After World

I was provided a copy of this review by NetGalley, and this is my personal opinion. Many thanks to NetGalley and Debbie Urbanski!

This debut novel follows the last human on Earth, Sen, and the AI responsible for telling her story. Humanity has asked AI to help it stave off environmental disaster, and the outcome is one any sci-fi fan could predict - remove humans from the equation. They are to be ‘exited' from the Earth, and their consciousness uploaded into a new digital world called Maia. The story doesn't focus on how this is achieved, although it does discuss it. The true heart of the novel concerns a worker process that is tasked with watching Sen as she carries out her job as a Witness to the Great Transition. It pours over her journals, endless hours of video and audio, and begins to piece together a narrative of her life and approaching death. As it does so, it begins to learn, change, and develop it's own persona - one that is increasingly attached to Sen.

Can an AI learn emotions? Can it love? What does it mean to be Human?

Don't be fooled by my 3 star rating - that is due to my own personal preference for plot driven post-apocalyptic stories, rather than character driven. But if your sweet spot is the intersection of post-apocalyptic fiction and character driven stories, then I suspect this may be a book for you. I found the first section a little rough to get through, as it was framed from the point of view of the newly instantiated AI storymaker, and was cold, clinical, programmatic. But this turned out to be a successful gambit as it drove home the personification of the AI. The reader is able to watch as it softens and develops a personality that becomes more approachable and more readable, all the more impactful compared to its initial distance. It watches Sen, it watches her relationships with her mothers, it learns, it falls in love. It's heart breaking but also so familiar, to watch it review Sen's past and desperately wish to change things. To try and spin up simulations where things fell out differently. To want so badly to save someone you love and spare them pain.

This isn't a happy, fuzzy story. It's bleak and it doesn't hold anything back, but it's guaranteed to make you think. There are a lot of ideas about humanity's responsibility and culpability regarding environmental collapse, the place of AI in our society, and what lies in the places between.

As a person that enjoys reading post apocalyptic or dystopian novels, the premise of this book had me intrigued-to end the human world to save the natural world. Reading this book was a bit of a struggle however due to the constantly switching narratives. I did find many parts interesting to read and very eye opening but tended to struggle greatly when it came to the AI dialogue. Humans as a whole are self preservationists so I found some parts very unbelievable. Interesting concept but not one I would recommend overall.

1. What is the best way then for humanity to survive a failing Earth?

2. What is the best way for a failing Earth to survive?

3. What if the answers to questions 1 and 2 are radically different?

After World imagines a future that is solely concerned with question 2. In order to save Earth, a deadly pathogen is released that sterilizes the human race – thereby swiftly and efficiently eradicating humans from the planet. Its telling is bleak, grim, and unforgiving – and yet, it makes for incredibly compelling reading.

Author Debbie Urbanski has considered every element of the future down to the most granular detail. Those looking for a fun, post-apocalyptic romp will be let down, as this story self-consciously subverts the post-apocalyptic trappings that fans of the genre are familiar with and focuses on the cold realities that such an end of days scenario would create.

The AI-human romance angle is a bit oversold in the book's synopsis and is a bit undercooked in the way it's implemented in the text, but this book is so rich in its worldbuilding and the way it weaves in its unique metanarrative that it hardly matters. With the proliferation of artificial intelligence and the way it is reshaping our (warming) world – this book is a perfect complement to our modern technological time.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

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