July 1, 2023
The planet Jai has one week until a vengeful rogue AI God arrives to destroy it. The established Gods have abandoned Jai and will not be providing protection. Yasira Shien and her allies are exhausted, and even with their reality-bending Outside powers, their situation is dire. That is, until their missing professor walks into their hideout, offering both a time-travel portal and terrible insights into how to defeat the Gods. This final book in Hoffmann's Philip K. Dick Award--nominated series "The Outside" (following The Fallen) explores compassion, the limits of leadership, and the challenges of confronting grief and the unknown. Glimpses into the history of the Gods are haunting. Nancy Wu's narration style is staccato but distinctive, chopping sentences into short bursts that skillfully echo Yasira's fractured personalities. Each character is voiced with a distinct accent and given a subtly different narration style when their point of view takes center stage. One small quibble: though the text uses capitalized personal pronouns to refer to a God, this device is unclear in audio, occasionally making for moments of confusion. VERDICT A highly recommended conclusion, especially for series fans and for collections where philosophy and sci-fi are popular.--Katherine Sleyko
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