Plague Birds, written by Jason Sanford and published by Apex Book Company is an interesting take on the post apocalyptic sci-fi genre, where after a war that ended 10,000 years prior, humanity is as close to being back to basics as it can be. As a result of gene tampering in the past, a lot of humans are augmented with traits of various animals. The protagonist Crista for instance has a bit of wolf in her, allowing her to track scents, run faster, and react quicker. To some degree her abilities are limited be how much she wills herself to give in to the wolf within her at times risking losing control of herself. Gened individuals often opt to live outside of typical society in their own packs in the wild. Of the humans that live in towns and villages, they live largely without any technology, with the exception of each village having a dedicated A.I.

Crista’s village A.I. is called Blue, and is largely responsible for making sure everyone knows the laws of the land, and humanity’s history, along with keeping the village safe. Blue along with other A.I. can modify memories, tamper with perception, and much more. The “lawkeepers” so to speak are called Plague Birds, and each has their own unique Blood A.I. that prevents them from aging, gives them regenerative capabilities, and can be released to read memories, rewrite memories, and absolutely devastate and destroy any poor soul that breaks laws outside of the scope of villages and their A.I.’s permitted jurisdiction.

This story kept me wanting more (even still now I’m left wanting more… in a good way), full of political intrigue, deception, and absolutely clairvoyant levels of probabilistic deduction. That last bit will make a lot more sense right around the end of the book when you learn more about everything around Crista, her mother, Kenji, Ashdyd, and Red Day. Absolutely worth the read, 9/10 stars.