Crucible by James Rollins
“You are my creator, but I am your master. Obey!”
This cruel retort, made by the monster in Mary Shelley’s classic tale, Frankenstein, never fails to send chills up readers’ spines.
But should the events depicted in James Rollins’ latest novel, Crucible (William Morrow), come to pass and scientists soon develop an artificial intelligence capable of warp-speed learning capacity, fact will be much scarier than fiction.
Rollins has written enough bestselling novels to fill a tall bookcase. In most of them, a historical event or artifact is the catalyst for a modern-day catastrophe. Sometimes Rollins will find the perfect plot concept from reading an article. Occasionally, it’s sparked from his travels.
“I’ve always got my antenna up for those bits and pieces from which I can construct my novels,” Rollins says. “I’m looking for that historical mystery that ends in a question mark; that bit of science that makes me go, ‘What if? Where is that headed?’”
In Crucible, the concept struck while watching a National Geographic television episode. It was about a witch hunters’ tome written in 1487 called the Malleus Maleficarum. Translated, the title means The Hammer of the Witches.
“European witch hunters picked on women who studied the natural world. These women dabbled in pagan healing arts, curing people in their ancient villages,” Rollins says. “Of course, being a male-dominated world, they were persecuted for questioning the dogma of the Bible or men in power. The inquisition led to almost sixty thousand deaths.”
Through further research, Rollins stumbled onto another odd little historical fact: there is actually a saint for witches. Her name is Saint Columba.
“I was raised Roman Catholic and went to Catholic schools, so I was well versed in the canon of saints,” Rollins says. “Still, I was somewhat surprised that there was a patron saint of witches in Spain.”



RELATED POSTS
James Rollins Takes Sigma Force to the Gates of Hell in “The Last Odyssey” Writer’s Bone Podcast: James Rollins, Friend of Writer’s Bone, Focuses on ‘The Demon Crown’Buy this Book!
Amazon
Genre: Thrillers
Author: James Rollins
Publisher: William Morrow
ISBN: 9780062381780
Did anybody remembered the movie, I robot produced by Will Smith years ago? If that’s not a dance between the beauty and danger of AI. I don’t know what else is. Thanks.