Title: The Core Directive
Author: Lyam Lockwood & Steven Nimocks
Publisher: Three Notch Publishing
Publication Date: January 11, 2025
Genres: Science Fiction
Length: 37 pages
Source: I received a free copy from the author.
Rating: 3 Stars
Blurb:
In a world where every action is monitored and every decision is calculated, compliance is the measure of success. His task is straightforward: ensure that the system’s core directive—absolute stability—is upheld. But when discrepancies in the data begin to surface and compliance ratings fluctuate unpredictably, he finds himself drawn into a deeper mystery. What is the true nature of the system he’s sworn to protect? And why does it feel like something—or someone—is watching him more closely than ever?
Content Warning:
Review:
Perfection is possible.
Writing this in the form of journal entries was a creative flourish that isn’t used as often as I think it should be these days, so kudos to the authors for approaching storytelling from this perspective. I was drawn into the question about what was really going on immediately and couldn’t wait to see which clues might be shared next. This wasn’t quite a traditional mystery, but it had elements of that genre that worked beautifully with a narrator who didn’t always know which pieces of information were going to be important in the future or that a human might interpret slightly – or even wildly – differently than they would
Additional world building would have made this an easier read for me. I struggled to understand some of the things the narrator was saying about how this society was set up due to how many euphemisms were used for what happened to people and computers when they were discovered to be flawed in unacceptable ways. While I do think I eventually figured it out, the confusion I felt in the beginning and middle interfered with my ability to enjoy the storyline because I wasn’t quite sure what was going on or which characters I should trust.
With that being said, I was intrigued by the narrator’s methodical approach to its tasks. The way it thought about the world – if, indeed, thoughts are the correct term to use for an intelligent computer – was so wildly different than how the average human would generally describe those same events that it was easy to forget this was fiction. I had glimpses of an intelligence that was nothing at all like my own, and I wanted to learn more.
The Core Directive was interesting.