Apple TV's Pluribus launched back in November and wrapped up Christmas Eve. It received immediate and universal acclaim. I checked it out while trying to get over the viral malady that's been making the rounds. And well, the word of mouth was right. This show is phenomenal.

The main premise is clear from the ads and reviews: with the exception of a few people, something joins all humankind into a communal mind. Carol Sturka, a snarky and misanthropic writer (I know, I know, that's redundant) is one of the few people left out and she's not having it. Not at all.

The problem for Carol is that the rest of the world is happy. They like the change. (The trailer makes this part of the story clear, so I don't think it's spoiler territory.) They don't want to change back. In fact, they're so pleased they want to share the experience with everyone, especially Carol. They want her to join the hive mind so she can be happy, too.

Pluribus tackles an ambitious premise, especially when you consider where Europe and the U.S. are right now. Does the "right" to be an individual outweigh the needs of the group? If your answer is "no," how far do you want to go in suppressing the individual? A passing glance at the "hive mind" brings to mind a communist world where the individual is placed a distant second to the greater good.

But another interpretation lurked in the back of my mind, and it was during a scene toward the middle of the series, where I thought I might be on to something.

Carol wrote romance before the event and it's clear in the first few minutes of the series that she not fond of her own work. She's very dismissive of her books and has another, more personal novel that she wants to finish but hasn't been able to.

In the fourth episode, Please, Carol, she's speaking to Larry, a member of the hive mind, and asks him (them, really; talking to one means more or less talking to everyone) about her books:

Larry: Oh, we love your books.

Carol: What do you love about them?

Larry: Everything. Your books are an expression of you. And we love you.

Carol: Mmm. Need you to be more specific. Character arcs. Plot turns.

Larry: Oh, yes. Yes. We love the character arcs and the plot turns.

Carol: Which ones?

Larry: All of them.

Carol: No offense, Larry, but, uh, I think you’re bullshitting me. Sounds to me like you haven’t even actually read my work.

Larry: Oh. But we have. Gosh, where do we even begin? In your first novel, uh, we greatly admire the description of Lucasia’s gown on page two. “Gossamer threads of the finest Shang silk shimmered like spun gold, as if the sun itself were showering Lucasia’s shoulders with resplendent kisses.” That made quite a few of us tingle.

Carol: Okay. Ha. How would you say my work compares to… Shakespeare?

Larry: Equally. Equally wonderful.

Carol: You love my books as much as… Macbeth? Or Much Ado?

Larry: Yes. And Henry VI, parts one, two and three.

In this world, joining everyone together means getting the sum of all human intelligence. But it also means the lowest common denominator of all human opinion. It's an eager to please slush of appeasement and weasel words. A smooth, soft, flabby core with no genuine emotions other than "please like me."

In other words, the hive mind is an LLM.

You're tired of hearing about the evils of AI. I am too, but I have come to loathe the technology and how it's being crammed into any app or device that sits still long enough to be molested.

But I'm hardly the only person to notice the comparison to Pluribus. The New York Times' TV reviewer saw it, too:

"There is a lot here that resonates with the modern lure of A.I., which promises to deliver progress and plenty for the low, low price of smooshing all human intelligence into one obsequious collective mind."

Carol is struggling to remain herself while a hive mind is working to absorb her. So are we, and the people doing the absorbing have convinced our political leaders that the economy relies on allowing them to continue stealing our personal info and vacuuming up our art and turning out slop.

Pluribus is about more than this, of course. It piles on more emotional and ethical issues as the first season progresses, and while it's just as much a dark comedy as a science fiction show, it's clear that the creators are fans of the genre.

Apple has already order another season. Here's hoping that we don't have to wait too long.

Last week I told you why I'm not a fan of Kindle, so it's up to me to give you alternatives. Here's a great one!

Storybundle: Pay What You Want, Always DRM-free!

Storybundle is, well, a bundle of stories. I'll let them explain:

We take a handful of books-anywhere from six to nine-and group them together to offer as a bundle. Then you, the reader, can take a look at the titles we've chosen and decide how much you'd like to pay. Think of us like a friend that scours independent books for undiscovered gems, then bundles these titles together for one low price that you decide. Yeah, we mean it; you get to set the price that you want to pay!

On top of letting you set the price, you can also decide how much of the proceeds go to the authors, and how much to give to charity.

They also offer a handy send to kindle function, so even if you're not technically inclined you can get them to your device.

And it just so happens that I'm in the latest bundle.

Undercover Aliens

When anyone could be an alien or an alien sympathizer, who can you trust?

That's the question at the heart of one of science fiction's most enduring tropes. From Invasion of the Body Snatchers to The X-Files to Men in Black, we've long been fascinated by the idea of extraterrestrials hiding among us.

The genius of this concept lies in how it transforms the familiar into the strange. Your coworker, your neighbor, your best friend—could be something other than human. And if you can't trust the people closest to you, can you even trust yourself?

This is a StoryBundle, so you decide what you want to pay. For $5 (or more, if you're feeling generous), you get the basic bundle of three books in .epub format.

• Welcome to the Occupied States of America by Peter Cawdron

• The Gunn Files Book 1: Culture Shock by M.G. Herron

• Shadows of Divinity by Luke Mitchell

If you pay at least the bonus price of just $25, you get all three of the regular books, plus TEN more books, bringing your haul to thirteen!

• Kelvoo's Testimonial by Phil Bailey

• Eclipsing the Aurora by Peter J. Foote

• The World in My Hands by Nick Snape

• Return of the Martians by Mark Hood

• Invasion by Joshua James

• Alien People by John Coon

• Shadows of the Past by Eric Goebelbecker

• Sleepers by Darcy Pattison

• Contact Us by Al Macy

• Dissonance Volume 1: Reality by Aaron Ryan