2042: Artemis Rising

This SF debut novel sees the higher-ups of a tech super-company grapple with ethical concerns while hostile forces scheme to break the behemoth’s monopoly.

The Artemis biotech company, based in San Francisco, has its origins in medical advancements—processes that target areas of the brain to achieve sight for the blind, hearing for the deaf, movement for paraplegics, and a cure for drug addiction. But by 2042, Artemis has used its mastery of neural pathways to expand into the more profitable realm of “casting”—an intimate sensory media that allows people to broadcast their experiences to paying customers. While co-founder Peter Graham had the best of intentions in pushing for this development, a confluence of corporate, governmental, and global interests has brought Artemis to a precarious ethical position. Casts come not only with subliminal advertising, but also a secret layer of “embeds”—deeply buried tenets designed to nudge users toward or away from particular behaviors. Such force-feeding from up high seems the tradeoff for having vetted equipment and regulated content. While Katherine Tanaka, Artemis’ head of Corporate Communications, has largely made peace with the practice, her boyfriend, Harbrinder Singh, has been working behind her back to promote an ad-free but unregulated “OpenCast” alternative. Will Artemis continue as a conflicted force for good or will its dark secret undo the company and its founders? Mitchell employs straightforward, clear prose in detailing Artemis’ rise to prominence and credible future predicated on modern trends. While the chapters carry the names of their viewpoint players, these protagonists tend somewhat to be ciphers through which Mitchell breaks down the larger character of society itself. One of the novel’s strengths is that it eschews authorial agendas in favor of gray areas. Thus, both sides act reprehensibly but with laudable or at least clear motives. Even the autistic coder Henry is driven to push his own reactionary ideals—the clandestine “JesusNet”—on others in part because he objects to Peter’s having promoted progressive values (including “homosexuality is not a sin”). Unfortunately, the story sometimes lacks impetus and ends rather abruptly. Nonetheless, the exploration of a key concept is compelling: monopolized security or free will? Readers will find plenty here to mull over.

A nuanced, captivating examination of what the near future might have in store.