430 pp. December 9, 2025, Atmosphere Press. SF.
Something about this book pulled me in quite quickly, and it’s probably the pacing (or maybe the grumpy, anti-social protagonist; I’m partial to those in fiction, if not at all to people like that irl). Decker is ex-military and has chosen reclusion after some unspecified issues at work (special ops) and just general burnout. None of that really matters to the story, except to explain why his grown nephew that he doesn’t know about suddenly shows up (he loved his sister, the nephew’s mother, deeply, but fell out of contact). It turns out, as it always does in stories like this, that the nephew is a genius (see Nearshore) and in some trouble (again, similar to Nearshore): he’s a hacker and has done work in the past that’s now being used for nefarious purposes. Just how nefarious is why this story is really fun to read: There’s a twist in the tale!
Chia’s writing is so even and so articulate that it’s easy to focus on the events of the novel; that gave me great pleasure. But there was a false note that bugged me for the duration: the description of one of the characters as “colored.” In this year of our blessed Lord, 2026. I assume the character is Black? This was … distressing to me, and I very nearly wrote the book off for this single thing. I assume editors missed it (or didn’t care?). Perhaps it’s ignorance? Was it irony? I dunno. Regardless. It’s fairly bad that this “colored” dude doesn’t even add much to the plot—he’s detained for a lot of the action, and then moves off-stage shortly after—so I’m not even sure why he exists. Sigh.
Portrayals of most women were not especially positive, BUT this was offset by a really excellent hacker who became quite pivotal towards the end of the novel. To use an Americanism, she’s a total bada**, and I loved how she was written.
So, I will recommend the plot, which was quite fun—and about AGI, possibly?—but only recommend the novel with some reservation. I wish it hadn’t done that, but it wouldn’t be this novel, perhaps. That’s why sensitivity readers and good editors matter. (I love editors. I love my editors. They save me so many times.) And broad representation matters. So we all learn to do better.
Chia is apparently writing the next novel (The Axion Code) in what turns out to be a series, and I look forward to seeing where the story goes.
Thanks to NetGalley and Atmosphere Press for the e-galley.
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