We Lived on the Horizon isn’t my usual kind of read, but the premise caught my attention.

First things first, I enjoyed the exploration of AI and humanity’s reliance on technology in a crumbling society. The world-building is undeniably detailed, with Bulwark's dystopian setting and rigid societal structures brought to life. However, the pacing didn’t quite work for me. Most of the novel establishes the world and characters, with the main action compressed into the final chapters.

That said, the writing was solid, and the novel had moments of brilliance. If you enjoy slow-burn sci-fi with a focus on philosophical questions about humanity and technology, this might be a good fit.

The premise of We Lived on the Horizon, that is centering a murder and living in an AI-run city, is not particularly groundbreaking. Having said that, I do think that this is a lovely book on the basis of character exploration and world building. The world building is intriguing but not particularly clear in the way that it is introduced. It took me a minute to grasp the way that the social debt is utilized due to the way it was explained and introduced. A lot gets introduced in many different ways, which makes for a nuanced and intriguing world, but I do believe that the pace of the revelations and such threw me off. The pacing was my other concern, it falls a bit flat at times when I think it could speed up and pages of prose could have been better integrated into a forward moving section. I'd recommend this book if speculative and dystopian is up your alley and if you don't mind a slower pace wherein not all that much gets resolved so much as it gets revealed.

This book left me with many feelings. Some good, some not so good.

Let’s start with the good — the early parts of this are truly hard to put down. The make up of the speculative sci-fi dystopian world is both unique and fascinating, something that I couldn’t help but be sucked into, despite the fact that this isn’t the type of book I normally read. It’s one of those stories that makes the reader feel smarter than they are, and I can’t lie and say that I didn’t enjoy the feeling.

At first, I found myself really fascinated by the characters. Nix, in particular, despite being a robot, was understatedly human and without a doubt my favorite character. I also started off liking Enita and Helen. But as the book went on, these feelings changed. As a very heavily character driven story, the dialogue seemed to swarm in on me from all sides, and not in a way that I wanted. It felt like much of the dialogue was there just for the sake of making the story feel heavy, and about halfway through I felt like I had to drag my feet to get through the slog of it all. Enita and Helen went from steadfast and simple to insufferable really quickly because of it. Their interactions were tedious, repetitive, and downright dull. Everytime they spoke it was to discuss how poorly they paired with each other — it was just a never ending stream of miserable self loathing that I could barely take. “I’m stubborn” — “no I’m stubborn” — “I’m childish and arrogant” — “I’m rude and egoistical” — and then again, as if I hadn’t read twelve times before, “I’m stubborn”. Okay, OKAY, we get it. They just kept talking, and talking, and talking, about absolutely nothing, until suddenly the story was 85% of the way through and still all they’d done was talk, and then things all of a sudden started to move. The pacing of it all was exhausting.

Overall, this had all the ingredients to be compelling and moving, but it just fell somewhat flat. I wish I’d gotten more from the plot and the world that so quickly sucked me into it. But maybe I just wasn’t the right type of reader to appreciate it.

Thank you to NetGalley and AtriaBooks for providing the advanced readers copy in exchange for a review.

I am so torn on this book. While I found the concepts and the main storyline intriguing, the book overall fell a bit flat for me. The book is well written, and incredibly descriptive, but the story seemed to drag in places and didn't flow as well as I was hoping it would.

This book centres on the city of Bulwark, a walled city centuries into the future. Most of the buildings are linked to a central AI, and the homes of the Sainted (descendants of the city's founders) have full AI that are specific to the homes. Within this world we're introduced to Saint Enita Malovis, who was raised by her grandfather and taught how to create replacement organs and limbs, with nanobots and lab-grown cells. She is feeling her age and decides to create a body for her home's AI, Nix. Through this body, she teaches Nix how to be her surgical aid. While they're working together, there are hints that the city's society is crumbling and that things are not as idyllic as they seem.

This book was quite enjoyable, and came across very similar to 'Logan's Run', and other dystopian movies of that era. There's this slow sense of foreboding throughout the story, where you're waiting for the collapse to occur. This was more of a slow burn, in a sense that the collapse never really came in the story. While the interactions between Enita, Nix, and the other characters was quite enjoyable, I think the pacing of this book just wasn't for me.

3.5~4 (still deciding)
A strange character driven and unexpected read. I was so confused at first (the world building threw me) with who’s who? Which names belong to which person, place, role, or robot? How the algorithm works. I WAS STRUGGLING. I didn’t love feeling lost, but by the end, I really appreciated how unique and thought provoking the premise was. An iRobot style murder mystery, layered with an ex couple and their AI “child” grappling with consciousness. The experience was bizarre yet i loved the stunning prose (occasionally a bit too much, but it works for the eerie, dystopian, revolutionary tone.

