The Crying Machine by Greg Chivers

“In the future, are demons just malicious lines of code?”

Overview: This is a complex, fiercely intelligent thriller set in a post-apocalyptic Jerusalem and involves themes of politics, science, religion and artificial intelligence. The narrative switches between its three main characters: Levi, Silas, and Clementine.

The story switches between three characters, each chapter is told in the first person and though there were some good descriptions, I would have enjoyed more world-building for this dystopia setting and that was probably my biggest letdown in this novel.

But this is a more character-driven story.

This thriller, told in turn by three narrators, is a roller-coaster ride with lots of twists and turns. But it's also much more than that. It imagines new political factions of the future, such as the (wonderfully named) Sino-Soviet Republic of Humanity. It asks some thought-provoking questions about how far we should let our obsession with technology go, and where the boundary lies between religious fervour and fanaticism. And it also explores what it means to be human in a future where nearly everyone has been, at least to some extent, technologically 'enhanced'.

Overall this book really touched on humanity, showing an AI hybrid what it means to be human, and along the way perhaps a few others learn the meaning too. I also enjoyed that in the story, there is a religion based off worshipping machines.

It took me a while to get in to this book, at first I was confused with the narrative and where in time this all took place. After a few chapters I started to really get into it.