The Municipalists
A Novel
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- £8.49
Publisher Description
A novel about an unlikely pair of lonely outsiders--one human, one AI--on an adventure to save the great American city of Metropolis written by "one of the most exciting new voices in fiction" (Charles Yu)
*Named one of the best books of the month by Library Journal ("Debut of the Month"), The Verge, io9, Amazon Books, Book of the Month Club, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, NYLON, and Tor.com*
In Metropolis, the gleaming city of tomorrow, the dream of the great American city has been achieved. But all that is about to change, unless a neurotic, rule-following bureaucrat and an irreverent, freewheeling artificial intelligence can save the city from a mysterious terrorist plot that threatens its very existence.
Henry Thompson has dedicated his life to improving America's infrastructure as a proud employee of the United States Municipal Survey. So when the agency comes under attack, he dutifully accepts his unexpected mission to visit Metropolis looking for answers. But his plans to investigate quietly, quickly, and carefully are interrupted by his new partner: a day-drinking know-it-all named OWEN, who also turns out to be the projected embodiment of the agency's supercomputer. Soon, Henry and OWEN are fighting to save not only their own lives and those of the city's millions of inhabitants, but also the soul of Metropolis. The Municipalists is a thrilling, funny, and touching adventure story, a tour-de-force of imagination that trenchantly explores our relationships to the cities around us and the technologies guiding us into the future.
"A new and irreverent take on both real-world politics and sci-fi history."-The Wall Street Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fried's lackluster debut explores the relationship between users and technology in an urban thriller constrained by its narrow scope. After a terrorist cyberattack on the United States Municipal Survey (USMS) headquarters in Suitland, Md., investigator Henry Thompson, an introverted longtime employee of the organization, travels to the megacity of Metropolis, where he searches for the USMS employees behind the supposed inside job. Accompanying him is a hologram AI named OWEN, who creates limitless illusions and has a strange thirst for liquor. Murderous thugs pursue Henry, who shares their violent inclinations and easily accepts that he may have to murder and torture for his job. With OWEN as his primary confidant and weapon, Henry follows clue after clue to put a stop to the rogue faction. The relationship between Henry and OWEN is simple and repetitive, and with a small and male-dominated cast, the story is empty and quiet. The breadcrumb-trail plot and stiff protagonists undermine both the serious thriller concepts and the contrasting elements of the bizarre.
