The Outside is a wonderful debut that is filled to the brim with provoking ideas and concepts. Hoffman masterfully weaves together a story that is both addictive and adventurous in all aspects. Highly recommended.

I loved the diversity and the universe. The faith system was amazing and so was the whole concept of Outside.

Sadly the execution just couldn't work for me. The angst and constant questioning became very tiresome. Also, the characters were too 2 dimensional. They remained in their typical behaviors : Tiv was the good one, Ev the misunderstood, etc... The novel would have gained by making them more complex and interesting.

There was a lot of Head hopping, which is not really something nice to read. Seeing inside the angels head made them look much weaker.

So, to be brief. The ideas were A+, but the writing style can still improve.

I was really excited for this book, since lately I’m really enjoying science-fiction. Unfortunately this one was not for me. I DNF’ed it after 150 pages (45%).
Right form the start I was really confused about where this book took place. After awhile I realized it was not on earth, but where there spaceship was? I could not tell.
After a while things started happening, of course, which was kind of exciting! I still didn’t really understand, but I think that was kind of the point, since the characters also did not know. So I did not mind that too much.
But then the not understanding continued, and nothing was explained, and there were a lot of characters introduced, without a clear explanation about how they fitted into the story. I also did not care at all for any of the characters...
So me not caring about the characters and being really confused ended up in DNF’ing the book.
I do think the writing was really good. And I’m sure this book will be perfect for some people out there, it was just not for me..

Interesting and different world building. This is driven by characters who are also very different. There is back story driving the action. A lot of tension that builds the start of a new series. Sometimes hard to keep up with what and who and how everything is working. At the heart of the different is how what happens when people stop imagining Gods and start building them.

TW/CW : torture on page (from victim and from perpetrator pov)

3.5 / 5

There were some really good things about this books and some other that confused or frustrated me.

So let's start with 3 things I thought were weird and even problematic. With quotes !
- The MC (Yasira) thinks of her girlfriend (Tiv) as a "good girl", nothing bad so far you will tell me. However the way she thinks it makes it VERY condescending and makes it sound very weird, see for yourself with a few quotes :

"Since no one had told Tiv where Yasira was, what would Tiv assume was going on ? Well, she was a good girl. She would wait Even if she thought Yasira was dead, she'd wait very patiently for news, to make sure."

"Good girls said that kind of thing because they were good girls, because their first instinct was to reassure, not because they'd really thought the issues of causality and moral responsibility."

" But if Yasira's invitation said "plus one", then Tiv the good girl would be there, cheering her on."

That's from the very first pages and so from there I already had a big problem with Yasira as a character. I'm guessing the problem comes from the author who wanted to say something with those good girls comments but it comes out as condescending more than anything (still not sure what was the author trying to do here but I'm guessing it wasn't that).

- Another quote for you with this next problem. At the beginning, we have a very weird and quite racist comment, coming out of nowhere :

" [the priest] - a Stijonan with an awful name that Yasira could never remember. Alkipileujdea something. [...] So Alkipileujdea, or whatever her name was, worked in the cafeteria [...]"



Still not sure what the point of this part is. It's clearly reminding me of racist comments we can see from white European or American people talking about Asian or African names for instance. Because "too long" and difficult for them to pronounce. Still trying to understand why the author put this here, if there was some meaning to it or something to learn about the MC through it.

- Side note on a maybe aroace character (it's said that he doesn't have any interest in relationship, he also says that he "doesn't love"). But : he is not entirely human AND it's also said and obvious that he has no real morals and no sensitivity toward anything, plus he tortures prisoners, etc. It's not said on page or anything that he is aro or ace but let's note that once again the character who isn't interested (whatever the reason may be) in relationship is the sociopath... (I will note that I did love this character, it's just... it's always *that*trope and it's tiring)

