Robots against giant octopus!!! In technicolor *reads in retro*

Trippy cover.

 

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann

A book filled with promise, AI gods and angels, Lovecraftian beings tipping their toes in reality, neurodivergent characters and brilliant ideas, although a little unbalanced in the ensemble.

The worldbuilding is hauntingly shining, as much as Ais overpowering humanity is a long held speculative fear, the book takes a step farther adding the Lovecraftian element to my huge surprise and adapted very smoothly to the scientific perspective in which things are framed, the main characters are scientists after all.

Random mumbling.

Dr. Talir´s figure was very interesting, the piece by piece approach while forming the character was nicely done, as the mystery around her shredded, she became a great contrast in her raw human depth to the bigger than life figures loaming around. In the moments where she would seem so coldly inhuman, the fuel that powered her was the very essential human turmoil that feeds most people, just twisted, denied and twisted again.

For the other part, Yasira was not as interesting. I wanted to like her, but couldn’t. Some parts of her character grated me a big deal. The “good girl” repeated theme felt demeaning, the best irony was how Yasira bitterly talks about bullies and then simply cheapens someone being kind. At the end, it left a strange taste with… Spoilers. The very stiff growth moment of she-isn’t-a-dumb-cudling-furniture-and-she-can-make-her-own-decisions hitting Yasira, you know? End of Spoilers. Another irony was how she positioned herself in regards of Tiv and her view of gods, how she thought Tiv would go instantly with something while being in bliss with the gods, but not her because big brain and the other mantra of hers not-being-good-with-gods. And yes, she sucked with the rituals, but she was perfect with the gods: the tightness of her mind, how she again and again could throw away or justify pretty big red flags. As the AIs are seen as gods, all power and might, when their limitations start to show, a chain of thoughts could easily start: if they are not godly powerful, what else is a lie? Are they really gods? Yasira never went there despite her scientific mind; that was weird for me. I am not sure how much of this was intended, part of her eventual growth or not. I like it in the way it fits a very unlikeable character.

The angels were another peculiar and fascinating take. I really loved the mix of AI turned religion, the place of cybernetic beings as angels, science replaced by belief and the shape it can take. Another very exciting and promising element was the Lovecraftian horror of the Outside, but somehow, when shaping it around science a bit, it kind of lost something, like the madness part, somehow in the book I didn’t see it entirely proportional.

I felt a bit of frustration, disliking Yasira wasn’t an issue, I got frustrated by the extensive mulling of her mind that carried so little insight against the constant repetition of her refusals and justifications. In short, the unbalance was some extensive detailing in some parts, when others would be not completely developed.

And then...

This book has brilliant ideas. I must say I am an animal of quirks; some unpredictable issues subjectively bug me now and then, but there is some kind of frustration born after being engaged, of drinking fully some idea and tasting it, wondering about it and wanting more of what is given. Nicely done, I would love to read something else from the author.