Guardian

<p>We seem today to be living the embodiment of the Chinese curse May you live in interesting times. We continually read of seemingly unstoppable and accelerating climate change the continued concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands a shift towards right-wing politics a growing number of armed conflicts and the rise of AI and robotics.</p><p></p><p>Where will this lead us in 50 years? In 500 years? These are the themes of the science fiction book <em>Guardian</em> which across 104000 words weaves together two stories: one from the near future of the late 21st century and the other from the 25th. In the post apocalypse 25th century we follow the story of Nadya a young woman who discovers a journal that raises disturbing questions about her society's supposed freedom from The Guardian a dominating AI entity. Her island community believes they have escaped its control but the journal suggests otherwise. In particular she learns that the reproductive constraints she thought were natural are in fact recent and artificial. To unravel the mystery and ensure their continued freedom Nadya must confront The Guardian.</p><p></p><p>In the 21st century we follow the journal entries of Harry as he and his family live through the final throes of a society long dominated by a few ultra-wealthy tech billionaires. As these billionaires seek ever greater control over the rest of humanity and as the world grapples with increasing climate instability the masses begin to fight back. How will humanity avoid total self destruction?</p>