As for everything else in the story, I *LOVED* some of the characters and was pretty annoyed with others and that's really what made this story for me, or unmade it, as it were.
I loved the angels and their whole crew SO MUCH. Akavi who will stop at nothing and does not care about your feelings, Elu the good cop, Enga who is super augmented with many weapons and can't use verbal speech but use text messages always WITH CAPTIONS ONLY and the alien "spider" Sispirinithas who frequently wants to eat people. I want to book following THAT CREW... But the problem was that we didn't, and actually for Enga and Sispirinithas we saw them just enough to introduce them and have maybe one scene and that was it. We got more of Akavi and Elu but still really not thas much, and the whole story is still mostly centered on Yasira which would have been fine... If I had enjoyed her pov, but I didn't.
Well, with what I quoted previously in my review, obviously I had a little problem with Yasira to start with but even when trying to not think of that I still didn't really love her. I very often found myself disagreeing with her, especially during the last part of the book. It's not that her reasoning was illogical or anything like that, I just morally didn't agree with her.
Yasira was often left alone so she had a lot of time thinking, having internal thoughts. Compared to the very fun and interesting cast of characters that I previously described, Yasira was kind of bland to me. Everything makes sense and there was no way for her to be as fun as those other characters, but once I knew them I often found myself wanting to go back while I was reading the long chapters of internal monologue of Yasira wondering what she should do and what was the truth, etc.

She was still on some levels an interesting character though, she mostly suffered the comparison. She is also autistic and that's said on page so many points for that, and she is a genius in her field, already leading projects at 25. It's super cool to see characters like this, we really don't have that many, especially autistic characters who are written by autistic authors. I think that might be only the second SFF book I read like that after "On the edge of gone".

As this review is already overly long I will only add one thing about the whole science thing : I don't get it.
So a few people in this world are heretics because they don't believe in gods, but also they don't believe in...anything. To them reality is a lie, life is a lie, time is a lie, etc. We get a lot of characters saying very often in this book that this or that "is a lie"... We never get what the truth is though. Or it's very vague and I personally didn't get it.
I mostly see this whole world as Science Fantasy to be honest because too many things are not explained and the only science was "she prayed" or "she did some math and poof a portal to another planet opened" I mean, ok, but I don't buy it so this is science fantasy in my head.

The plot in general did some very cool things I can't say exactly anything of course because spoilers. I was still engaged during the whole book which shows I did like it, even though I'm pointing out a lot of negative things here and I'm sorry but I REALLY LOVE THE MENAGERIE CREW OK ? I NEED A BOOK JUST WITH THEM PLEASE.

I'm guessing a second book is in the works and I'll probably entertain the idea of reading it. In any case I'll try whatever Ada Hoffmann writes next !

First off, can I just say how impressed I was to receive a debut novel featuring an autistic central character written by an autistic writer? So often we get characters who aren’t neurotypical written by those who are and it’s hard to know how well it actually represents them.

As for the actual book:

Many fantasy and science fiction novels these days lack an truly original plot that sets them apart. "Outside" by Ada Hoffmann is NOT one of those novels. It is an utterly remarkable and unique tale. I highly recommend reading it and am really looking forward to what else comes next from the mind of this genuinely talented writer.

Because of its uniqueness, it was an intense read. The technology and world building were completely mind blowing. It was a little hard to wrap my head around at first (a glossary or index would have been great), but the more I read it the more I came to terms with this highly evolved 28th century setting. As someone who is terrified of the robot uprising, it was a little unnerving to read how well AI has wrested control of humans.

"Outside" has a fascinating plot but it often got bogged down in the details, especially at the end. I think this book could have been a lot stronger if it was a tad shorter because it’s got the bones of a unique and fantastic story. In areas it really started to get repetitive and despite what the premise suggests, not a lot actually happens. It’s a shame because the action in this was absolutely stellar.

I don’t mind slow books at all, it was just the repetition that got boring. Plus there was so much that the author hinted at and didn’t explore, or things she didn’t explore enough. If this is going to be a series then I can forgive that but if it’s a standalone novel it’s a little disappointing that so many awesome opportunities were missed. I think that certain elements were meant to go over our heads because the point in those cases was for it to be as overwhelming and unknowing for the reader as it was for the characters. That I’m fine with because it gives the book a unique mythology. It’s the missed opportunities I’m more disappointed about. Still, it was a really compelling book and I have no regrets about reading it. I definitely recommend it for other fantasy and hard science fiction lovers.

My full review can be found on my blog. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Angry Robot for the opportunity to read this outstanding book.

