Welga Ramirez, executive bodyguard and ex-special forces, is about to retire early when her client is killed in front of her. It’s 2095 and people don’t usually die from violence. Humanity is entirely dependent on pills that not only help them stay alive, but allow them to compete with artificial intelligence in an increasingly competitive gig economy. Daily doses protect against designer diseases, flow enhances focus, zips and buffs enhance physical strength and speed, and juvers speed the healing process.

All that changes when Welga’s client is killed by The Machinehood, a new and mysterious terrorist group that has simultaneously attacked several major pill funders. The Machinehood operatives seem to be part human, part machine, something the world has never seen. They issue an ultimatum: stop all pill production in one week.

Global panic ensues as pill production slows and many become ill. Thousands destroy their bots in fear of a strong AI takeover. But the US government believes the Machinehood is a cover for an old enemy. One that Welga is uniquely qualified to fight.

Welga, determined to take down the Machinehood, is pulled back into intelligence work by the government that betrayed her. But who are the Machinehood and what do they really want?

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When I first heard about MACHINEHOOD, the debut novel by S. B. Divya, it took me a moment to realize I had actually read Divya’s novella, RUNTIME. It’s one of the earlier releases from TorDotCom Publishing! My memory is typically garbage, but the overall vibe of RUNTIME left an impression on me, so I was really looking forward to MACHINEHOOD!

And wow, this book is rad as hell! Divya imagines a future that feels simultaneously scary as hell, and entirely possible.

It’s 2095, and the way humans have integrated technology and social media into their lives is…a lot. You can stay in near-constant contact with friends & family. You can have your own personal digital assistant, known as an agent. Tiny swarms of micro cameras can record your every move, and your audience can leave you tips. Which is good, because the world has moved into a gig economy: people might do a handful of unrelated tasks throughout the day, but the work is not guaranteed. Any number of pills can be taken to sharpen your senses, so you can stay competitive with artificial intelligence/machines. These pills can be cooked up in pretty much any kitchen.

Welga Ramirez is an ex-Marine, now working as a shield. It’s essentially bodyguard work, but glammed up a bit. Shields are cognizant of how they look, how they move, how they fight & protect their clients. After all, the world is watching and they’ve got to make those tips. It’s large-scale groups of organized protestors that pose the biggest threat to Welga & her crew. But the arrival of a new & mysterious group known as the Machinehood presents Welga with one of the biggest threats she’s ever known.

This book taps into the very real fear that some people have about sentient AI, as it’s unclear whether there is a human face behind the Machinehood at all. There are some big & heavy themes here, and Divya tackles them head-on. It’s a familiar concept, but one that’s always interesting to think about: if a machine is sentient, does it have rights? How should it be treated?

The scope of this story is quite massive, and delves into everything from addiction, to religion, to abortion, and more.

Welga is a pretty badass protagonist, someone who grew on me more & more as I read. She pushes the limits of what her body can handle to an incredibly dangerous degree, all in an effort to protect her family & the people on her crew. She doesn’t know when to quit, and through Welga, we see how easy it would be to become over-reliant on these pills that make her feel superhuman.

The cast of characters is diverse, with both a prominent nonbinary character & a transgender character. As always, as a cisgender white man, I’m not sure mine should be the loudest voice on the topic of gender, but I was really impressed with what Divya brought to this novel in that regard. The gender of every character is either established in some really clever/sci-fi/tech-y way (basically like if you were wearing a digital name tag and could put your pronouns on it for others to see), or is offered up by the character themself. And if a character’s gender isn’t established, or hasn’t been established yet, then Divya uses they/them pronouns to refer to them.

All in all, this was a very solid sci-fi novel. Some really thought provoking topics are raised, there’s some VERY cool technology at work here, and there’s some wicked action sequences as well. MACHINEHOOD shows us a version of our world where our control over the technology we use has…slipped. And the ramifications of that could cost us dearly.

Massive thanks to Saga Press for the copy!! MACHINEHOOD releases today!