Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This gripping and heartfelt coming-of-age tale from debut novelist Key (The World Wasn't Ready for You, a story collection) takes place in a near-future America dominated by an AI system created by the Shepherd Organization. Medical student Pok Morning was originally hoping to matriculate at a Shepherd-run school, but his physician father's dying wish was that he learn medicine the traditional way. He heads instead to the Hippocrates school in New Orleans, last bastion of human-based healthcare, hoping to learn more about his father's mysterious death. Soon, however, his entanglement with the CEO of the Shepherd Organization and knowledge of a secret AI rumored to be stored at Hippocrates gives way to a larger crisis when the government declares the hospital "a clear and present danger to society." Though the level of coincidence inherent in some late plot reveals strains credulity, the worldbuilding fascinates and Pok is a wonderfully believable protagonist acting from both good intentions and naive suppositions. Key should win plenty of new fans with this. Agent: Adam Eaglin, Cheney Agency. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Pok is in his twenties and living in the tech-centric New York City of the future, complete with augmented reality, which is necessary to function in society. His father is a respected doctor at the AI-operated medical center, the Shepherd Organization, which has managed to insert itself into all aspects of daily life. Pok wants to follow in his father's footsteps and become a doctor. When a conspiracy forces him to attend the only remaining medical school not under the influence of artificial intelligence, in New Orleans, he uncovers secrets about AI in medicine, his heritage, and the fate of the last human-centered medical school in the country. This story explores the "what if" of AI in medicine and examines what a medical AI would consider best for patients. Key (The World Wasn't Ready for You: Stories) adds a human touch to a detailed first novel that depicts a near-future world and provides realistic and thorough look into its medical field. VERDICT A medical-minded dystopia with mystery elements that emphasizes the importance of human connection and equity for everyone in a world of artificial intelligence. For readers of Laila Lalami.--Meagan Shay
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Dystopian speculation about medicine years after AI's great tech boom. In New York City, young Pok Morning is an excellent candidate for admission to any of the nation's top medical schools, all run by the Shepherd Organization, all AI-centered, and known as "The Prestigious Twelve." A drone delivers the message: admission denied. Initially, he blames his father for undermining his application. But Dr. Phelando Morning, who takes the "grossly inefficient" humanistic approach to medicine, is innocent and explains that there is a better way to become a doctor. When Phelando dies unexpectedly in a hospital, his Memorandium--a temporary, AI-generated version of himself--advises Pok to attend Hippocrates Medical Center in New Orleans, the only med school in the country that refuses to use AI and may soon be the last human-run hospital. Pok believes "no residency in its right mind will accept me" if he goes there. But he gets an urgent warning to "get the fuck out of New York," because the lie is out that he poisoned his father. He has a rough time leaving, as the states now have border controls, but he winds up riding the rails to Louisiana at the suggestion of Jillian, a woman he meets. Eventually they arrive in New Orleans, a city protected by electromagnetic spires. There, Pok is welcome. The story's pace slows while he absorbs himself in his intense studies, but the writing shows the author's rich imagination. With bee populations drastically declining, for example, a company has bioengineered "Carve Bees" that produce medicinal honey. And there is Agrypnia, or the Grips, a sleeping sickness that makes people crazy. Odysseus Shepherd is a worthy half-human villain whose brain is filled with microchips. He wants to bring New Orleans into sync with the rest of the country, because "human-led medicine is like having monkeys fly a plane." Readers might blink at jargon like "enantiomer," which is a mirror-image molecule and may also describe the hero and the villain. An enjoyable tale about AI's dark underbelly. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
