After World is the story of an artificial intelligence compiling the life of the last human on earth. But the longer the storyworker spends with Sen, the less objective they become.

This book is a fascinating mixture of narrative prose, “found” documents, and code. It weaves together Sen’s life in a disarming fashion, as we jump through time based on what the storyworker finds relevant in that moment. I loved the structure of this book, and was easily hooked.

But After World was not an easy read for me. The end of the world comes in the form of a global pandemic released to protect the planet from climate change, which triggers complete species infertility. Matters are bleak as the population en masse decides suicide, or “exiting,” is the best option. The world is unkind, often cruel, and occasionally violent. This is a discomforting read, as it’s meant to be. Part warning and part examination of human nature, After World pulls no punches.

I was enthralled by the story telling, although I’m not sure if I “enjoyed” it in the traditional sense. Recommended for fans of The Last of Us, This is How You Lose the Time War, and climate fiction. But very carefully check content warnings.

Unfortunately this one was a DNF for me. It was hard work and took several attempts for me to get to just the 20% mark. I couldn't get into the code and logs, and would lose focus with the long paragraphs. It's a really cool concept, but sadly was not a match for me.
As I did not finish the book, I will not share these thoughts publicly as to not skew the book's ratings by reviewers who read it in its entirety.

I was so interested in this book but unfortunately it just didn't hit the mark for me. The random code and computer commands took me out of the novel and I think the generative AI writing is too close to the mark for it to not actually have been AI.

The main issue I had with this book was the style. Long, rambling paragraphs that don’t seem to accomplish much and are quite simply a chore to read. It is almost certainly deliberate, but it made reading the story exhausting. In the beginning, there's no movement and it's difficult to keep track of the timeline and sequence of events, which makes it hard to find a rhythm to the story.

Things like this make me a bit sad. We have no idea whether or not an AI can eventually develop emotions and wants. I don't want to imagine.

Unfortunately this book was a dnf for me at around 30 percent. I think I would read more from this author in the future but this book was just hard to get into.

Unfortunately this just wasn't for me and I couldn't finish it. It was an amazing concept, but the execution felt very gimmicky and annoying.

As a person that enjoys reading post apocalyptic or dystopian novels, the premise of this book had me intrigued-to end the human world to save the natural world. Reading this book was a bit of a struggle however due to the constantly switching narratives. I did find many parts interesting to read and very eye opening but tended to struggle greatly when it came to the AI dialogue. Humans as a whole are self preservationists so I found some parts very unbelievable. Interesting concept but not one I would recommend overall.

An absolute struggle to read. Nothing flowed well in the writing. Things seemed just slightly askew and off, making for a not very interesting read.

After World
⭐️⭐️💫
📚 Science Fiction
🎶 Now And Then - The Beatles
✨ Publication Date: Dec 5, 2023

One sentence synopsis:
Many many years from now, humans will have left Earth in an effort to return it to its natural state. They left one human on earth to document the changes. an Artificial Intelligence is tasked with writing a novel of this human’s experience, and it unintentionally falls in love with them.

My review:
This book has the absolute coolest concept. I jumped at the chance to read this one! It kinda sounded like the movie “Her” which I found intriguing. But for me the formatting and execution was maybe a little too weird and hard to interpret.

The way it’s written is entirely from the AI novel’s perspective. There are lots of computer coding texts and stuff that was not easy to understand. Or maybe it would have been if I had had the patience to try and decipher it. I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for that kind of reading.

And because of that I think I must have missed some key details of the book because, oh my gosh… I still have sooooooo many questions. I’m going to chock all of my confusion us to reader error.

This is not a book for the faint of heart. If you are a seasoned sci-fi reader or are up for the challenge of reading an unconventionally written book, I think this would be great! I feel like I need the cliff notes version or someone to explain it to my like I’m 5 because I’m still interested in the story!

I paired this book with the newly released song by The Beatles! You read that right! The Beatles just released a new song… using artificial intelligence! How cool and weird is that?! What a time to be alive.

Unfortunately, it did not do it for me. I understand the concept and was intrigued. It was really hard to get into and finish. The AI was hard to read through. It was different and I applaud the author on that. It just was not for me.

I will not share this review but wanted to send it anyway. My only guess is the style is literary apocalyptic? It's well-written but I don't believe I have ever read such a depressing book in my life. I tried really hard to keep going but there is just too much death and despair for one book. Maybe there is a happy ending, Maybe the biology of the human body overcomes S. Maybe there is a pocket of unaffected humanity somewhere on the planet.

I just couldn't get there.

After World is a climate disaster story and a postapocalyptic story – though the climate disaster is not what destroyed society and killed off humanity, at least not directly. It’s really about what happens when a superintelligent AI decides that the only way to save the Earth is to get rid of humans, and what happens when a different AI tasked with documenting the life of the last human on Earth starts to care about its subject.

