PRECIPICE

In Bollens’ SF novel, a supercomputer linking citizens may be prompting them to split into increasingly hostile groups.

Jared Rohde, a university professor of political and urban science in the city of Elderwater, witnesses the results of chip implantations in his students. These government-sanctioned chips give them access to interconnect, a superserver computer farm whose artificial intelligence provides instant access to information. But the students aren’t so much learning as they are simply reading what the AI delivers. They also display a “manic assertiveness,” as most of the information they receive is rife with negativity and animosity (“Constant barrage of us versus them”). Violence ensues across the country, and people separate into 13 factions constantly at war with one another. Jared, who has a chip like everyone else, tries to limit the hours he’s “chipped-in,” but soon he has trouble distinguishing reality from his vivid black-and-white dreams. Anti-tech citizens who call themselves “organics” may have a way to cope with interconnect and end the widespread savagery, though it won’t be easy. Bollens’ narrative is delivered via Jared’s first-person narration. The prose is striking as years pass and the protagonist takes refuge where he can in what devolves into a dystopian world. The increasingly unreliable narrator adds an element of mystery; for example, Jared (and readers) can’t be sure if his shockingly violent dreams mean he’s actually committing the acts depicted in them or if he’s done something even worse during his periodic losses of time. On the other hand, this murkiness also hinders characterization, as it’s difficult to trust any individual Jared encounters (those close to him include his estranged wife and kids and his unfortunately one-dimensional live-in girlfriend). Although SF fans will quickly recognize the tried-and-true theme of machine vs. humanity, the author skillfully incorporates such distinctive notions as government oppression, social divisions, and mob mentality.

A bleak but wholly engaging SF story about the downsides of technology.