists will become mainstream offerings, the need to maintain authentic human creativity is crucial, and this story offers some very relevant topics of contemplation!

The seventh story, Homonoia, is a fascinating dystopian story of creating an omnipotent consciousness capable of miracles by means of technological implants in an effort to save humanity. The ideas of shared consciousness, losing one’s individualization, and terrifying health risks are explored. As the characters experience a myriad of emotions, from excitement to euphoria to absolute terror, so too will readers. Harrison does an excellent job bringing all the characters to life and once again leaves readers with a contemplative conclusion.

The final short story, Emulated, is broken up into two parts and is the longest. It follows a pastor who is asked by his scientist friend to assist in the decision-making and discussion of a simulated world. This project is supposed to be used for military advantage, but as the characters in the simulated world take on real-life personas and experience heart-wrenching obstacles, the moral and ethical questions of exploiting and deleting them at will are explored. From a synopsis perspective, the whole concept of the story sounds absurd, but with rich characterization and compelling dialogue, readers may feel real empathy and intrigue for the simulated universe. The idea of worlds being watched over by higher worlds is heavily explored and makes this one extremely thought-provoking.

Overall, this is a compelling and highly original collection of science fiction stories. The stories have the feel of twilight zone episodes with open-ended conclusions that don’t follow rules of logic. If you enjoy thought-provoking science fiction or stories about future technology, this book should be highly considered. The audiobook is a great format for enjoying these stories, as the dual narrators use clear and suspenseful voices to keep listeners engaged. With such high-quality prose and fascinating topics explored in just a few short stories, it’ll be exciting to see what Harrison can create in his next full-length novel!