"Anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games, World War Z, or The Maze Runner is going to enjoy this book." - Lisa Gardner, author "This one's memorable and fascinating heroine is someone you're going to love as much as Katniss Everdeen." - Sandra Brown, author "A gripping tale. Perfectly paced and brilliantly plotted." - Cathy Thompson, author "Builds and builds to a crescendo. Part Stephen King, part Suzanne Collins, part Max Brooks, 100% phenomenal!" - David Eastman, author "Stanek's written many good, even great, books. This one's exceptional. Read it!" - Shannon Hale, author "Wonderful action writing. Fast, fun, and smart." - Margaret Brown, author "I can see why Rothfuss doesn't want people to read Stanek. Stanek's a much more capable writer." - Emily Asimov, author "What an amazing book! Unique and innovative, captivating to the end." - Mary Osborne, author Episode #4. The machines want more than our world. They want us. In the ruins of our world, a new order arose, an order controlled by the very machines humankind created. The end for us came not from a massive global war but from something unthinkable, incomprehensible. The machines simply replaced us and we let them, and so, in the end, humanity went out not with a bang, but with a whimper. No shots fired. No bombs dropped. No cities destroyed. We ended and the machines began—or at least that is what the few human survivors of the machine apocalypse believe. After the Machines Episode One: Awakening Episode Two: Transition Episode Three: Descent Episode Four: Precipice ### To the machines, we became nothing—except maybe outsiders, if they considered us at all. Outsiders looking in on their reality, for the machines weren’t bothered by our existence, or at least, if they were, they weren’t bothered enough to bother us. They certainly didn’t seem to require anything of us or have any need of us at all—if they had needed us, they probably would have enslaved us. But they hadn’t. Enslaved us that is. The machines hadn’t done anything to us really. Except take over the world—and it was their world now. It certainly wasn’t ours. We were outsiders, strangers really. We looked in on their world. They didn’t acknowledge us. They probably didn’t even consider us a part of their world. Just as we didn’t consider the small things that crawled beneath our feet as part of our world. Matthew told us it wasn’t the machines who killed us. Matthew being the only one here now who remembered when we drove the automobiles, flew on the airplanes, and rode on cars behind the locomotives. He said most of us just died. Us being the human race. I didn’t believe that. I believed we died of neglect. The neglect of the machines. The machines who cared not enough to kill or enslave us. Luke would have called it benign neglect. Luke being the one who taught me to read and write my letters and words. He knew all the fancy words. He taught me everything really. He remembered—I didn’t. Don’t, really. These words—his really as much as my own. But Luke was gone. Is gone really, if you don’t mind me slipping into the present. Luke said it’s wrong to slip from past to present or present to past, but I do. The present is—and Luke isn’t. The past was—and sometimes I can see it. ### After the Machines is a story unlike any other you’ve ever read. It’s the story of us, the humans who struggle to survive in a world we no longer control.

