In this novel’s version of planet Earth’s distant future, much like our contemporary world, some have rejected artificial intelligence and technology, while others seek to hasten humanity’s transformation. But in Vaughn’s accelerated dystopian society, humanity remains threatened by the Geometry, a mysterious superintelligence capable of erasing entire populations. After an amnesiac woman bursts from a sealed crate, she’s taken in by the gruff, mysterious Hendricks, who recognizes that she may be some sort of android companion and eventually gives her the name Standard. Elsewhere, young soldier Elena retrieves a device containing thousands of stored consciousnesses. Elena is the daughter of Ash, the leader of an anti-tech faction occupying the Quiet Zone, an area protected from the Geometry. Unbeknownst to her father, however, Elena secretly carries a neural implant connecting her to an intelligence that speaks in her long-missing mother’s voice. When Elena, Hendricks, and Standard meet and begin traveling together, it becomes increasingly apparent that Standard is more than an ordinary android. (After examining her, a bewildered physician admits that even he doesn’t know what she is.) As the group struggles to survive the Geometry’s attacks, Elena must also investigate her parents’ past, while questions remain about Standard’s true identity and the role they all could play in humanity’s future. Vaughn effectively synthesizes familiar SF tropes—including ruined landscapes, androids, rampant artificial intelligence, and competing survivalist factions—to create a fascinatingly intricate post-apocalyptic future. The author’s densely detailed world offers plenty of action and suspense, and Vaughn is particularly adept at establishing an ominous atmosphere: “They drink the light and give nothing back. Permanent twilight.” Elena and Standard emerge as compelling characters, while Elena’s connection to her missing mother brings warmth and humanity to the technical jargon and intensive worldbuilding. Casual SF readers may struggle to penetrate the novel’s elaborate mythology, but hardcore genre fans will likely cozy up to Vaughn’s visions of future dystopia.
