Impressive AI mayhem and thematic parsing for SF fans.
A sequel describes a future Pacific Northwest splintered into competing nation-states where the emergence of automated artificial intelligence city states from hibernation threatens to do more than just shift the balance of power.
SF author Otto focuses on the intricate dystopian realm he created in his novel Detonation (2018) but mostly with another set of characters. Prolonged conflict has broken out over advanced AI, reminiscent of (but a bit more thoughtful than) Daniel Wilson’s Robopacalypse franchise. In the process, major cities are destroyed. Human society continues in diminished, Balkanized form, with a major force being the “Essentialists,” a caste trying to persevere without high technology. The Pacific Northwest and coastal waters of the former United States and Canada are now varied seagoing nation-states technologically regressed to something approximating the age of fighting sail. There, a ticking time bomb of advanced AI exists: several regional “Independent City States of Morganis,”built 80 years ago. Meant as utopian havens of automation and protection, the idealistic city states turned dangerously against humans and one another. Now, after a ruinous clash and generations dormant, these city states—each more sophisticated than the last—have been somehow triggered to gradually come back online. To competing expansionist forces—especially an opportunist “Prefecture,” a throwback to imperial Japan—the power and potential weaponry embodied by the city states are an irresistible lure. Dryden Quintain, an anthropologist disgraced by his alcoholism, studies ICSM history as an intellectual pursuit, but he soon finds himself a pawn in the intrigues. So does Lexie, a spirited female pirate who becomes a prisoner of the “Observers,” a monkish group that keeps watch over the dangerous tech. Ironically, to do so, the Observers resort to neural implants and connections that have made them somehow inhuman. Via these characters, the author skillfully invokes principles such as “value-loading” and other logic paradoxes that strive to explain how machines designed to be humankind’s faithful servants can become the masters (or exterminators) instead. While not short of striking combat scenes and violence, as war droids and drones fill the landscape, this tale is also SF with major ideas, as much so as Isaac Asimov’s iconic “Three Laws of Robotics.” Otto’s bio notes that he runs a nonprofit that promotes the ethical use of AI.
Impressive AI mayhem and thematic parsing for SF fans. (science fiction)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 521
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 12, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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PROFILES
Speculative fiction at its most transfixing.
After their high-risk expedition disintegrates, it’s every scientist for herself in this wonderfully creepy blend of horror and science fiction. This is the first volume of the Southern Reach trilogy from VanderMeer (Finch, 2009, etc.); subsequent volumes are scheduled for publication in June and September 2014.
The Southern Reach is the secret government agency that dispatches expeditions across the border to monitor Area X, an ominous coastal no man’s land since an unspecified event 30 years before. This latest expedition, the 12th, is all-female, consisting of a psychologist, an anthropologist, a surveyor and a biologist (the narrator). Names are taboo. Their leader, the psychologist, has hypnotic powers. They have no communication devices, but they do have firearms, which they will use; some earlier expeditions also ended bloodily. Close to base camp is "the tower," a mostly underground structure that acts as tunnel, which they descend. On its walls are grim biblical admonitions, raised letters made of fungi. The biologist incautiously inhales tiny spores which, she will discover later, fill her with brightness, a form of ESP. Tension between the women increases when the anthropologist goes missing; they will discover her dead in the tower, discharging green ash. Next, the psychologist disappears. Leaving the hostile, ex-military surveyor behind, the biologist makes her way to the other interesting structure, the lighthouse, which she climbs in dread. VanderMeer is an expert fearmonger, but his strongest suit, what makes his novel a standout, is his depiction of the biologist. Like any scientist, she has an overriding need to classify, to know. This has been her lifelong passion. Her solitary explorations created problems in her marriage; her husband, a medic, returned from the previous expedition a zombie. What killed the anthropologist? The biologist’s samples reveal human brain tissue. Some organism is trying to colonize and absorb the humans with whom it comes in contact. Experiencing “the severe temptation of the unknown,” she must re-enter the tower to confront the Crawler, her name for the graffiti writer.
Speculative fiction at its most transfixing.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-374-10409-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2013
PROFILES
SEEN & HEARD
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.
Like a truck with no brakes speeding down a steep mountain road, Islington’s latest is an adrenaline-fueled SF thrill ride that follows a biomechanically enhanced assassin as he tries to understand his mysterious origins.
The chaotic opening scene gives readers a clear indication of what they’re in for: Contract killer Azure, attempting to complete a mission, is involved in a life-or-death battle with a multieyed biomachine called an Argos. “The thing’s bipedal but has six gorilla-like arms that end in half-metre-long claws,” he complains. After Azure barely dispatches the monster and kills his target, his AI assistant, Atti, informs him of his next job: protecting an elderly—and incredibly rich—woman living in a sprawling underground bunker in the middle of nowhere. “Old Woman,” as Azure calls her, isn’t forthcoming with personal details; all Azure can suss out is that she may be the target of a powerful organized crime syndicate—the same organization that employs him! Is Azure’s ultimate goal to save her or kill her? Although the worldbuilding could’ve been more comprehensive, Islington’s editing choices are brilliant—he strips away the insignificant narrative content to create a streamlined, action-packed adventure with seemingly one goal: to keep the reader furiously turning pages. The various mysteries—Azure’s murky beginnings, the tragic death of his best friend years earlier, Old Woman’s true identity, etc.—maintain the momentum and intensity. The takeaway here is the narrative potential of the characters as well as the plethora of subjects that could be explored more deeply, like immortality for the rich, cloning, and the potential to create bioengineered nightmares for “security.” Islington leaves the conclusion tantalizingly ambiguous. This novel could be the jumping-off point for a memorable series.
Buckle up—fans of page-turning SF may find themselves binge-reading this novel in one butt-numbing marathon session.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781668239247
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Saga/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
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