Harare Review of Books

First published on Aug 1, 2022.

Genre: SF.

Artificial super intelligence has arrived, in the form of AIs that predict stocks and make money for companies. These AIs are regulated, and are not allowed to access the internet, but, inevitably, the day comes when they escape.

Meanwhile, terrorists (the usual bad brown guys) have nuked and continue to try and nuke US cities. And it’s the age of nanomachines, for medical purposes, and for defense: what could possibly go wrong? The answer, of course, is everything.

This is a book with a lot going on, which makes it a little difficult to work out what the main plotline is. I still enjoyed it for the cool concepts, and there’s plenty of action. Lovers of hard scifi will appreciate the amount of detail the author provides (although I did get a little skeptical about the details); those who don’t enjoy sci-fi should probably steer clear of this one. I am glad to report, however, that Harare survives; if you’re Zimbabwean, this should come as a relief.

Thank you to Interstellar Flight Press and to NetGalley for the ARC.