In this YA novel, a group of teenagers fights to understand, survive, and break free from a near-future dystopia predicated on total ignorance.

After her father’s death, Juniper sets out for Denver. She arrives injured, repressing the traumatic events that claimed her sister and left Juniper pregnant. Her entry into the city disrupts the Network, the all-pervasive artificial intelligence that oversees humanity’s degradation. The disruption allows Calvin (avatar name: Doc) to abscond from the deadly, immersive video game that he and others play for extra privileges and the entertainment of the masses. Freed from his gritty gilded cage, he rescues Juniper and finds an abandoned apartment for her to stay in. In return, she begins teaching him to read—the gravest sin in a society where “goners” are left naked and illiterate on the streets, sustained by food handouts and a diet of violent reality viewing. One of Calvin’s fellow gamers called Roscoe (avatar name: the Kid) finds that he can not only read the chatting between Network units but also surreptitiously contribute to it. With Juniper digging into the tragic events that brought about society’s commitment to policed ignorance, can the teens spark a revolution? Lane delivers an omniscient past-tense narrative that incorporates not only Juniper’s, Calvin’s, and Roscoe’s viewpoints, but also vast batches of Network dialogue. Such dialogue provides clues about what’s happening—the author takes an immersive approach to storytelling, holding back exposition until late in the piece—but may prove a little too scattershot for some readers. The scenario is unremitting in its bleakness: a totalitarian reductio ad absurdum that’s even more unsettling for being revealed as the end product of current societal tendencies. The teen protagonists prove to be relatable, though more on an allegorical level (as they grope blindly through a world whose rules make no sense) than as traditional narrative agents. Minor characters—such as poor, clueless Itch-ass—also make an impression. The story is dense and takes some wading through. Lane’s prose, though assured, offers the occasional odd phrasing, such as the Trail Boss “asserting” the Schoolmarm back into her wagon or Juniper “assorting” the books. Given the worldview presented, perhaps these snippets have been seeded deliberately to make readers think. Certainly, the book as a whole will achieve this purpose.

A grim, knotty, thought-provoking SF tale.