Beyond the Burn Line

A sort of parts collection of familiar themes: Planet of the Apes, post apocalypse, and evil computer on a spaceship; but lots of unique things going on here too. We start out in the first half only guessing what's going on (we're not even sure of the physical form of our characters). We get only bits and pieces from some successor to humanity, after some calamity of global warming and/or the eruption of Yellowstone. It becomes clear with reveals, which can be guessed, and we do get an info dump (unlike many folks, I should note, I am not anti-info-dump) way into the 2nd section, which is a distinct narrative. What's really notable to me about the book, in addition to the unique ideas or combination of ideas, is a recurring theme of cults, conspiracy theories, and who or what is really trustworthy. Who is skewing the truth? There's even a charismatic cool-aid cult leader along the way. A theme very apropos for out times. Kudos to McAuley for working this in, it made the book for me. Although I'm a little ambiguous about the ending, which is weak with a pointless cliffhanger, but, you read it: recommend.