FUTUREPROOF

In 2050s Denver, a successful lawyer suddenly finds himself out of work as artificial intelligence dictates business and public policy in this novel of the future.

Albrecht’s impressive SF debut takes place in the mid-21st century and features elements of the “cli-fi” subgenre, including rising sea levels and superstorms devastating coastal communities worldwide. This circumstance has been a boon to inland Denver, where rehousing migrants is a profitable business. At the same time, society has widely adopted specialized, analytical AIs called “ex-brains” (with “ex” signifying “external”). In uncertain times, these supercomputers forecast outcomes with unnerving accuracy and are essential for coordinating everything from traffic patterns to police investigations. Joe Watson is a successful Denver lawyer who specializes in managing his firm’s ex-brain to predict litigation results. Expecting to make partner, he’s shocked to be among 400 people laid off due to the ex-brain’s recommendation. Joe’s other job prospects mysteriously evaporate, except for one that would require him to uproot his family and join Nova D, a utopian city-state of shadowy origins under construction in Nepal: “It was 100 percent planned, starting from a blank canvas and designing everything for efficiency and sustainability.” Joe’s wife, Evie, a Denver health department specialist working with traumatized refugees, opposes the move—but then her own career experiences a downturn. Most genre readers will be a step ahead of the characters in realizing the presence of a massive conspiracy of staggering proportions. As realization dawns and the screws turn on the likable characters, a sense of pervasive paranoia and suspense creeps into the quotidian, affluent setting, making one think of Ira Levin’s work—particularly his downbeat blockbusters Rosemary’s Baby (1967) and The Stepford Wives (1972), but also his lesser-known dystopian novel This Perfect Day (1970). Albrecht’s friendly, pop-up-style chapter-end footnotes (labeled “Ex-Brains Q&A”) are a nice touch. An open ending may or may not portend a sequel; perhaps an ex-brain will decide.

A shuddery, slow-burn, speculative thriller.