by Ada Palmer
First published 2017
Mycroft Canner serves his sentence by wandering the globe, helping anyone who asks. He carries knowledge that could destroy everything. The world's leaders have maintained peace through calculated killings. A few deaths prevent wars. The great Hives rule without borders, their conspiracy hidden from billions who enjoy instant travel and abundant resources. No one alive remembers actual warfare. But the system cracks. Carlyle Foster counsels souls as a sensayer, weighted down by truths that torment him. Both men guard the most dangerous secret of all. Bridger can make toys walk and breathe. The child's power could reshape reality itself. As the conspiracy unravels, Mycroft and Carlyle face impossible choices. The stability that ended war may end with them.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, 21st-century, alternate-history
Vibes: dark, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Global
Period: 21st Century
365 pages · Paperback · Tor Books
Content warnings: violence