Rating: 4/5
Review:
Good but slightly flawed
I thought this was a good book, but not quite as good as the excellent The Machine.
Smythe does some things very well indeed in this novel. It is set in the near future, and he creates a very convincing picture of the type of predictive technology which might determine a good deal of our lives. He builds the tension very well with the sense of inevitability of Greek tragedy, and he gives a chillingly convincing portrait of how people cannot or will not distinguish between reality and what they see presented on screen, even if that presentation has not actually happened, and how this might twist events.
However, I found some of the psychological aspects of the novel less convincing, especially the central character's behaviour and state of mind, and there is a pretty well-worn sci-fi trope at the heart of the dénouement which seemed a little predictable to me, so as a whole I thought it lacked something as a novel.
Nonetheless, this is a thoughtful, well written and engrossing book and even if it's not the exceptional work The Machine is, I can still recommend it
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