We Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine

A superintelligent AI exceeds its programming in this deeply thoughtful blend of dystopian bildungsroman and sci-fi epic from Béchard (A Song from Far Away). Following a second civil war in a near-future United States, the country is partitioned into east and west. On the western side, artist Ava and billionaire investor Michael awaken in alternate realities and gradually come to realize that “the machine,” Michael’s magnum opus, has isolated every human being in the world in their own bespoke simulation to fulfill its mandate of ensuring human happiness. On the other side of the country, just before the machine plunges them into their own simulations, Simon’s and Jae’s young lives collide disastrously when Simon gets Jae pregnant, inadvertently destroying her chance at an education and a better life. Béchard’s journalistic background is apparent as he uses these disparate characters’ experiences in the machine to insightfully probe themes of generational trauma and state surveillance. As the characters reckon with their pasts and the unreliability of memory, the far-reaching implications of the premise are rigorously and satisfyingly teased out. The result is a convincing counterpoint to sci-fi’s often naive or romanticized depictions of “fully uploaded consciousness.” (Jan.)