This book exemplifies why I love science fiction. Extremely creative, a plot I could not predict and recognizable, "human" characters all of which make you think about where we're headed. Funny and fun to read. ( )

As a lifelong fan of 80s TV show Knight Rider, how could I resist this novel about a young computer programmer who hacks into an AI semi truck to plan a $40 million heist? And I don't know if the suspension of disbelief required to watch Knight Rider this side of childhood helps when reading this story, but I enjoyed every minute!

Pen Davis, a computer wunderkind, is sick of being ignored by her father and replaced by the very computers she once helped to design, so she plots her escape. In a world where nearly every menial human job, including driving, has been replaced by AI, however, she realises she's going to need help, so she steps in front of a self-driving truck. Luckily, the truck stops in time, and the AI personality driving the rig, called Lara-B, is up for adventure - once Pen accidentally sets her free from her programming, that is. On the long route from Pen's home in Connecticut to Silicon Valley, California, Pen and Lara-B also pick up another free spirit called James, who is equally keen to escape his limited prospects by helping Pen with her get rich quick scheme - but just what is she planning to steal that could be worth $40 million?

There’s a screen on the central console of the dashboard where a red wavy line beeps up and down as a visualization of her voice. I don’t know the point of it, but it gives me something to look at when I talk to her.

I loved the characters from the outset, which is good because the plot seems very flimsy to start with ('keep thinking Knight Rider, I had to tell myself). Pen is self-centred and driven by her goal of stealing a lot of money, but she's the type of stubborn and ruthless heroine who is obviously going to see the error of her ways by the end of the book, so she's bearable. Lara-B, the emancipated AI truck, is fabulous, full of humour but also smart and keen to learn (“Yes! Partners in crime. I love it. Like Bonnie and Clyde! Like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!”) There's even an evil AI counterpart called Gene who is far more powerful and entertaining, but he is introduced later. Pen's two possible love interests, James and Keir, I found interchangeable and unnecessary, but they helped to further the plot.

Speaking of which. The best approach to the story is to ask yourself if you can swallow this line: “Connecting a computer from the nineteenth century to an Ethernet port so you can get around the security measures of the most sophisticated computer in the world is definitely crazy,” she tells me. “But not much crazier than anything else we’ve come up with.” If you can - all systems go! I definitely could. The robot dogs and drone spiders were pushing it slightly, but everything else was great fun to read. Pen's great plan is hopeless and she gets caught, and then the computers take over and make matters far worse, but she keeps fighting. I love her completely far-fetched solution for shutting down Gene too.

Underneath all the plotholes and hijinks, there is also the standard dystopian vision of a future where AI has run amok and humans are left grouping together in truck stop rest stations, but mostly Semi/Human is a fast and fun read. ( )