We Are Not Anonymous by Stephen Oram

I would like to thank the author for an advance copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review

Published - out now

Price - £11.49 paperback £4.49 ebook

Set in a near-future climate-flooded England, divided into three countries.
Kai, the charismatic leader of the tech-elite, entices the public with cutting-edge technology and a seemingly benevolent vision for the world.
As part of the Resist and Regain movement, Beth and Naomi confront him head-on.
Challenging his child experimentation to accelerate evolution and his attempts to control the government, they risk everything for a more equal and transparent society.
Can they stop Kai before it’s too late?
Can Beth live with the suffering her activism will cause her family?

Safe to say reading the news everyone is unclear where we are heading beyond a feeling that things could get worse. One of the benefits of science fiction is the ability to offer options and discuss the pros and cons of each. In Stephen Oram’s interesting science fiction novel We Are Not Anonymous we have a feast of ideas being offered but all are relevant to today.

The U.K. has split apart, climate change has led to flooding and landowners have even more powers to punish people and remove their universal basic income for the slightest of reasons. Trying to change things is Naomi of the group Resist and Regain and Beth a caster who is always looking for interesting news stories. But things are changing thanks to new AI technologies not out running companies but now being offered to rule countries. The leader of the tech groups is Kai the suave and smiling confident leader who likes to pull the strings but is he really who he appears to be?

This is an interesting SF novel filed with ideas and commentary on the now and very good at exploring potential consequences. The U.K. we see is falling apart with children now looking to make money by a dangerous form of mudlarking in new flood barriers that could seal the unwary in. The populace is easily swayed by social media option which AI can manipulate and robots are the de facto security forces able to descend and attack people as they wish. There are many echoes of 2020s life in this and exploring where we go next is a central theme.

I really liked how AI government is sold as able to offer any option and yet even though who choose a communal govt or a system based on the levellers find the programming actually gets suspiciously similar results. There is always someone hiding and agenda in the code and a key part of the novel is discovering Kai’s motivation and he in no way resembles I am sure any particular overly opinionated billionaire we can think of. Totes.

The novel focused on Naomi and Beth and time jumps regularly as we see the world change as the AIs get to work. The constant theme is how to resist and both put themselves on the line. We also see family and relationship dynamics change and the question is can you resist and have regular relationships. I’d had like a bit more of the person these people are and how they came to be to have shined through as there was a sense they are more to enable the plot and arguments to the story is making to be pronounced at times which slowed the pace somewhat.

We Are Not Anonymous is a thought provoking read that I felt did a good job about pondering where we may be heading, how bad that could get and how we could still turn the tide. If you enjoy your political SF this is well worth a look.