EnWorld

James’ novel, a blend of speculative fiction, satire, and thought experiment, explores themes of identity and morality.

A futuristic society teeters under the weight of engineered abundance and psychological manipulation. When the metaverse falters and identity politics ignite, governments partner with tech elites to covertly resurrect a failing experimental habitat: EnWorld, a dome-city sold as utopia but secretly designed as a self-contained exile for the restless and noncompliant. The story follows Birsha, a devil seeking a promotion in Satan’s corporate hierarchy. He’s assigned to enter a “living story” called A World of Evil, where he will act as “Socs,” a Socrates-like figure inserted to anchor A World of Evil’s plot. His mission is to locate and neutralize a disruptive force: Phantom Girl, aka “Tre,” a rebellious character whose growing influence is warping the story’s structure. As Birsha reads the manuscript forward and backward, he discovers that Tre has reentered the narrative as a graffiti artist whose work evolves from crude to evocative—“Satiric cartoon monkeys are an addition, and the freehand sketches of the Savior in devil guise are more skillfully rendered than before, more Henri Matisse than their original Tom and Jerry.” Her impact is so significant that the story must invent elaborate backstories to justify her presence. James’ style is cerebral and layered, blending literary, philosophical, and political references. The novel’s climax occurs during the trial of the Stephens, in which Stevo places himself on trial; the variations of Stephen across the different story and timeline iterations occupy all roles—judge, prosecutor, defense, jury, and accused. This courtroom of the self is facilitated by Birsha/Socs, who, acting as devil’s advocate literally and figuratively, prods Stevo into self-examination but increasingly wrestles with his own doubts about the mission he was sent to fulfill. The novel’s structure is recursive; it loops and refracts. Just as totalitarian regimes revise history to maintain power (e.g., erasing memory or falsifying timelines), the story revises its own past to protect its internal consistency. Cast members are emotionally rich: Birsha is ambition dressed in rationality, but his self-doubt humanizes him. Overall, James’ literary loop-the-loops result in a fun, brainy read.

Entertaining and inventive storytelling.