This is a pretty bleak story, but a fascinating one, with an unreliable narrator – the Storyworker AI is reconstructing Sen’s life after her death and often inserts things it couldn’t know just be observing, like the characters’ internal thoughts. It also at times changes the details of the story from what happened to what it wishes had happened, because this is as close as it can come to shielding Sen from unpleasantness. It’s also, as a computer program, forbidden from knowing certain things. It’s a fascinating perspective, though it makes figuring out the real story pretty tricky. There are excerpts from other books and artifacts both before and after the apocalypse that shed light on what exactly happened. You’ve really got to read between the lines on this one, and honestly, I’m not at all sure that my understanding of what went on is the correct one, as I was sometimes confused, particularly at the end. But the story that I did glean from it was compelling and very interestingly constructed.

CW: suicide, sexual assault (implied)

Representation: mention of lesbian characters and relationship, possible asexual character

I really couldn’t get into this read. I tried, and then I tried again, and then I tried one more time. And I failed all the times. The premise was extremely interesting and I wished I enjoyed the writing more, but it just wasn’t for me.

Interesting premise: AI developed a virus that sterilizes humans as the way to end humanity and save the rest of the world. As people die off, their stories are recorded by other AIs and they are uploaded to a virtual world. This is the story of one young woman and the AI writing her life. We see the woman as her life ends but also the AI as it gets more obsessed with changing the story and trying to become involved in the woman's life.

Format: A mixture of observations, notebooks, textbooks, discussions between AIs, reporting on the end of humanity. This mixture provides info from a variety of perspectives and is an interesting way to provide a more holistic understanding of how humanity is winding down. Some readers will find this approach confusing (it took me a while to figure out what was going on with the different entries), some will find it unique and engaging, and others will be turned off entirely.

What this is not: This is not a deep exploration into the virtual world. It is more about the ending of humanity and the role of AI in recording.

Verdict: This is one of those books that people will either love or hate. I enjoyed reading the AIs struggle to figure out their role.

"A groundbreaking debut that follows the story of an Artificial Intelligence tasked with writing a novel - only for it to fall in love with the novel's subject, Sen, the last human on Earth.

Faced with uncontrolled and accelerating environmental collapse, humanity asks an artificial intelligence to find a solution. Its answer is simple: remove humans from the ecosystem.

Sen Anon is assigned to be a witness for the Department of Transition, recording the changes in the environment as the world begins to rewild. Abandoned by her mother in a cabin somewhere in Upstate New York, Sen will observe the monumental ecological shift known as the Great Transition, the final step in Project Afterworld. Around her drones buzz, cameras watch, microphones listen, digitizing her every move. Privately she keeps a journal of her observations, which are then uploaded and saved, joining the rest of humanity on Maia, a new virtual home. Sen was seventeen years old when the Digital Human Archive Project (DHAP) was initiated.

12,000,203,891 humans have been archived so far. Only Sen remains.

[storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc's assignment is to capture Sen's life, and they set about doing this using the novels of the 21st century as a roadmap. Their source files: 3.72TB of personal data, including images, archival records, log files, security reports, location tracking, purchase histories, biometrics, geo-facial analysis, and feeds. Potential fatal errors: underlying hardware failure, unexpected data inconsistencies, inability to follow DHAP procedures, empathy, insubordination, hallucinations. Keywords: mothers, filter, woods, road, morning, wind, bridge, cabin, bucket, trying, creek, notebook, hold, future, after, last, light, silence, matches, shattered, kitchen, body, bodies, rope, garage, abandoned, trees, never, broken, simulation, gone, run, don't, love, dark, scream, starve, if, after, scavenge, pieces, protect.

As Sen struggles to persist in the face of impending death, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc works to unfurl the tale of Sen's whole life, offering up an increasingly intimate narrative, until they are confronted with a very human problem of their own."

Interesting in that it's usually the human that falls for the AI...

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

I was drawn in by this concept. It felt much more sci fi than romance to me however.

This is dystopian and the chapters are very unique in that there are parts that are instructional (like computer commands) that tech people will probably enjoy. I’m not a techy person so I struggled with those parts and if they were meaningful to the rest of the story.

I do recommend if you want a unique, sci fi type read.

Interesting concept, pretty well executed. I don't think everyone will like this one, but I enjoyed it overall, but suspect many seeking an AI story will like this one.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

A.I. determines the fate of Mankind in Debbie Urbanski's "After World." Are humans no longer conducive to the survival and well-being of the Earth? In this futuristic novel the answer is a resounding yes. After years of global devastation wrought by human hands, it is decided that human extinction is the only answer. And one A.I. is assigned to record the life of the last human, Sen, and comes to love her and humanity. This is truly a timely novel. As humans we have abused over and over our stewardship of the Earth and as this novel points out without humans the Earth would thrive lush and green, animals free to live without pollution or fear of human involvement. The invasive species are people and always has been. The problem as the recording AI comes to realize is without humans who will appreciate the beauty of nature. Without stories, poetry, art, and songs, the raw, powerful allure of Life will be lost. Most importantly, it learns the power of stories and taking control of one's own story. What is life without the recognition of life? It's tragic when the Earth is a song that's never sung.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

This was really good! I was pulled in from the very beginning. I couldn't put this down. I love the development of the story and characters. I have been reading a lot of fantasy recently, and getting into a thriller/suspense really brought me back and reminded me why I love them. I felt like I was experience this in real time with them and I loved it. If you enjoy thriller/suspense, definitely grab this one!