Anax thinks she knows history. Her grueling all-day Examination has just begun, and if she passes, she’ll be admitted into the Academy—the elite governing institution of her utopian society. But Anax is about to discover that for all her learning, the history she’s been taught isn’t the whole story. And the Academy isn’t what she believes it to be. In this brilliant novel of dazzling ingenuity, Anax’s examination leads us into a future where we are confronted with unresolved questions raised by science and philosophy. Centuries old, these questions have gained new urgency in the face of rapidly developing technology. What is consciousness? What makes us human? If artificial intelligence were developed to a high enough capability, what special status could humanity still claim? Outstanding and original, Beckett’s dramatic narrative comes to a shocking conclusion.
This book was more philosophy than dystopia or science-fiction. I found it strange, though intriguing for the most part.
This entire book takes place through an interview, which was a novel approach. Anaximander is interviewing for the Academy, which isn't just a place of study. People prepare for these interviews by becoming experts in one particular subject area. As such, Anax talks, prompted by the examiners, about Adam Forde and one of the first artificially intelligent machines, this one called Art. (I, writing this, just realized that Art might be short for Artificial Intelligence...)
I really enjoyed this set up. In a way, it felt like a podcast or a lecture, and it heightened the tension as Anax was under so much pressure. The examiners prodded her to get more complex answers from her and to encourage her to explain her reasoning.
Anax had supposedly different views on the series of events Adam Forde had been part of, radically different views, and she supported these through making holograms based on real dialogue transcriptions from Adam and Art.
Though we didn't see much directly about Anax, I felt like I got to know her through seeing how she interpreted events differently from those who came before her. She was also the type of person to watch the sunset every day, which makes her a kindred spirit. Her relationship with her mentor was additionally fun.
I loved the ideas presented in this book, especially when Beckett talked about the idea of Ideas being as much a force as humanity. The ending was a lovely plot twist that added dimensions to this book.
For those looking for something philosophical, this book will get you thinking about humanity and how we perceive the world.
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