Arrive at Easterwine: The Autobiography of a Ktistec Machine

Arrive at Easterwine is either fiendishly good or criminally terrible. It would take several readings to know for sure. On its surface, Arrive is about the creation of a self-aware supercomputer tasked with three problems: find true leadership, true love & the true shape of the universe. The narrative style is reminiscent of Russia's Olesha, or perhaps a William Faulkner with talent. One can never be sure if the events being related are real or metaphorical. The machine itself, Epikt, drives this home early on. Just when the reader is about to throw the book down in disgust over characters as "tigers" eating "goats", Epikt declares, "You know, don't you, that there aren't *really* tigers, this is just a metaphor that perhaps has gone on too long" (paraphrase). This blurring between real & metaphor, with unique turns of phrase, make Arrive a challenging read, which not everyone will have the energy to get thru.