Zero Percenters received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Scott Grusky.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The name of my novel is Zero Percenters and it’s scheduled for release on December 9, 2019.
What’s the book’s first line?
Sometimes you have to reach further than you thought possible to find your way home—a lot further.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
As a tree-hugging conservationist, Anja Lapin refuses to digitize her body using the algorithm released by her father’s tech company. Even when everyone else on the planet becomes a zero percenter (a human with zero percent biological tissue), Anja holds firm to her convictions. Meanwhile, a mysterious hacker plots to hijack the network of digitized people and claim ultimate control. Can Anja counter the attack and safeguard a brave new stage of human evolution? Read Zero Percenters to witness the future of consciousness today.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
After reading dozens of books by artificial intelligence experts, I found myself overwhelmed with questions that none of the pundits seemed to be addressing. I decided to see if I could construct an entertaining and compelling story that would force me to wrestle with these questions in order to reach a resolution. That’s what Zero Percenters is—an exercise to work out some answers about AI and consciousness that I couldn’t find anywhere else.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Read Zero Percenters if you’re curious how humans will find meaning when artificial intelligence solves our material problems and eliminates pain and suffering. Or if you want to know what it will feel like to leave behind the constraints of your biology. Or if you want to fly like a magnificent frigatebird, swim like a pink river dolphin and ski like an Olympic medalist.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
The narrator of Zero Percenters is a cybernetic concierge. Her mistress is a 25 year-old female who is the last flesh and blood human on earth. Neither of them remind me of anyone else—they’re both one-of-a-kind.
What do you do for work when you’re not writing?
For twenty years, I was chained to my desktop as a coder. To make up for the damage to my psyche, I now only do three things besides writing: hike, surf and ski.
Is there something in particular that motivates you (fame? fortune?)
What motivates me is the dream that our species might one day evolve into one that is non-violent, non-destructive, non-polluting and non-discriminatory. If my writing can nudge us even the tiniest bit in that direction, I will consider my efforts a success.