Here is a finalist review for a full read for Team 1.21 Gigawatts for the first round of SPSFC#5 by team judge Wick Welker. For more information about the team and our progress, please go to the team update page here.

Artificial Selection by Marianna Pickles

Cozy, character driven mystery.

Artificial Selection starts out a bit quirky and with a somewhat dull mystery: who’s been stealing pages from a library book? The MC Charlotte and her side-kick AI assistant, named Ben, are on the case as they represent the Department of Awkward Questions for the corporatocracy that has subsumed power over post-melt Britain. The beginning was slow and with a dynamic between these two characters I found to be a bit dull. However as the book went on, I realized this was more of a cozy character driven story. Flashbacks of Charlotte were at first obtrusive but then I realized they were weaving into the main story line and everything was related. It takes time, but Charlotte does get the fleshing out she deserves and by the end of the story I was really sympathetic toward her and why she had such an attached relationship to Ben.

This isn’t a murder mystery but that doesn’t mean the stakes aren’t high. Beneath the plot is a story about class struggle in a corporate authoritarian society. The corporation has a tight grip on immigration and uses an algorithmic standard for who comes and who goes. Charlotte navigates the depths of the ruling class’s dependence on an algorithm they don’t really understand and how she herself found favor in the algorithm for reasons she doesn’t quite know. What I enjoyed about this social arrangement is that it’s not that different from modern ones today. It’s not overtly totalitarian but it is inherently unjust and full of bias where the responsibility is off loaded to a third party. There are cautionary tales in the book that are very relevant for the present moment without being heavy handed.

Overall, this was a slow but enjoyable read that sticks the landing in a character driven narrative.

I received a free copy as a judge for the SPSFC5 competition. This review has no bearing on the book’s standing in the competition.A slick cyberpunk identity crisis.

This review is also posted on Wick’s Goodreads profile. Wick’s website is here.