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booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
*I received a free review copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.
It is wonderful and refreshing to read a story centering on autonomy and personhood which is deeply interested in erring on the side of expanding those definitions. WORLD RUNNING DOWN is about a trans man with body dysphoria, and an AI with android dysphoria. Valentine is a salvager, working with a partner (Ace) to try and do enough jobs to have the money for citizenship in Salt Lake City, where he can medically transition at last. Osric is an AI who was placed in an android body against his will, sent by his new employer to give Valentine and Ace a job: track down some stolen merchandise. The problems begin in earnest when it turns out the "merchandise" are android sex workers. Just as Osric is starting to get used to having a body, and maybe not mind so much that people assume he's non-sentient like the rest of the androids... it starts to look like maybe that's not an accurate way to describe them either. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the some (or perhaps all) of the androids are sentient, and they don't want to go back to being used and abused.
I appreciate how it's acknowledge specifically that the humans are fine with non-corporeal AI, and corporeal non-sentient androids, but they've tried to dodge the issue of "is a sentient android worthy of basic rights of personhood" by trying very hard to insist that there's no way the programming would let them have independent thought. They've basically avoided the issue rather than dealing with what it would mean if that ever happened. It turns out that the time is now, with Ace and Valentine having to decide whether it makes a difference that the objects they were sent to retrieve have their own ideas about what happens next.
The romance between Osric and Valentine is great, it's intimate without getting explicit. I especially appreciate this dynamic as both characters have complicated feelings about their own bodies, and avoiding specifics about parts seems to be a good storytelling decision here.
Things I love, in no particular order: Valentine in his new clothes; Osric figuring out his body; how Ace's transphobia is handled; the AI Stewards; the pirates.
It is wonderful and refreshing to read a story centering on autonomy and personhood which is deeply interested in erring on the side of expanding those definitions. WORLD RUNNING DOWN is about a trans man with body dysphoria, and an AI with android dysphoria. Valentine is a salvager, working with a partner (Ace) to try and do enough jobs to have the money for citizenship in Salt Lake City, where he can medically transition at last. Osric is an AI who was placed in an android body against his will, sent by his new employer to give Valentine and Ace a job: track down some stolen merchandise. The problems begin in earnest when it turns out the "merchandise" are android sex workers. Just as Osric is starting to get used to having a body, and maybe not mind so much that people assume he's non-sentient like the rest of the androids... it starts to look like maybe that's not an accurate way to describe them either. It's becoming increasingly obvious that the some (or perhaps all) of the androids are sentient, and they don't want to go back to being used and abused.
I appreciate how it's acknowledge specifically that the humans are fine with non-corporeal AI, and corporeal non-sentient androids, but they've tried to dodge the issue of "is a sentient android worthy of basic rights of personhood" by trying very hard to insist that there's no way the programming would let them have independent thought. They've basically avoided the issue rather than dealing with what it would mean if that ever happened. It turns out that the time is now, with Ace and Valentine having to decide whether it makes a difference that the objects they were sent to retrieve have their own ideas about what happens next.
The romance between Osric and Valentine is great, it's intimate without getting explicit. I especially appreciate this dynamic as both characters have complicated feelings about their own bodies, and avoiding specifics about parts seems to be a good storytelling decision here.
Things I love, in no particular order: Valentine in his new clothes; Osric figuring out his body; how Ace's transphobia is handled; the AI Stewards; the pirates.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexism, Sexual content, Slavery, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal death, Deadnaming, Physical abuse, and Cannibalism
ash_hernick's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Are you interested in reading about the philosophical debates around artificial sentience? Fights (and treaties!) with motorcycle-riding religious pirates? The desert wastes of an almost post-apocalyptic Utah? Maybe you're just looking for a sweet romance between a trans man and his AI boyfriend? If any of these piqued your interest, then "World Running Down" is perfect for you!
"World Running Down" by Al Hess is a lovely story about Valentine, a trans man, and Osric, an AI trapped in an android body, traveling together through the ruins of a run-down, near-future Utah. Valentine's a scavenger, trying to get together enough money from doing odd jobs to get a visa so that he can live in a city and finally transition the way he wants to. He's traveling with another scavenger, Ace, and together the two go from town-to-town picking up jobs and studying for the inevitable citizenship test they'll have to take if they get their visas. While stopping in a settlement one day, Valentine meets Osric, a person from the city sent as a messenger to tell the two scavengers about a job from a high-paying client. Oh, and Osric's also a Steward (one of the city's AI guardians) illegally trapped in an android body.
There was so much I loved about this book. I'm always a sucker for discussions of what qualifies as artificial intelligence and sentience, and "World Running Down" explored these ideas in a way that was thoughtful and felt natural. I loved the conversations between Valentine, Osric, and various androids and Stewards about sentience. This book was such a refreshing read and reminded me thematically of "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" (one of my favorite recent speculative releases) in a lot of ways, although the stories themselves are very different. I think it's that both books handle discussions of AI and sentience in similarly compelling ways.
I also thought the romance between Val and Osric was sweet and built up well within the narrative. It didn't feel instalovey at all to me, but it's also clear that a spark was there from the beginning, and Hess develops that attraction well. I also loved how the Valentine and Osric are able to connect to each other through the idea of both being "in the wrong body" in a sense - Val wishes he had a more traditionally cis masculine form, and Osric has never been in a humanoid body before. I wouldn't have made that connection on my own, but the way the two talked about their experiences felt natural and made a lot of sense with the internal logic of the world.
