The Ten Percent Thief by Lavanya Lakshminarayan

I would like to thank Jess from Solaris for an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Solaris

Published – Out Now

Price – £16.99 hardback £7.99 Kindle eBook

Nothing has happened. Not yet, anyway. This is how all things begin.

Welcome to Apex City, formerly Bangalore, where everything is decided by the mathematically perfect Bell Curve.

With the right image, values and opinions, you can ascend to the glittering heights of the Twenty Percent – the Virtual elite – and have the world at your feet. Otherwise you risk falling to the precarious Ten Percent, and deportation to the ranks of the Analogs, with no access to electricity, running water or even humanity.

The system has no flaws. Until the elusive “Ten Percent Thief” steals a single jacaranda seed from the Virtual city and plants a revolution in the barren soil of the Analog world.

Everyone loves a good dystopian world but I do get fussy. We often arrive in them right at the end and the fight back which is always satisfying but for me what is more interesting is how exactly do they work? What has made people live in them? Is it 24/7 surveillance; fear of punishment or whisper it quietly the people accepted it? If we explore tis I think this is when science fiction does it’s job of reflecting back to us today’s world; the problems it faces and where we could go if we are not careful. In Lavanya Lakshminarayan’s standout novel The Ten Percent Thief we are introduced to the unforgettable Apex City in a dazzling and troubling novel that also offers a very satisfying lesson in understanding how dystopian worlds can come about and how to end them.

In the future a place once named Bangalore is now Apex City controlled by the Bell Corporation. In a world of precious few resources and where every city seeks an edge against its counterparts the key is productivity. Everyone must do their bit or else. As such everyone is monitored for doing the right things, liking the right things, thinking the right things and ultimately wasting nothing. At the top are the Twenty Per Cent who get all the best technology, wealth and experience. Its where the Seventy Per cent that make up the rest of the hi-tech heart of the city all want to be one day from the moment they grow up. Everyone wants to stay a Virtual. Because if you aren’t doing your best; if Bell’s systems feel you’re letting Apex City down then you eventually become one of the Analogues – the Ten Per Cent who live on the city’s outskirts with scant resources; no technology and even face may face the ultimate punishment – the vegetable farm where no one ever comes back from and no farming of greens is actually taking place... But within the outskirts a thief has a plan and a simple stolen seed which will help bring about massive change.

Now I’ll be upfront based on the title if you’re expecting a cyberpunk heist tale you will be disappointed. It is not. That ends my one issue with the book because this is one of the best science fiction novels of the year and what you will get is a beautifully constructive walkthrough of life in Apex City from the richest to the poorest. Lakshminarayan has created a mosaic novel of standalone interludes all primarily focusing on individual citizens that as the novel progresses you start to spot the links and connections. For a novel of less than four hundred pages by the end you will feel you understand this place – how it came to be; why people want this life and also what the city’s weaknesses will be.

The novel primarily feeds on the very modern fear that we will be felt slacking at work; lose our status; our friends and eventually be confined to poverty and becoming a social outcast. Bell’s integrated systems see everything we say; order online; consume in media and also watch our work-rate. The slightest deviation brings warnings. We watch a high-flying young man begging to work even more hours for his company just to keep ahead; a young bereaved woman suffering from depression loses her corporate role and now is on the very edges of being cut off from Virtual society. Kids are sent on trips to see how Analogues live like animals in zoos to become cautionary tales that if you don’t work hard and play by the rules you’ll be cut out of and cut off from the world. The most chilling part – that this is viewed normal for nearly everyone; they all want this perfect life and it plays with the fear people can have of performance reviews; being felt to be unpopular and out of the loop.

Apex City is a brilliantly designed trap that makes the Virtuals pretty much volunteering to push themselves more and more; like all the best hells you punish yourself the most – it calls itself a meritocracy such a positive phrase; but this book makes you think about who actually makes the merit scoring system; who defines what good is and creates the cruelty that it shows to anyone found wanting – which is often horrific. Analogues are mocked for living in rooms the size of bathrooms and not being grateful for one bucket of water a day to use. In one fascinating chapter we see a young woman very naturally gifted and working hard to be an accomplished pianist is still being as a second class citizen because the super-wealthy have all the implants and software to make them perfect…but the point is powerfully made that pure cold perfection can often be soulless. In another tale we meet people very good at their professions all suddenly fear being shown in public for their perceived physical weaknesses; deciding to have a natural birth or even falling on love with an unworthy lover – in the eyes of their ever-helpful and ever-watching AI assistant who can control your life very very subtly. Even the pensioners of the city all have t daily prove their worth and compliance or else they will vanish. Each story is unique, clever, and thought provoking.

This makes is more satisfying as we explore what is happening within the Analogue side of the city and the slow planning and sacrifices being made to rebel and win. Halfway through you’ll hate Apex City and so finally watching it undo itself in a very modern way is immensely satisfying. There may be a chance for a re-set but a lot of pain has been created so who knows how long the next version of the City will last?

The Ten Percent Thief is an intricate, intelligent and powerful piece of science fiction that explores our modern day pre-occupation with never being good enough and the fear of losing our little step on the ladder. It skilfully creates a myriad number of characters and plots that we explore - getting to know and understand a terrible world, fear for people’s future and cheer on their successes. You’ll never forget your trip here and that is a hallmark of a great book and a writer I very much want to read more from. Strongly recommended!