Cover Image: A Strange and Brilliant Light: Winner of the Writers’ Guild Best First Novel Award

A Strange and Brilliant Light: Winner of the Writers’ Guild Best First Novel Award

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Member Reviews

I did like this book and especially the ideas of what will happen when everything will be done by robots. Setting it in a made up world removed it a bit from the discussions of AI we currently have, but most of the points hit home. It got me thinking about AI and their impact on our society in the long term.

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"A Strange and Brilliant Light" by Eli Lee is a captivating and thought-provoking debut novel that seamlessly blends science fiction, coming-of-age, and social commentary. Lee's narrative introduces readers to a near-future world where people are connected to a virtual reality called the "Ether." The story follows the journey of Lugh, a young boy whose journey into the Ether takes an unexpected turn.

The novel explores the themes of identity, technology, and the consequences of a digital age where the lines between reality and virtuality become increasingly blurred. As Lugh navigates this changing world, readers are taken on a thought-provoking exploration of the impact of technology on our lives and our sense of self.

Eli Lee's writing is both imaginative and incisive, crafting a narrative that not only enthralls but also challenges readers to question their own relationship with technology. The character of Lugh is relatable and endearing, making it easy for readers to become emotionally invested in his journey.

"A Strange and Brilliant Light" is a timely and relevant novel that offers a unique perspective on the evolving landscape of our digital age. It raises important questions about the price of progress, the nature of reality, and the potential consequences of our growing dependence on technology. For those who appreciate speculative fiction that makes them ponder the future and the human condition, this novel is an illuminating and absorbing read. Lee's ability to blend an engaging narrative with thought-provoking themes makes this debut novel a standout in the genre.

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This book is an in depth examination of AI and how it affects the work force and the human race. It was quite a complex and difficult read and I didn't really connect with it. The chapters are split into 3 different POVs; Janetta, Rose and Lal and while I did like these characters, sometimes it was hard to distinguish who was who. The book was a bit slow and the science was a little too much for me but overall it was an interesting read about AI and what could happen.

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Pace was a bit slow, I wanted a tad more excitement but overall the characters were well rounded and I definitely enjoyed the sci-fi plot

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Sad to say that this was just not the novel for me. I thought the topic would be cool to read about, but I just did not jive with the writing style.

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This novel explores the impact of AI on the future of work and our sense of purpose. It's a thought-provoking and nuanced story focusing on three working-class women who must face the new reality of perpetual modernity as well as a constant threat of artificial intelligence taking over the everyday life.

It's a character-driven narrative that asks the question - can we live in symbiosis with AI? This intriguing, engrossing story poses challenging questions of automation, loss of jobs and the uncertain future among rapidly developing technology.

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Not one for me sadly, just couldn’t get into it, couldn’t connect with the story or characters at all.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

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This is a novel I struggled with. I enjoy literary science fiction but I got confused with the characters though the premise was good.

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I struggled to finish this book, parts were truly fascinating and then other parts didn’t work for me and I struggled to finish.

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I found this story really interesting but somehow I felt a little let down in the end. I think I went into this expecting a lot more on the actual AI front, whereas really it was a focus on the people involved in the situation and their personal experiences. I was curious about the world and the ideas, but it felt like something was missing for me.

Bits I liked:
- diverse characters with an LGBTQIA+ element
- strong social and political elements that felt well explored
- interesting idea of the future with exploration of how real people would be impacted
- believable personal struggles and hopes, with thought-provoking elements and deep questions

Bits I liked less:
- I found a lot of the characters not particularly likeable, apart from one who we actually didn't get to see much of for a while
- more about people than about the AI element itself, though I really liked the choice at the end
- the quote said it was "mind-bending" which I think gave me a different expectation to what the book was really like

Overall I did enjoy the book, but felt left wanting more, and wasn't sure if it was really for me. I like science fiction but feel this was more of a contemporary sociopolitical fiction with sci-fi elements. Well-written and intriguing, just not quite for me.

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Thank you to Quercus Books and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of the debut novel A Strange and Brilliant Light by Eli Lee.

Auts are slowly replacing people in the tasks that they do, and this is where we meet Rose, Lal and her sister Janetta. Lal leaves her managerial role in the store that she works at with Rose to take a job with Tekna who produces all the AI that will replace people in their roles.

As the story progresses we discover how people feel about the auts, and not just about the fact that jobs have been taken away from people. It's about living in a society that is monitored.

Without giving anything away, I really loved that the ending shows that people will do the right thing when it matters most. People do the right thing even under great pressure not to.

I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to reading future books by Eli Lee.

