ME AND THE MACHINE

In Watts’ YA SF novel, a teen is the only one who can stop a powerful artificial intelligence from falling into the wrong hands.

Gaby Rhodes, a cadet at Moore Academy on the planet Amiens, hopes to become a war hero like her late brother, Jules. But while Jules had been an elite soldier, Gaby’s “genius-level” skills at mathematics make her more suited for the Intelligence Division. As such, an admiral invites her to join a training exercise aboard the spaceship Discordia, which Gaby quickly learns is essentially an experiment. The ship houses Passenger, an artificial intelligence that can fuse with a human consciousness and hack other AI-protected systems. In an ongoing 70-year war between the Network of Corporate Protectorates and the Commonwealth, Passenger could give one side a strategic advantage. Gaby trains to integrate with the AI, which becomes more crucial than ever when there’s a mutiny on Discordia. As someone is unmistakably after Passenger, Gaby safeguards the AI by fully connecting to it—but if they stick together for too long, the connection may be irreversible. Watts loads this distant-future tale with intriguing technology and a dense backstory. Gaby, however, is the story’s true driver; she faces relatable dilemmas as an ambitious young woman whom society expects to marry a man and raise children. The author effectively dramatizes Gaby’s attempts at hacking AI systems in surreal but tangible scenes teeming with bits of her memories and imagination (“It takes four tries, and some coaching from Passenger (apparently I wasn’t imagining with enough details), but I’m wearing a sharp business suit when I exit the unoccupied storeroom”). The narrative builds to suspenseful moments aboard the starship while a concurrent plot, taking place years earlier, showcases the mission that led to Jules being dubbed a war hero. Both plotlines come to a head in the searing final act.

A marvelous young hero propels this sharply written and wholly absorbing space opera.