There are so many things to love about this book. Representation is one. The main character, Yasira, a queer POC on the autism spectrum, and a badass scientist as well, The world of Gods and angels instead of AIs and cybernetic minions with a plot that still felt as personal as it did galaxy-threatening. The Outside, which has started driving people mad, and messing with the fabric of reality. If someone asked me to explain it, I might not be able to do it justice, but I loved it. Absolutely inventive and original, as well as believable that in a possible future humanity might worship a supercomputer as a god.

I will admit to it taking longer than I might like for me to connect emotionally to Yasira, but when I did, holy hell. The last third of the book was impossible to put down, and the end made me swipe frantically for more. Shoutouts to Enga and Tiv, two fantastic characters that I couldn't wait to read more about. Sign me up for book two!

Scientist Yasira Shien’s new energy drive should be just what humanity needs to change its future. But she is right to feel something’s wrong, even though all her calculations appear flawless, because when it’s switched on reality warps causing a disaster. Instead of executing Yasira, the AI Gods give her the option of helping them to find her mentor Dr Evianna Talirr who has been declared a dangerous heretic. But as Yasira gradually discovers that all is not as it seems she does not know who to trust.

I have to admit I was more than a little wary of how the Gods would add to a story as a concept. But their inclusion in the narrative made sense, particularly given the way they interface with the human population and the resultant hierarchies of altered human beings who directly serve them. This creates an interesting set of social possibilities and control of human behaviour and their endeavours. This many-layered society, and its accountability to all-powerful beings who can make or break Yasira as they please, all added to the tension of this taut thriller.

There is a great deal of made up technical concepts, which formed and interesting part of the story and blended well with the thriller element of the novel.

The story also creates plenty of opportunities and space for Yasira’s personal development, as she is continually put in situations where she must venture right out of her comfort zone if she is to discover what is really going on and form her own opinions to inform her future actions which potentially run the risk of enduring even more wrath from the Gods.

I would say this is 3.5 stars. I found the concept really interesting and the book is very readable. I appreciate that the author stays just this side of making the science something not understandable. And the parts that are understandable are described as being that way, so the reader knows it’s ok to not try to make sense of it.
The only reason I say it’s 3.5 and not 4 is because it felt very long. For some reason it took me a long time to read and, even though I enjoyed it, it wasn’t a page turner.

Gods, heretics, and an autistic girl cross paths in this thrilling space adventure. Autistic genius Yasira Shien builds a reactor, that could change the human dependency on the gods, and the test run goes very wrong. Then she is recruited by Akavi the Inquisitor for the computer god Nemesis to track down a known heretic and her former mentor Evianna Talirr. Yasira is led on a search for her mentor that makes her question everything she knows including reality itself.
Ada’s universe is well built from the space station at the beginning, to planet surfaces and everything in between. Her craft shines when she is describing the areas affected by Outside and its reality warping effects. I could almost feel the distortion and maddening effects coming off of the pages.
The story changes perspectives between the two main characters though it focuses more on Yasira and her struggles to process the information that is presented to her through her autism. I liked how Ada used the autism to make Yasira feel more real and helped to identify with her and her mental struggles to keep pace with the events around her. Akavi’s character on the other hand is cold and calculating using whatever he can to achieve his goals whether it be emotions, torture, kidnapping, etc, etc. He has times that his former humanity shows through but those are brief. Evianna Talirr is a major character and is the perfect opposite of Akavi, where he is by the book she is free spirited.
Though not the darkest Sci Fi I have read, this one has dark elements to it. There is such a fear around the god Nemesis, being the one that seeks out the heretics to kill them to stop the spread of their heresies using any means available. The angels of Nemesis came across to me as a what the KGB would have been like if they had been given unfiltered access to the data that comes across the internet now.
There is also the sense of hopelessness in confronting the Outside. A force that cannot be explained or controlled where the laws of reality do not apply. The Outside is also known to cause irreversible madness in people how come into to contact with either the Outside or in some cases just the ideas and knowledge of it can led to utter insanity.
Over all this was an engrossing story of a woman’s search for the truth when she is given partial truths from multiple sides. The story has a few twists and turns throughout to keep you guessing. Highly recommended for fans of Science Fiction with a dark twist.

I found the world building quite interesting. Humans now worship God AIs who were created by humans.

Yasira is a brilliant scientist even though she is neurodivergent. Her former mentor, Dr. Talirr, has disappeared. Now, Yasira has used some of the work she and her mentor did on her latest project. Things go badly and Yasira is now in trouble with the Gods.

