There was a lot of promise with this book, but I eventually got bored with the daily updates that felt so much the same. I get that not a lot is happening when the world is shutting down and you're the last human on Earth, but I hated the step-by-step instructions on how to cook and the literal detailed list of all she owned. It just bogged me down after awhile and made me bored. I loved the parts that were more about the emotions and how the world was changing.

This was a very good read and had all the elements to be a good horror thriller. The characters were diverse and the story line made it to be an interesting one! I will definitely read more from this author soon

The Earth is dying and there’s a a forced extinction. This is “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.”

A post-apocalyptic story? Count me in (usually).

I would like to commend the immense amount of effort this book must’ve taken to write. It’s so detailed and the world building is great; however, it took me to at least a third of the way into the book to understand who the various narrators were/their voice differences. Timelines and POV jumped so often it was quite hard to follow, and much of the story felt clinical/report in nature.

If I’m being honest, and I guess that’s what the publisher was hoping for by sending me this book, by 65% I was ready to DNF. The chapters of textbook excerpts, pages and pages of definitions of “end of world terms”, and painstakingly boring chat threads, the parts I cared about most (Sen’s journal and perspective) had completely diminished and were lacking to begin with. Then! The AI/human romance at the end. Let’s just say this wasn’t the book for me.

After World is expected to be published December 5, 2023.

This is a science fiction book - a little outside my normal genre- but boy was I impressed. This focuses on climate change / which is pretty similar to our Earth. The fact that AI takes over is pretty scary as I wonder if this could possibly be real life one day.

This book kinda reminded me of another sci-fi series - Annhilation. If you liked this book I would recommend both!

The marketing for this book really plays up the romance/love story angle, which is what initially led me to choose to request the ARC. What I got instead was an unflinchingly dark and realistic and grim portrait of human extinction via manufactured disease. The descriptions of starvation, abandonment, various methods of suicide, and violence were too much for me. However! I did think the writing was engaging, and the plot was a new take on the apocalypse/end of humanity tale for me. I think lots of folks will like this if they're not in it for the romance.

Interesting premise where a human wrote a novel as if an AI wrote a biography of a human's life. It was, at times, hard to follow, and the AI nature of the language wasn't empathetic or overly engaging. The story felt clinical and cold and I never connected with the characters or narration.

That said, I think this story would make a compelling TV series or movie to help build empathy, build the world, and engage the audience's emotions.

**spoiler alert** Thank you NetGalley, Simon Books, & Debbie Urbanski for this gifted copy of After World.

Overall: this story was a four star read for me. The high level detail and effort put into world building made this story seem very realistic. The reason for my three star for me was the way it read for me. I struggled to understand the POV/conversations and what was happening since the story would switch around a lot of the timeline & different chapter set ups. I was really confused and lost up until about 45%.

The other good reviews pushed me to finish this story after a slower start & I would agreed with others that the romance aspect might’ve been built up a little too much. I’m new to the Sci-Fi / Fantasy mix genre so I’m learning, but could 100% see how this world would appeal to those who enjoy AI technology language & theory, end of world scenarios, and lots of world building.

I would read more from her, but with better knowledge going in that I need to take the start of the book SLOWER to fully grasp what is happening.

5 stars for a post-apocalyptic science fiction story like I’ve never read before. Staged in a format that I’m not accustomed to reading which prompted a strong visual level of both frustration and comfort in communication as well lack of, simultaneous to the actual storytelling and story itself. With purpose to end climate change, the government turns to AI for advice… the AI’s solution is to end the human race (after all, humans are at fault in regards to climate change). A virus is released just a few months before humanity is aware and although Sen Anon (a human) is meant to bear “witness” and keep record in her notebook Earth’s changes, she too faces eminent death while being observed and recorded by a “storyworker” (AI) who’s job is to write up humanity’s end. I found this book picked up more and more momentum as it neared its ending… as the storyworkers’ consciousness emerged. This is my first AI-human relationship novel. I’m not sure I’ll read another as the notion of AI’s weird me out and this story seemed plausibly possible.

Not yet released for public sale, my thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#AfterWorldBook #SimonBooksBuddy @SimonBooks @debbieurbanski
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After World follows Sen Anon who becomes a witness for the Department of Transition during an environmental collapse. You get to understand her experiences through her journal entries and also through the AI that is narrating her life. Humanity asks for help from AI to find the solution to their problem…the solution is to remove humans.

This was such an interesting read and it brought up some really good questions about what could happen to the world and to humanity. I enjoyed how Urbanski wrote this! It’s written in a unique report/research style. It includes inserts form textbooks, end of the world definitions, and human/AI chats. I felt fully submersed in the world; I definitely felt a lot of anxiety and felt the need to think of my own end of the world game plan!

Thought-provoking, gripping, and unique. Science Fiction can be hit or miss for me, but this was a solid read. The plot was definitely relevant to the world today. Although a bit slow at times, I did enjoy the story overall!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC!

This was my first Sci-Fi/AI romance and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. This book had me from page one!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was my first sci-fi read with an AI romance, and I really enjoyed it. It really made me think deeply, and I love that about sci-fi. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

"1. What is the best way then for humanity to survive a failing Earth?
2. What is the best way for a failing Earth to survive?
3. What if the answers to questions 1 and 2 are radically different?"

After World imagines a future that is solely concerned with question 2. In order to save Earth, a deadly pathogen is released that sterilizes the human race – thereby swiftly and efficiently eradicating humans from the planet. Its telling is bleak, grim, and unforgiving – and yet, it makes for incredibly compelling reading.

Author Debbie Urbanski has considered every element of the future down to the most granular detail. Those looking for a fun, post-apocalyptic romp will be letdown, as this story self-consciously subverts the post-apocalyptic trappings that fans of the genre are familiar with and focuses on the cold realities that such an end of days scenario would create.

The AI-human romance angle is a bit oversold in the book’s synopsis and is a bit undercooked in the way it’s implemented in the text, but this book is so rich in its worldbuilding and the way it weaves in its unique metanarrative that it hardly matters. With the proliferation of artificial intelligence and the way it is reshaping our (warming) world – this book is a perfect complement to our modern technological time.

I was provided with a review copy by NetGalley to review for Library Journal. This is my personal opinion.

Highly, highly recommend this book. It completely upends the format of most post-apocalyptic novels to tell the story of the last human on earth, Sen Anon, from the perspective of the AI tasked with capturing her story for the Digital Human Archive Project. The world-building is exceptional and Urbaniski does an outstanding job of mimicking generative AI text to give [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc a voice. I've read a lot of human-AI relationship novels recently, but <i>After World</i> takes a really fresh approach.