Wow this was a great science fiction novel. I was so engaged in it, right from the very first few pages. I feel like it's hard to grab someone in science fiction sometimes because of the world building element, but Swyler does an amazing job of world building with you right in the middle of it. Fantastic novel, couldn't put it down, I thought it was so inventive and cool!

Bulwark is a walled city in a desert that is governed by an AI, its citizens protected and provided for in the face of an environmental disaster that has seemingly left much of the world uninhabitable. For the people living within its walls, status is determined by the value of the service you provide to the city, with people's life hours dedicated to their craft/service determining their worth and creating a system of debt, sacrifice, and value that is managed by the city. Those whose families sacrificed or provided the most during the near-apocalyptic period which the city was built were granted the status of Sainted, essentially placing them above the system of debt and making them a kind of aristocratic elite that tends to not interact with the rest of society. When a Sainted is found dead under mysterious circumstances, and then evidence of this death is alarmingly covered up, a grand conspiracy that hints of revolution threatens to overturn the status quo and claim even more Sainted lives.

A difficult read with gorgeous worldbuilding, excellent characters, and some pretty heavy topics explored in an intriguing manner. I particularly enjoyed the book when it looked at the idea of utopia/dystopia, AI, the nature of sacrifice, and identity. There is so much here to dig into, and I am now eagerly awaiting the author's next work. A great addition to any science fiction collection.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC! I thought the concept of this was very unique, this is set in a city run by sentient AI and some of the main characters in this book are also AI (The Stacks which is the main library/information system, and one of the main characters Nix). The main character Enita is a bio-prosthetic surgeon who is Sainted, an elite class descended from those who gave the most to found the city. I also thought the government system that runs by rewarding for sacrifice was interesting, especially the Body Martyr concept and the themes of bodily autonomy.

I think this could work well for a lot of people, and I don’t think I can give this a fair review because I read it at a time where I was having difficulty concentrating, but I for some reason couldn’t get hooked into the plot. Overall I still would recommend this to anyone interested in this genre!

3.5 out of 5 (rounded up to 4)

General Thoughts:
We Lived on the Horizon is my first science fiction book ever, and I had no idea what I was in for. It was a slow burn, plot-driven over character-driven dystopian novel that didn’t disappoint. I found the story to be beautifully written and thought-provoking. We have AI now but what will the future be like as AI gets more advanced?

Positives:
I loved the main characters: Enita, Nix, Helen, and Neren. I loved learning about them and their backgrounds while also watching them grow as characters as I progressed through the story. I grew to love these characters and was sad at how some events had to play out for the sake of the story (when you read it, you’ll understand). Throughout the book, I was also waiting for there to be a ton of violence written in great detail. With an inevitable revolt on the horizon (see what I did there?), you would expect to read about a ton of violence, but you don’t – it’s there, but you’re watching from far away. This was a nice change from what I normally read, and it wasn’t something I knew I needed until reading this.

Frustrations:
In my opinion, my frustrations with this book are most likely related to my lack of experience reading science fiction. The first 30% or so was a slow read and hard to follow – I struggled with understanding what was going on in the moment and found myself going back a few pages or rereading paragraphs to truly understand. The timelines throughout the book were also difficult to understand at times. You’re reading one chapter then the next chapter is a few months later, and it made my head spin. Again, though, I feel these are due to this being my first science fiction book and not because of Swyler’s writing.

Rating and Why:
I rated We Lived on the Horizon a 3.5 out of 5 (rounded up to 4) because it was an interesting, new-to-me premise for a book. While there were moments that I didn’t understand exactly what was happening or moments that I had to reread passages or slow down altogether to grasp where I was in the story, I had a good time reading it and want to read more science fiction in the future.

Recommend?:
Would I recommend this? Absolutely. I may not recommend it as one’s first science fiction read ever due to my lack of understanding as a first-time science fiction reader; I would definitely recommend this to those who enjoy reading science fiction books or watching science fiction shows/movies. Overall, I really enjoyed We Lived on the Horizon. It was thought-provoking with a ton of themes – body mutilation, utopia and dystopia, the future of technology. It was beautifully written with a lot of character and plot development that had me rooting for all of the main characters to get the sci-fi version of a ‘happily ever after’.

We Lived on the Horizon is a richly imaginative and deeply unforgettable novel that explores an intricate web of themes, from humanity's pursuit of utopia to the unsettling realm of body horror, and the uncertain future shared by humanity and machines.

Fabulous prose on the sentence level, wonderful balance of levity and gravity in the storytelling, and man, what an intelligence to discover on the page.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. This was one really entertaining book. I loved the AI integrated world, the dystopian world that our characters reside in, and the thoughts about current world that this story makes you think about. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

This one really blew me away. The story is truly something special. I was completely immersed in this intriguing dystopian landscape, captivated by the technology and its societal implications, and fully invested in the myriad characters we get to know so well. It would make for some really great discussions as a book club read. Highly recommend!