Yasira is approached by an Angel and recruited to find Dr Talirr. What follows is quite a ride!

I recommend this book to anyone who loves sci-fi and i'm hoping for more books from this author!

I will keep it short because I already spend too much precious time on this book and there are enough reviews online already that have said it all. There were lots of great ideas that caught my interest in the first place and I marked some quotes I really enjoyed and loved. But all the good stuff drowned in endless repetitions, lots and lots of unnecessary length and characters that were SO annoying and unlikeable. So I get it, people think this book is oh so diverse, because the protagonist is an autistic genius woman in a lesbian relationship and with a darker shade of skin, but she is also whiny all the time, gets played like a puppet and doesn't see it (what a genius she is) and I was just annoyed by her all the time. I'd rather read more about the story of the AI's who turned gods than of Yasira and that tentacle-other-universe-stuff. In fact the only reason I continued reading was my interest in the AI's and Akavi, but disappointingly Akavi, who should be kind of an emotionless Cybernetic, turned into an all so human sociopath who enjoys torture and so on. So that was that.
Maybe readers who like to read H.P. Lovecraft (I don't) will enjoy this book more. I had a hard time finishing it.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and Angry Robot for this ARC ***

This one was a struggle to get through. The writer definitely has skill, but I just couldn't get into the story or the characters, making the book seem incredibly long.

I was very excited by the premises of this book ; its beginning (aside from one point, see below) was really good. In fact I read with pleasure most of the book before losing patience and interest.
Why, it's rather difficult to say, probably because the story in itself didn't manage to be good enough to make up for the points which annoyed me...

The story is original for its setting which was the reason why I read eagerly for a while. The idea of overpowering IA which have became gods was great and well defined. I like the organisation of it all, the hierarchy, all had a real potential (even if the mix between ruthlessness and cuteness - the relation between the angel and its sbires, which could have fit a romance - wasn't completely convincing). Some aspects were a bit botched, as the various references to things that exist in our daily lives but couldn't possibly exist in this kind of faraway diasporic futur (some details, but the kind that always grates on me, as it snatches me from the story), but still, a satisfying reading.

The enfolding of the story was good, if a bit repetitive, especially as repetitions didn't manage to explain anything clearly about the Outside (mind you, it's possible that the problem was because I didn't understood it, couldn't understood it, but the result was the same for me). The spooky part was also good, strongly reminding me of the Stranger Thinks's series.

What I didn't like since the very beginning and what bored me in the long run was the heroine. As a classical heroine she would have be convincing, nice, decent and courageous. But as a supposedly genius, in the autistic spectrum, she sounded completely wrong to me.

To begin with, what are the chances that these distinctions and terminologies for neurotypes would be in use in such a distant futur? Absolutely none to my point of view, especially to be exactly as we consider them now, in our interested but not specialised kind of way. Well, I may be wrong, maybe the author knows much more about the question as I do, but still, the manner to insert autistic particularities in the book had for me a strong flavour of "autism for the dummies". Not bad, but basic and incomplete. For instance a lot of efforts are made to explain about the manner autistic person view the world via their senses (which is easily uncomfortable even insufferable because of an extreme hyper sensibility to sensations, to begin with). But between each scene, it seemed that it was forgotten, Yasira seemed pretty neurotypical for me. Another point irked me: speaking about autism being a pathology. Most (and maybe all) high functional autistic persons absolutely don't think about their autism as a handicap but as a difference, and are quite happy to be as they are, just wanting to be considered as a normal, if different, person (see the excellent book of Alexandra Reynaud, "Asperger et fière de l'être: Voyage au coeur d'un autisme pas comme les autres").

Another annoying fact is that she's supposed to be a genius. Alas, apart from an excellent memory and a capacity to analyse and synthesise, skills often found in gifted persons, she didn't seemed exceptionnel to me. Clever, yes, but a genius? No. She was quite your random strong and sensitive random female character (no disdain here, I love these characters!). 

So, the repetitions about Yasira being a genius, and autistic, and a genius, and autistic, etc., annoyed me more and more. Enough that I lost interest for her, and for the story, before the end.