"Part Stephen King, part Suzanne Collins, part Max Brooks, 100% phenomenal!" – David Eastman, author "A gripping tale. Perfectly paced and brilliantly plotted." - Cathy Thompson, author "Stanek's written many good, even great, books. This one's exceptional. Read it!" - Shannon Hale, author "Wonderful action writing. Fast, fun, and smart." - Margaret Brown, author "I can see why Rothfuss doesn't want people to read Stanek. Stanek's a much more capable writer." - Emily Asimov, author "Anyone who enjoyed The Hunger Games, World War Z, or The Maze Runner is going to enjoy this book." - Lisa Gardner, author "What an amazing book! Unique and innovative, captivating to the end." - Mary Osborne, author "This one's memorable and fascinating heroine is someone you're going to love as much as Katniss Everdeen." - Sandra Brown, author Our world isn't ours any more. It's theirs. The human survivors lead a hardscrabble life, scavenging what they can from the dead city, waiting and watching. Cedes isn't like Matthew and his regulars. She dreams. She talks. She questions. She wonders why Luke disappeared, where Luke disappeared to. She wants to know what we are to the machines. This is her story. This is our story. This is the story of us, the humans who survive. In the ruins of our world, a new order arose, an order controlled by the very machines humankind created. The end for us came not from a massive global war but from something unthinkable, incomprehensible. The machines simply replaced us and we let them, and so, in the end, humanity went out not with a bang, but with a whimper. No shots fired. No bombs dropped. No cities destroyed. We ended and the machines began—or at least that is what the few human survivors of the machine apocalypse believe. ### To the machines, we became nothing—except maybe outsiders, if they considered us at all. Outsiders looking in on their reality, for the machines weren’t bothered by our existence, or at least, if they were, they weren’t bothered enough to bother us. They certainly didn’t seem to require anything of us or have any need of us at all—if they had needed us, they probably would have enslaved us. But they hadn’t. Enslaved us that is. The machines hadn’t done anything to us really. Except take over the world—and it was their world now. It certainly wasn’t ours. We were outsiders, strangers really. We looked in on their world. They didn’t acknowledge us. They probably didn’t even consider us a part of their world. Just as we didn’t consider the small things that crawled beneath our feet as part of our world. Matthew told us it wasn’t the machines who killed us. Matthew being the only one here now who remembered when we drove the automobiles, flew on the airplanes, and rode on cars behind the locomotives. He said most of us just died. Us being the human race. I didn’t believe that. I believed we died of neglect. The neglect of the machines. The machines who cared not enough to kill or enslave us. Luke would have called it benign neglect. Luke being the one who taught me to read and write my letters and words. He knew all the fancy words. He taught me everything really. He remembered—I didn’t. Don’t, really. These words—his really as much as my own. But Luke was gone. Is gone really, if you don’t mind me slipping into the present. Luke said it’s wrong to slip from past to present or present to past, but I do. The present is—and Luke isn’t. The past was—and sometimes I can see it. ### After the Machines is a story unlike any other you’ve ever read. It’s the story of us, the humans who struggle to survive in a world we no longer control.

This urgent and eye-opening book makes the case that protecting humanity's future is the central challenge of our time. If all goes well, human history is just beginning. Our species could survive for billions of years - enough time to end disease, poverty, and injustice, and to flourish in ways unimaginable today. But this vast future is at risk. With the advent of nuclear weapons, humanity entered a new age, where we face existential catastrophes - those from which we could never come back. Since then, these dangers have only multiplied, from climate change to engineered pathogens and artificial intelligence. If we do not act fast to reach a place of safety, it will soon be too late. Drawing on over a decade of research, The Precipice explores the cutting-edge science behind the risks we face. It puts them in the context of the greater story of humanity: showing how ending these risks is among the most pressing moral issues of our time. And it points the way forward, to the actions and strategies that can safeguard humanity. An Oxford philosopher committed to putting ideas into action, Toby Ord has advised the US National Intelligence Council, the UK Prime Minister's Office, and the World Bank on the biggest questions facing humanity. In The Precipice, he offers a startling reassessment of human history, the future we are failing to protect, and the steps we must take to ensure that our generation is not the last. "A book that seems made for the present moment." —New Yorker

The two-volume set LNICST 490 and 491 constitutes the proceedings of the First International Conference on Machine Intelligence and Emerging Technologies, MIET 2022, hosted by Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, Bangladesh, during September 23–25, 2022. The 104 papers presented in the proceedings were carefully reviewed and selected from 272 submissions. This book focuses on theoretical, practical, state-of-art applications, and research challenges in the field of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies. It will be helpful for active researchers and practitioners in this field. These papers are organized in the following topical sections: imaging for disease detection; pattern recognition and natural language processing; bio signals and recommendation systems for wellbeing; network, security and nanotechnology; and emerging technologies for society and industry.

Containing reports from Pennsylvania judicial districts and other leading decisions.

Witty and “enchanting” reflections on the experience of travel, with a focus on art, music, and literature, by the author of Brave New World (The Spectator). One of the most renowned and prolific writers of the twentieth century, Aldous Huxley produced not only dystopian fiction like Brave New World and philosophical memoirs like The Doors of Perception, but also insightful travel writing. Here, he discusses his visits to Italy, France, and other European destinations; reflects on cultural landmarks; and ruminates on the benefits and challenges of travel itself, offering a fascinating glimpse into the Europe of a century ago—and the mind of a remarkable author. “As opposed to those who believe that the best picture is the most famous or expensive one, or the one that wins a prize, Huxley speaks for those prepared to spend contemplative time with works of art.” —The Sydney Morning Herald