Review: Auxiliary: London 2039 by Jon Richter
Disclosure: I was provided with a free copy of Auxiliary: London 2039 in return for an honest review.
I say in my About page on here that I will read most types of books. While that’s true, there are some genres which are more in my comfort zone than others. I’m sure that’s the same for most readers? And I’ll be honest; if I’d seen Auxiliary: London 2039 in a bookshop it would probably have been on shelves that I only passed because I was looking for the café. Except cafés aren’t a thing at the moment, and I’ve forgotten what it’s like to browse in a bookshop and be with the three-dimensional people and go somewhere without something on my face at all times.
And isn’t that a funny coincidence? That’s exactly the kind of world that Auxiliary: London 2039 is set in. A world where TIM is the operating system that everything runs on - from traffic flow (of individual pods, natch), the food that people order and eat, to the schooling and healthcare provided by an army of robotic helpers. The Imagination Machine has replaced receptionists, teachers, delivery drivers, postal workers, bartenders and almost every other working role with drones and robotic assistants who have ever-changing faces, accents, and personalities.
Auxiliary:
London 2039
But never fear: some jobs still need humans to do them, and amongst those is the disillusioned peri-alcoholic detective. It’s nice to know that even in the dystopian future, familiar clichés will still exist. Dremmler is the kind of grizzled and fiercely independent figure that has carried many a successful crime novel or series. Coming complete with his lost wife and daughter, I’ll admit that initially I was sceptical that I was going to encounter any originality in the coming pages. And yet, as the story unfolded, I began to almost enjoy uncovering the disintegrating layers of his personality, and even started to grow a bit fond of the wee unloved soul. This may say something about my own ability to judge character, but let’s go with it being the author’s skill.
The book begins with Dremmler being called to the scene of a grisly murder - initially it seems like a straightforward domestic with the distraught boyfriend not only caught red-handed, but having called the police himself. However in the interview room he insists that he is innocent, and that his prosthetic arm acted independently, killing his girlfriend in the midst of a romantic night in on the sofa. Dremmler can’t help but believe there is truth in the claim, but immediately comes up against the brick wall of bureaucracy. If TIM can be hacked and subverted, then what does that mean for the safety and security of London’s systems and citizens? Too horrible to contemplate. As the investigative dead ends and blockers accumulate, Dremmler realises that someone - or something - is determined to keep the truth hidden.
“We build a better you”
If you’re a fan of speculative futuristic technology then there’s plenty to interest you here. Much of the day-to-day tech revolves around spex - Google Glass-style eyewear which presents the user with multi-layered visual information as they interact with the world around them. There is a pervasive AI which controls temperature, lighting, transport and comms, wherever you are. There are almost-sentient robots. There’s a mysterious yet powerful private company who are at the cutting edge of human embellishment. There’s even a dissenting sect banished to that far-off land of The North, who refuse to engage in this fully-connected life.
There are a few interesting themes explored which did leave me thinking. There are some members of society who have ‘become’ neuts - neither male nor female - and whose pronouns are ve and ver. I’d be interested in the opinions of any non-binary readers on this - I’m not sure what Richter’s background is in terms of knowledge and research of the community, and the language used generally felt respectful and unintrusive - but I’m always open to listening and learning!
Meanwhile Dremmler’s behaviour to women could be charitably described as ‘varied’, with a slant towards the misogynistic. While this is explained in his character arc, I’ll be honest and say I never felt that any of the female characters were fully brought to life (pun not intended). I’d be interested to read more of Richter’s books to understand whether this was a device particular to this work. I felt there was a whole lot more to uncover about the key female characters that may have brought me deeper into the world.
That said, Richter builds tension skilfully, adding malevolent robotics and self-serving evil-doers chapter by chapter, even as he removes Dremmler’s supports one by one. By the time the final scenes were set up, I was fully involved in the plot and the protagonist’s outcome, and I raced through the final few chapters.
“Real life had been made obsolete”
One of the real attractions of books like this for many is the opportunity to explore the ‘what-ifs’ of life in a safe environment. Auxiliary offers plenty of scenarios to play this out - what if Alexa became self-aware? What if people became fully plugged in to the virtual AltWorld and just … forgot to eat and drink? What if almost every job became obsolete? Depending on your worldview, it’s easy to either catastrophise or to underestimate the risks of our plugged-in society, and Auxiliary opens up many of these avenues for imagination and discussion. Maybe just unplug your Alexa or Google Home first.
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