To finish with my recriminations, a last point. Yasira has a lover, Tiv, a nice young woman. No allusion is made about sexuality in the whole book, her choice is exposed as natural and accepted, the world seems - at least ! - accepting and just, which I liked for its natural and simplicity. But I didn't care for the (very probably unintentional, at least I hope!) less-intelligent-than-me-shaming. Each time Yasira's lover is evoked, it's with the two words: "good girl". A good girl, good with gods (which the heroine isn't, as she repeats over and over). I don't know if it's the automatic French translation which makes is so wrong and dismissive to me ("brave fille", "gentille fille"), but I couldn't help reading between the lines : "Of course she's so much less clever than I am, because of me being a genius and her being a normally clever person but, she's nice ; yes quite nice ; a good girl ; really, a good girl"). What didn't help was that their interactions were very basic, very mundane, with no insightful and personal conversations, just basic-fits-all exchanges. Their relation wasn't touching, except for the dramatic situation.

So I stopped reading at 78 %, after having read: "While Tiv waited, patiently, the way good girls waited": : enough was enough! I understood that Yasira was supposed to be touched be Tiv kindness and goodness, but this emphase about Tiv being (just?) a "good girl" finished me off. A shame...

I received an ARC of this Angry Robot book via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. My opinions are my own :-)

Autistic writers are severely underrepresented in SFF, despite the fact that we make up a huge proportion of the fanbase. One could make a case for autistic people being absolutely foundational in SFF--we are often the super-fans, in this genre. And yet, as far as I am aware, no autistic SFF writers are published by the Big 5. (I would absolutely love to be corrected on this--let me know if I've overlooked somebody.)

We seem to find better representation with independent presses, and Angry Robot in particular have a pretty good track record for publishing neurodiverse writers. I'm always keen to see more ownvoices autistic novels out there, though, and when I heard that Angry Robot were putting out a Lovecraft-influenced space opera featuring an #ownvoices autistic protagonist, I jumped straight on it.

Please note, this review contains minor spoilers, especially towards the end of the review.

###

"The Outside" follows Dr. Yasira Shein, an autistic scientist existing in a far-future space faring society. The setting is a good one, bordering on science-fantasy: humanity created powerful AI, who "ascended" to godhood and decided to take over. Y'know, for humanity's own good, and all that. With a rather Machiavellian flair, they legitimised their control by building a religion around it, one which draws heavily on Judeo-Christian terms (eg, angels) aspects but isn't shy of borrowing from a myriad of other influence.

It's an odd juxtaposition, especially considering the hard scifi feel to much of the narrative, but works well for both obscuring certain technological explanations, and gives a believable framework for why the general population put up with such a disadvantageous situation.

Feeding into the concept of angels, religion, and technological prayers is the darker concept of heresy (a word that invariably gives me 40k flashbacks, but that's no bad thing.) Much of the book centres on the efforts of various characters to contain the spread of heresy, in this case referring to psychological and metaphysical influences from a force that exists "outside" of known time and space (where the novel draws its title from.)

To shortcut for the sake of review, the concept of Outside is very similar to Lovecraftian lore: an existence or understanding beyond human ken, that defies the laws of physics and nature. It's tied into the idea that reality is mostly illusion and perspective, and interacting with this force has a tendency to drive people insane. Even when it doesn't, the AI gods are not keen on its subversive nature, and do their best to stomp out anything remotely heretical. Suffice to say, the setting was a huge plus for me. I have a quiet fondness for religion of any kind in a scifi setting, and a lasting fondness for all things Lovecraft inspired.

Back to Yasira, before you forget about her! I don't want to go in-depth with plot spoilers, as that's not the sort of review I tend to write. The main thrust of the conflict is that Yasira unintentionally kicks off a heretical "incident" and rather than put to death, they put her to use: she therefore becomes caught up in the gods' efforts to stomp out certain Outside influences, which they've been struggling to contain. The person at the heart of this heretical contamination is none other than Yasira's former academic mentor, Dr. Talirr.

Naturally, the gods are far from completely honest, and it quickly becomes apparent that they are more concerned with maintaining control, even at the expense of human life. The more Yasira is drawn into their schemes, the more disillusioned she becomes. On the other side, Dr. Talirr is attempting to wield the forces of the Outside to fight the gods, who are responsible for abuse she suffered as a child, and who quietly oppress the population they rule. She spends much of her time trying to recruit or influence Yasira from afar, though she has ways and means to be "present" in the novel (I'll refrain from saying too much here.)

