VIRTUALITY, BOOK 2

In Kroll’s SF novel, the second in a series, a mid-21st-century world deals with the fallout of a virus that’s infected a network linking human brains.

Directed Neuroplasticity Therapy (DNT) scans have ushered in a world free of crime. But that quickly changed when alleged cyber-terrorist Robert Kasparian released a virus into the DNT network. Doing so turned a handful of people into damaged “Partials” who are currently “suspended in deep comas and incapable of functioning.” As the wary public starts to avoid periodic DNT scans, violence and crime surge across the globe. Certainly not helping matters is Justin Kasparian, who’s responsible for his brother Robert’s incarceration and is leading the charge against the International Institute of Health and Data (although the virus has been “reversed,” the IIHD wants to alleviate widespread panic by rolling out a new version of DNT). The Institute sends physician Robin Pilgrim and others to examine the Partials in Outer Sydney, where they learn that the Partials aren’t exactly what they seem. Meanwhile, two relatively new groups each vie for acceptance: sentient robots (along with species like dolphins and ravens), who want the same rights as humans, and “Octavers,” humans who’ve developed such psychic abilities as remote viewing. Some people have trouble believing in the abilities of the latter, while others form a movement called Humans First and actively protest the robots (“If it doesn’t bleed, it’s not alive,” reads a protester’s sign). Will a return to Directed Neuroplasticity Therapy once again bring order to the human population? Or will Humans Firsters, including Justin, coax others into distrusting anything that the IIHD has its hands in?

Kroll’s sophomore installment, like its predecessor, zeroes in on a curious assembly of characters. Saul Mateus, a former circus performer and an ex-technician at the DNT facility in Sydney, starts a potential romance with an eclectic Aussie local named Selkie. Arnold Dreyblatt, a camera operator for a streaming news service who covers a Humans First rally, is practically obsessed with getting the perfect shot. Even the seemingly minor characters (like Arnold) have notable connections to everything that’s going on around the globe. The cast takes precedence over plot progression; in Justin’s subplot, he feels insignificant compared to fellow Humans Firsters Karina Volnitskaya Abramovich and Jeffrey Schroeder, despite being the movement’s “face.” The author skillfully weaves topical issues into the narrative: Humans vehemently object to groups for no discernible reason aside from the fact that they’re different or something new that they don’t understand. The futuristic tech is deftly detailed, and Kroll is adept at staging relatable scenes, like a crowd’s reaction to hearing good news: “It was as if someone had set off a train of firecrackers in the crowd.” As the story continues, readers learn more about the Octavers, communicative animals, and one self-aware robot who turns villainous. By the end, while some characters’ fates are left in the air, there’s no question which way the story is headed in the third installment.

A slow-moving but absorbing tale of a near-future world that has more than its share of troubles.