Beautiful Shining People: The extraordinary, EPIC speculative masterpiece…

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That there are other people out there who have the same thoughts and fears about the direction the world is taking and what could be looming in the future but, whilst these concerns are real and profound, that there is still a thread of hope that runs through it all and that, if we stick together, we can make the future better if we learn from the past. There is so much I would love to say about this book, and about John and Neotnia, and just why it hit me right in the feels, but that would be a huge spoiler, so I’ll let you find out for yourself when you read it. While there are certainly international tensions - in fact, John’s father lost his life a few years back while working as a medic during a war in Angola - at the time and place the story is set, things are more or less business as usual. His behaviour brought a smile to my face, and the way that the author used him and the small, perfectly coiffed dog, Inu, to create such a vivid contrast is striking and very effective. That very final scene is perhaps one of the most understated but powerful scenes in the book and it really did make me smile.

As they start to navigate their relationship and their position in an ever-shifting, precarious world, each of them harbors a secret that they are desperate to keep from the other. The book is set in Japan, in a future a few decades distant, in a world that resembles ours but has moved on so far that parts of it are unrecognisable.I've read several books lately that are set in Japan, current day and/or near future and I have to say they're fast becoming one of my favourite genres. Grothaus has also written widely about cyber ethics, and deep fakes which are part of the plot here, adding a thought-provoking layer to the book which was fascinating. As speculative/sci-fi stories go, it presents a relatively optimistic and soft vision of the future, where robots have relieved humans of menial tasks, as opposed to taking over the creation of art, music, and books, or replacing interaction with other people.

The dog’s wet nose gives a sniff, and it greets me with a double yap that cuts through the chatter from the dining area. Nor is it always the case that someone with a high number of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) will turn to crime and/or develop a severe mental illness - there are so many other factors, such as individual character, or having the right teacher/counsellor/friend/opportunity at the right time, that can alter their path.The descriptions of this futuristic Japan are simply heavenly, and they truly brought this new-but-old world come alive for me. I loved the characters, including Neotnia’s ex-sumo wrestler café owner, Goeido, and his oh-so-weirdly-coifed pet Inu. John might be the only person that can help her discover the truth – about what’s inside, where her missing father went, and who might be looking for them now. There are some big questions that we really need to be wrestling with as our technological progress outstrips our ability to frame ethical boundaries. I love the way every genre blend brings it more and more humanity and it breaks my heart just a little more.

It is a beautiful, emotional and thought provoking read, peppered with action and the thrill of a chase, heavy in technology, but bound by compassion. But these scenes and moments were always very brief and followed by scenes and moments where the story and the characters moved on. By no means is the book fast paced, rather it allows you to immerse yourself into the world that Grothaus has created, deliberating every last word. This is an exception to the usual genres I would read, and at first I was a little sceptical about the robots, technology and AI talk but I’m glad I stuck it out.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Given that AI is a really hot topic at the moment, this is a novel that capitalises on fears and mistrust, yet somehow adds a dimension of normality to a concept that is only just finding its feet. We can spot correlations between certain genes and illnesses, and growing up in challenging circumstances and particular outcomes. The scene then changes repeatedly between Ezra's audition, Ezra taking a selfie with two girls, a young boy showcasing some possible Ezra album cover ideas and two young boys dressing Ezra with a man bag.