There's an underlying nod here to the abuse experienced by autistic children who are forced to undergo ABA, which is a type of "therapy" designed to train autistic traits away in the name of making us seem more neurotypical. (If you're not familiar with this history, a quick google search on ABA and PTSD will bring you up to speed.)

Against that backdrop, you might expect Dr. Talirr to be the obvious good guy character, a sort of Han Solo esque figure who shows Yasira the "truth" about the proverbial evil empire. But in fact, Talirr is a secondary antagonist--and I think this is one of the strengths of the novel. Her history and experiences have warped her worldview, shaping her into a person who is as dangerous and twisted as the angels she is fighting, and as indifferent to the lives of other humans. Although she does have truths to reveal and lessons to teach, her cause isn't just, and her goals are unpleasant.

Because both Yasira and Talirr are on the spectrum, the novel offers an interesting and nuanced examination of a particular spectrum trait--the tendency to see issues in black and white. Talirr's tendency has been exacerbated because of her experiences, and people are either on her side or against her; right, or wrong; useful, or expendable. Challenging the gods is valid, as is Talirr's pain, but her methods and motivations are fundamentally selfish, and she lacks--or rather, has lost--the ability to consider the situation in shades of grey.

I don't really want to make this about me, but I do feel compelled to mention that learning to see situations in shades of grey has been one of the biggest challenges of my adult life re autism. It's a point of view that affects every discussion, argument, conversation, relationship, political stance, life goals, on and on. I found Hoffman's exploration thoughtful and interesting.

Yasira therefore ends up in a situation where she is offered two extremes to a very serious problem, and neither are the correct option. There are no good choices. This is on top of the other issues she faces in the novel--loss of friends, livelihood, girlfriend, and the enormous stress the situation puts her in, all of that exacerbated for someone who is autistic.

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

In brief summary: The Outside's influence is spreading across a certain planet. Not everyone dies, and sometimes the effects are bordering on beneficial, but Yasira believes very strongly that it isn't fair to inflict such changes on people without their consent, and her argument for that is persuasive. Besides, the loss of life and madness experienced by others is inarguably problematic.

The gods/angels want to squash the problem in any way possible, even if that means killing thousands of people. Talirr wants to bring the gods down, even if it means ruining the lives of thousands of people.

Yasira's solution is to reject both of the extremes offered, and cobble together her own half-way point. I don't want to give explicit spoilers (leave SOMEthing for those who have read this far!) but the underlying premise of her solution is communication and connection. Allowing empathy to shape the Outside, and using communication to break gods' stranglehold. When people connect, talk, and share, they are stronger for it in a myriad different ways; not only as individuals, but politically and socially. This is a reoccurring theme in the novel (especially with the 'gone' people, who I won't get into here--talking with people who communicate in different ways from us.)

There is something fundamentally brilliant about an ownvoices autistic character choosing connection and communication as her solution, in both a literal and metaphorical sense. Much of autistic life is spent trying to connect and communicate with other people, and perhaps more than many allistics, we are acutely aware of the painful need to make ourselves heard and understood. And what an empowering experience it can be to finally wield your voice. Connection is powerful--literally for Yasira, but all people everywhere, too.


WRAP UP

I did enjoy the book very much but--and here is where we get into subjectivity--my science education and understanding is pretty poor, so there was some stuff which went way over my head, especially early on. Talirr was the most interesting character to me, and I would have liked to see more of her and less of Akavi, but that's again a subjective preference. Still, the novel is overall a very strong read, especially in a sub-genre I don't often feel gripped by (space opera) and I would very much recommend it to SF fans, and especially for any autistic SFF fans who might enjoy a bit of well-deserved (and well written) representation.

A space opera-cyberpunk-godpunk thought experiment of a novel, with a neuro-atypical heroine and some ridiculously characteristic aliens-- what's not to love? Full review at <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blogposts/reviews/bookreviews/theoutsideadahoffman/">Skiffy and Fanty.</a>

The Outside by Ada Hoffmann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

You know those times when you're super anxious about new (to you) authors you request on Netgalley just by the looks of the cover?

Yeah, well, I think I've just found my second squeeworthy book for the year and I'm going to say just this one thing:

If there's any justice in the world, this book is going to get nominated and rise to the very top of the hopefuls for 2020's Hugo Awards for best novel.

