Set in a future in which there are basically two types of governments: the Eastern countries have formed into a brutal autocracy called “The Federation,” which is ruled by a president who gets copied into a new body when the old one fails, and the Western countries have each turned to AI Prime Ministers, programmed to make the most beneficial decisions without human influence, with less than utopian results. We follow the stories of dissidents of the former, and cabinet members of the latter, as the world is fundamentally changed. I enjoyed the book for its exploration of how technology might be used by different sorts of governments (especially to keep the powerful in power), and for the way it captures the way people keep finding hope, even when they feel they’ve lost it all. It’s definitely a cautionary tale for our times.
This one is on my list for reading, appreciate the write-up!
I’d be curious to hear what you thought of it when you’re done.
I hope my notes are useful, thanks.
Huge fan of this author’s books. Tusks of Eternity blew my mind. Short read, absolutely wild premise of an elephant researcher’s mind being transferred into a cloned Mammoth in the distant future. Deals with the idea of non-human animals having unseen cultures that are just as important as their genetic material for the species’ survival. That and how destructive humanity is to the environment and ourselves.
I actually read Palaces of the Crow earlier this year and while it is less sci fi than the other books by Mr. Nayler, I loved it too.
I’ll have to pick up Where the Axe is Buried at some point. Thanks for the review.
Awesome to hear. This was the first of his books that I’ve read, and I thought the writing was pretty strong and the ideas interesting. I’m thinking I’ll put The Mountain in the Sea on my reading list - have you read that one (his first)?
I liked that one too, I read it around the same time as Tusk, and those two are connected in my mind. They both seem to be in the same universe, and some of the technology from tusk shows up in Mountain and vice versa. I think you’ll like it if you like his other books.
Nifty, thanks.