“Where the Axe Is Buried: A Novel” by Ray Nayler
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Rating: 3/5 Stars.
An interesting near-future thriller told from multiple viewpoints. In one, we see the Federation, ruled by a man who has downloaded his brain from one body to another to maintain his grip on power, while fellow citizens struggle to keep their social credits up (making a wrong move or saying the wrong thing make you lose points). In the West, AI Prime Ministers have ‘rationalised’ decision-making, turning parliaments into rubber-stamp institutions.
Yet, the cracks are showing. The AI Prime Minister in one country causes an uprising, and it starts to spread to other countries as their Prime Ministers malfunction. In the Federation, a plot is underway to replace the president, by using an unusual device that can influence thoughts from a distance.
All of these happen together, causing world-wide chaos that the characters in the book have to live through, trying to save themselves of the people around them. But what comes out at the other end may be a world that is technologically diminished, but with people able to come together to make their own decisions about how to live their lives.
Book read from 2026/03/20 to 2026/03/30.