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A poignant and timely look at AI, automation and the world of work. How replacing human workers effects lives is at the forefront of this speculative literary novel. It focusses around three women - the workers who, historically, are most marginalised - and includes some queer representation. These three women offer different viewpoints on and relationships to the AI taking over their world. With very descriptive prose this makes for an interesting book.

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DNF @ 30% - I try my best to finish each book I am offered to review but unfortunately I started this months ago and just couldn't force myself to finish it. I was quite intrigued by the concept of AIs within our society and the conversations around them but this book left me quite bored. I struggled to connect with any of the three main characters. I liked Lal to a certain degree but Rose and Janetta just didn't feel as if their characters had proper depth to them. The book also seemed to go on and on and I was counting the pages until the chapter was over so I could put it down again (which is never a good sign). Overall, this concept had a lot of potential. It might have even worked better as a novella. But ultimately I just could not finish reading this book which is a shame. I will be keeping an eye out for Eli Lee's next project though.

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I never really got into this one I'm afraid. The characters didn't ring true at times and I found it difficult to care about them.

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This book was utterly fascinated. I love science fiction because of its ability to pose ethical questions, and this book absolutely delivers. Thank you for this thought-provoking ARC!

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A novel about automation and AI replacing humans in all areas of work. Centred around three women, Rose who works in a Slurpee store, her friend Lal who used to be the store manager and goes to work for Tekna, the parent company that is busy automating all its workers and Lal’s sister, Janetta working on a PhD studying conscious AI. There’s lots of interesting ideas here, but many of them have been done better elsewhere. I think I would’ve preferred the book to be set in the real world somewhere and not a made up place, more obvious social satire for example.(I did get some The Circle vibes later in the book as Lal gets promoted at Tekna). There’s nothing about the type of government or wider society that they live in, though later there is some nods to the way capitalism throws people on the scrapheap so easily in the name of profit. Overall I felt it was too long and the relationships overdone, I found Janetta an unbelievable character particularly. But it’s not bad, I just wanted more.

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Unfortunately, this was a very forgettable read. It was ok while reading it but a couple of days after I couldn't remember many of the details of the book. It is a very interesting premise but the execution didn't grab me!

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A thought provoking novel which delves into the impact of AI on society. The world in which this tale is set is well drawn and recognisable. The main characters are sensitively portrayed and their relationships explored in detail.

The prose was beautiful, but at times meant the book felt drawn out. I would have preferred more pace. That said I did enjoy the story and it has a fabulous, well considered finale.

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An accomplished narrative with beautiful prose that shows how easy we could step into this dystopian world.

Thought provoking and full of astute observations it follows three main characters and the effects AI has on them.

This is a quiet book but nonetheless powerful.

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I was excited to receive the ARC for A Strange and Brilliant Light – a female-led AI revolution thriller? Count me in! Unfortunately, as with all unknown books I get excited for reading this one was a major let down…

The book starts well, we are introduced to three characters – Lal, Janetta and Rose who are all impacted by the surge in Aut (AI Robot) technology. When auts take over their coffee shop, co-workers Lal and Rose go their separate ways - Lal is promoted to her dream job at a tower block overseeing the aut workload and Rose becomes bitter of the technological presence and meets Alek who wants to change the world. Janetta is Lal’s sister, working on her PHD with the aim of making the auts empathetic. It’s a good premise and there were glimpses of the book I really enjoyed.

I most enjoyed reading chapters from Lal’s perspective – her love of aut technology and her ambition to get a job working at the Technology Tower was interesting. I also loved how shadowy her new job was – with the ethics of working out which branches could lose their human employees, co-workers that refused to speak to her, hard to achieve targets and colleagues disappearing day after day. I really wish more of this could have been explored – it’s a great idea and I would have really enjoyed a sinister twist to have been made in this storyline rather than the vacuous character Lal turned into after her meeting with the top executives.

Rose’s storyline was also frustrating - it was nice to have a character that was afraid of change and suspicious of the aut technology. However, I found her chapters with Alek just sucked all of her personality away and she just became a bit of a sheep and a bit boring. Not much came out of this storyline either so it all fell a bit flat.

Janetta also didn’t seem to be that interesting a character. Her idea for the thesis about creating empathy in auts seemed interesting but I kept waiting for a darker twist. A lot of her story revolved around her love life and again this just wasn’t interesting. I enjoyed the ending as it’s a major ‘what would you do’ cliff-hanger but it really showed just how poor the characterisations were that I was unsure which side of the decision one of the key characters would ultimately land on.

Overall, A Strange and Brilliant Light is an interesting concept with some flashes of a good storyline but this was let down by flat characters and poor plot decisions. Thank you to NetGalley & Quercus Books – Jo Fletcher Books for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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