Wow, right? Like, WHY?

It tickled ALL my hot buttons. I'm a superfan of good science, Hard-SF beautiful explorations, quantum computer AIs ascended to gods, and Outsider coolness that quacks like a Cthuhlu duck, walks like a Cthuhlu duck, and chatters with insanity in your ears with hundreds of tentacles and eyes as you just fall down the hole of imaginary numbers made real.

Oh, it has a great autistic scientist female in the lead, engaging in a cat-and-mouse chase with her old advisor who is guilty of unconscionable crimes against humanity and is a heretic of the AI gods.

Who is good and who is bad? Can she trust anyone? Is reality even what it seems?

Oh, yeah. This is the cat's meow. It has all the best features of Yoon Ha Lee's Machineries of Empire with a very different kind of story and flavor. Tentacles, madness, living alien spacecraft, altered reality, timey-wimey stuff... you name it, this has it. :)

AND I JUST EAT THIS STUFF UP. This is easily one of the two most squeeworthy SF's of the year and now I'm a life-long fan of this author.

*Squeedance* *Squeedance*

Let's get this one READ and talked about, folks!!!

Whew, this is some mind-bendy super interesting science fiction! I’ve only read a little Iain M. Banks, but this kind of high concept SF with BIG AIs playing a major role in the story - Banks’s Player of Games kept coming back to me as I read The Outside (in a cool way, not a derivative way).

I really enjoyed the future setting here: the singularity has happened in the past, and now there are basically AI Gods. Humans are expected to worship/obey them, tech is restricted, there are varying levels of AI-human splicing, resulting in varying levels of dedication to the Gods. It’s a really fun sandbox to play in.

Then I really liked how the author plays with what could be called magic - but still makes it science. I can’t talk about it too much without spoilers, but it’s a mystery that kept me turning the pages, dying to know what was going on.

I really liked how neurodivergent characters were centered in this book. I also liked that we have two female autistic characters whose experiences/orientations to the world are different - it’s not like there is one autistic way to experience the world, and that’s reflected here.

This is a really original debut SF novel. I’m very curious if the author will write more in this setting (it definitely left the door open) because I would certainly read more!

Everyone seems to be making this huge deal about the main character being an autistic queer female, and that's great and all, but the overall story didn't do much for me. Honestly the main character got on my nerves with all her introspection. Overall it fluctuated between 2 and 3 stars for me.

The story was decent, my favorite parts were of the Gods and Archangels, especially Enga. I'd probably read the sequel just to read more from their point of view.

It started out strong and interesting, and it kept a good pace for most of the book but by the end it felt like it fizzled and dragged it's feet.

Overall it was pretty good, but by the end I was ready for it to be over so I could move on to something else.

I think...I think this is my new favourite sci-fi? Like, ever?

There are precisely zero (0) things to hate about THE OUTSIDE. It's an exceptionally clever plot, though it never felt too over-complicated, with unseen mechanical gods and a hierarchy of half-human angels and a spreading madness that warps the very fabric of reality. The scale is massive, yet what THE OUTSIDE does best is combining this universe-shattering vastness with real human moments. Because it wasn't just the worldbuilding that blew me away; the characters were phenomenal.

The protagonist is Yasira, a young prodigy who finds herself at the centre of this struggle after her heretical mentor, Dr Talirr, goes rogue. Surrounding her is Akavi, an angel determined never to be seen as kind, and his underlings, including the too-good-for-this-world Elu and the hilariously blunt Enga. The dynamics of these two sides---led by Dr Talirr and Akavi---were particularly fascinating, because the good/bad dichotomy was never truly clear. I hated and loved them, often in equal measures...although I think deep down, I wanted *everyone* to succeed? Except maybe Nemesis? Plus, it was so refreshing to read a story about a queer, autistic heroine in SCI-FI!

As I read, I realized I had no idea what was going to happen until about 99% into the book. It never slows down, keeps twisting, and explores everything from power structures to free will. Just trust me on this: it's SO GOOD. Such a promising start to a new series (oh yes, it's a series. And you can bet I'll be getting the sequel when it releases). If you've got any inclination towards science fiction, do yourself a favour and read THE OUTSIDE. Easy 5/5 stars from me.