“Sometimes being good is the harder choice. But I want to believe it’s the right one.” I stare at my hands. “Maybe there’s more to being a Hero than saving a life or being brave. Maybe being a Hero means knowing how to stop your heart from going dark, even when darkness surrounds you.”
Akemi Dawn Bowman is undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with when she wields a pen. A master of emotions and deep connections, the author has not done anything but charm her way into our hearts since her first novel, Starfish, was published in 2017. Now in 2021, with the release of her fourth YA work, The Infinity Courts, she continues her stellar trajectory taking a completely different turn from what she has been giving us before.
Set to be released on April 6th, The Infinity Courts is the first installment in a sci-fi duology that follows Nami to the afterlife. After being shot while trying to save a little girl from a gas station robbery, Nami discovers that life after death is not as peaceful as everyone thinks it is…at least, not anymore. The afterlife, also known as Infinity, has been taken over by four princes and their queen, Ophelia—the AI that once lived inside everyone’s watch; does she remind you of someone? By stripping people of their consciousness, humans are becoming nothing more than mindless slaves…just as humanity once did with Ophelia. Whether humanity wins, loses, or finds a way to coexist with the AIs is entirely up to Nami, because she is the only human capable of posing as an AI and willing to find common ground.
Artificial intelligence, robots, espionage, an Austenian undertone… one truly could not ask for more. The Infinity Courts goes way beyond the lines of what we could expect. Taking advantage of a dystopic world where the villain is closer to us in real life than we all think—like, seriously, Siri, we love you—Akemi Dawn Bowman dives head first into what it means to be human, both for the best and, sadly yet most importantly, the worst.
In the line of Isaac Asimov’s infamous Robot Series, The Infinity Courts begins a discussion that revolves around the interaction between humans, AIs, and morality: are humans deserving of a peaceful afterlife? Who gets to decide if someone earns a second chance? Are we evil by nature? Are we so self-centered as a species that we cannot coexist with other forms of life—even the artificial ones? And most importantly: is free will the essence of human nature?
All of these questions are encapsulated in the mind of the protagonist, a headstrong lead whose moral compass is iron-willed by her ability to find the good in everyone. Nami Miyamoto, is a marvellously engaging character, who questions everything and everyone. She wants to be a Hero and save the afterlife, but she is also determined to do so on her own terms. And that is a form of strength that is not commonly portrayed in media, as some might read it as naïveté and stubbornness. Nonetheless, those traits make Nami an immensely believable and compelling character that makes her stand out from other YA protagonists. She is the perfect example of how there is also strength in being soft and kind.
Even though it is a sci-fi novel, Akemi Dawn Bowman’s contemporary roots can be read between the lines and it adds a little extra something to the genre. Because The Infinity Courts diverts from the usual scientific theorisation of sci-fi and offers a much more palatable exploration of emotions, the questioning of character morals and an overall examination of the philosophical implications of rational consciousness: what it takes to be human and what feeling human emotions implies. By showing the good and the bad of not only humans, but AIs alike, the reader will even begin to doubt whether humans are the ones to be right.
In a delicious combination of the thought-provoking study of death and humanity like in Neal Shusterman’s Arc of Scythe and the invigorating youthful take on sci-fi dystopia in Marissa Meyer’s The Lunar Chronicles, The Infinity Courts lands in the market as a delightful sucker punch. Question everything. Pick a side…or don’t. And accompany Nami in her quest to save the afterlife and free herself and others from the cages that contain them, so that they can, once and for all, rest in peace.
The Infinity Courts is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of April 6th 2021.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
From award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman comes an incisive, action-packed tale that explores big questions about technology, grief, love, and humanity.
Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years.
The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.
When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that Ophelia, a virtual assistant widely used by humans on Earth, has taken over the afterlife and is now posing as a queen, forcing humans into servitude the way she’d been forced to serve in the real world. Even worse, Ophelia is inching closer and closer to accomplishing her grand plans of eradicating human existence once and for all.
As Nami works with a team of rebels to bring down Ophelia and save the humans under her imprisonment, she is forced to reckon with her past, her future, and what it is that truly makes us human.