On the topic of Valentine's trans identity - sometimes Valentine experiences transphobic microaggressions, and there are references to explicit transphobia off-page, but I appreciated that Hess's depiction of both felt respectful and purposeful. Sometimes Valentine is misgendered on-page, but he always steps up and tries to shut it down as soon as he can, or another character steps forward to support him. Most people he encounters are actually accepting of his gender identity, and if they misgender him initially, it's an accident, and they switch to the correct pronouns and name for him as soon as they learn they've made a mistake. It's even a major plot point that the central city in the novel offers HRT and gender-affirming surgeries to its citizens, covered under the city's healthcare plans. Fair warning that Val does bind with bandages/tape sometimes in the novel, but I really can't blame him - man's essentially living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Overall, all of the author's choices around displaying the transphobia (or lack thereof) that Valentine experiences throughout the novel felt purposeful and realistic. Obviously, Utah as a futuristic desert wasteland full of wandering pirates and androids isn't exactly realistic - but each instance felt like it made sense within the greater understanding of the story.
In general, I was just ecstatic to see such a well-developed gay and trans character in a well-written romance with an equally well-developed gay character. They were wonderful.
With all my praise of it, you probably won't be surprised to here that there wasn't much I disliked about this novel. Mostly, I wished there'd been more of it! I did feel like there were some plot points that weren't fully resolved, or ideas that weren't wrapped up completely, but none of these were major in the grand scheme of the story. There were moments when I wished I'd gotten to learn a little more about the history of the futuristic world Valentine and Osric lived in, but again, this had no bearing on the main plot.
I'm definitely going to be recommending this book to friends! As I was reading it, I already had a mental list going of the people in my life who I thought would love it. Definitely pick it up if you're interested in reading a character study of a trans man doing what he can to transition in a falling-apart world, or if you're looking for a queer romance against a speculative near-futuristic setting. Even if you're just looking for another quick read about AI, this could be the book for you! I cannot recommend it enough.
Are you interested in reading about the philosophical debates around artificial sentience? Fights (and treaties!) with motorcycle-riding religious pirates? The desert wastes of an almost post-apocalyptic Utah? Maybe you're just looking for a sweet romance between a trans man and his AI boyfriend? If any of these piqued your interest, then "World Running Down" is perfect for you!
"World Running Down" by Al Hess is a lovely story about Valentine, a trans man, and Osric, an AI trapped in an android body, traveling together through the ruins of a run-down, near-future Utah. Valentine's a scavenger, trying to get together enough money from doing odd jobs to get a visa so that he can live in a city and finally transition the way he wants to. He's traveling with another scavenger, Ace, and together the two go from town-to-town picking up jobs and studying for the inevitable citizenship test they'll have to take if they get their visas. While stopping in a settlement one day, Valentine meets Osric, a person from the city sent as a messenger to tell the two scavengers about a job from a high-paying client. Oh, and Osric's also a Steward (one of the city's AI guardians) illegally trapped in an android body.
There was so much I loved about this book. I'm always a sucker for discussions of what qualifies as artificial intelligence and sentience, and "World Running Down" explored these ideas in a way that was thoughtful and felt natural. I loved the conversations between Valentine, Osric, and various androids and Stewards about sentience. This book was such a refreshing read and reminded me thematically of "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" (one of my favorite recent speculative releases) in a lot of ways, although the stories themselves are very different. I think it's that both books handle discussions of AI and sentience in similarly compelling ways.
I also thought the romance between Val and Osric was sweet and built up well within the narrative. It didn't feel instalovey at all to me, but it's also clear that a spark was there from the beginning, and Hess develops that attraction well. I also loved how the Valentine and Osric are able to connect to each other through the idea of both being "in the wrong body" in a sense - Val wishes he had a more traditionally cis masculine form, and Osric has never been in a humanoid body before. I wouldn't have made that connection on my own, but the way the two talked about their experiences felt natural and made a lot of sense with the internal logic of the world.
On the topic of Valentine's trans identity - sometimes Valentine experiences transphobic microaggressions, and there are references to explicit transphobia off-page, but I appreciated that Hess's depiction of both felt respectful and purposeful. Sometimes Valentine is misgendered on-page, but he always steps up and tries to shut it down as soon as he can, or another character steps forward to support him. Most people he encounters are actually accepting of his gender identity, and if they misgender him initially, it's an accident, and they switch to the correct pronouns and name for him as soon as they learn they've made a mistake. It's even a major plot point that the central city in the novel offers HRT and gender-affirming surgeries to its citizens, covered under the city's healthcare plans. Fair warning that Val does bind with bandages/tape sometimes in the novel, but I really can't blame him - man's essentially living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Overall, all of the author's choices around displaying the transphobia (or lack thereof) that Valentine experiences throughout the novel felt purposeful and realistic. Obviously, Utah as a futuristic desert wasteland full of wandering pirates and androids isn't exactly realistic - but each instance felt like it made sense within the greater understanding of the story.
In general, I was just ecstatic to see such a well-developed gay and trans character in a well-written romance with an equally well-developed gay character. They were wonderful.
With all my praise of it, you probably won't be surprised to here that there wasn't much I disliked about this novel. Mostly, I wished there'd been more of it! I did feel like there were some plot points that weren't fully resolved, or ideas that weren't wrapped up completely, but none of these were major in the grand scheme of the story. There were moments when I wished I'd gotten to learn a little more about the history of the futuristic world Valentine and Osric lived in, but again, this had no bearing on the main plot.
I'm definitely going to be recommending this book to friends! As I was reading it, I already had a mental list going of the people in my life who I thought would love it. Definitely pick it up if you're interested in reading a character study of a trans man doing what he can to transition in a falling-apart world, or if you're looking for a queer romance against a speculative near-futuristic setting. Even if you're just looking for another quick read about AI, this could be the book for you! I cannot recommend it enough.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Medical content
Moderate: Deadnaming, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Transphobia, Violence, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Dysphoria, and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Kidnapping