Read if you love:
🗺️Dystopian setting
💡Themes of humanity, class structure, and autonomy
🔬Science and technology
👥Complex relationship dynamics
💭Thought-provoking on today's world and the future of it

i really liked this one and its scifi aspects, but the big thing that jarred me is how much tehe narrator switched in ways that didn't feel ideal. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

Giving this one three stars because while I did DNF at about 30%, I know the fiction/fantasy readers are going to love this one. Really interesting concept and characters; I've truly never read a dystopian like this. The concept of AI integrated houses that held truly human-like nature paired with sainthood gifted to every day villagers was interesting and gave a unique take on society and the caste system. I found it a little hard to get into as someone who isn't well versed in fantasy, but I may go back to it when the audio is released.

This exceptional, compelling dystopian novel makes you think deeply about the future of humanity, AI, and the potentially unpredictable interactive dynamics between the two.

Centuries ago, survivors of a climate collapse apocalypse built a high walled city in the desert named Bulwark. They installed an advanced AI named Parallax in charge to ensure the enclave’s survival and optimize its future. The founders set up Parallax to both grant and debit life points based on how much one’s family helps or takes resources away from the city. The families who sacrificed the most for Bulwark’s founding got huge points and the privileged wealthy status of “Sainted.” They form the elite of Bulwark, passing on their titles mostly passing on their wealth inheritance to their families as opposed to gifting them to those in need.

The poor workers in contrast work often dangerous, minimum-points labor jobs and have little hope of raising their status beyond the survival level. They grow the crops, The only exceptions involve those risking their lives such as by working at the dangerous high levels of the wall where deaths often occur, or those offering up their body parts as heralded “Body Martyrs” for sick or aging Saints.

Saint Enita is known as Saint Stitch-Skin for her growing and surgically implanted replacement nanofilament body parts for injured workers. She does this both out of scientific interest and to save the exorbitant debt they would incur if treated as a hospital. She has converted her house AI, up until then has run all of her large house systems, into a lab and surgical assistant for her and named him Nix (though Nix who is comprised of many subsystems and thus thinks mostly in plural terms self describes as “they”). Enita goes one step further as she senses her own aging body failing her and decides to create a nanofilament body for Nix, which ends up resembling both Enita and her long-time, mostly estranged lover Helen.

As Nix becomes more and more integrated into an android body, Enita comes to think of Nix as her child, and Nix struggles between plurality and the singularity of being in a body as Nix gradually becomes cut off from the other house systems and city-wide network that sustained the AI.

The plot kicks into gear with two workers dropping off Neren, a body martyr, who’s sustained a life-threatening leg injury in an apartment building collapse. Enita replaces her leg before realizing that Neren is a body martyr, and the nanobots that the surgery introduces into her system, will prevent her from giving any more body part donations which is her one mission in life.

All this comes up against a revolt rising, and what Parallax, the City Stacks that form its AI library, and Helen as a historian sees as an inevitable result of wildly unjust wealth distribution (cue our current culture!) Through a series of unexpected events, Nix and Neren must team up to escape the revolt which is intent on destroying the Saints and any who are “different” which counts Nix as an android and Neren who got a metallic leg replacement.

As they go on the run to safety and as Nix comes into human, the story transcends into a complex and brilliant look at society, revolution, historical inevitability and renewal. WOW- an amazing read!!!!


Thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

You have an AI-controlled city and houses. With an elite class system and non-elites the term used is Saints. The story is framed around a murder. The idea is not a new one and unfortunately, I feel this book fell a little flat lacking much to hold your attention to the story.

This is really my favorite kind of science fiction: lots of philosophical ideas but still filled with lovable characters. The voice of the AI character, Nix, manages to be both machine and utterly, wonderfully human. The world, a strange analog for our own, raises important questions about big topics such as revolution and generational wealth. The ending strikes just the right emotional tone. This is Swyler at her best.

Thank you @atriabooks #partner for the gifted copies of this book!

Anytime I see AI I get excited to read about it because I work in the tech industry and love to see where authors will take their story based on their own interpretations! I had high hopes for this one based on that alone however, this didn’t quite land the way I thought it was going to. This was a first time for me reading this author and based on the ideas of this book I would definitely try one more time with this author. This book was definitely a journey taking almost the entire book to build the world. The parts I enjoyed was the futuristic design and nature of trying to survive inside a walled city. That concept is a fun one for me, think maze-runner. 😀 Anywho, I think I struggled with the pacing (slow) and the complexity of the story in the beginning however, the ending saved the the book for me! I think if you’re a fan of technology, sci-fi, futuristic, thought provoking books give this one a try!

We Lived on the Horizon by Erika Swyler is a contemplative sci-fi novel of an AI-managed city in a post-apocalyptic world. That premise might make it sound expansive and sprawling, but the book is surprisingly insular in its direct focus, even as the world outside our characters keeps on moving without them. It’s framed around a murder, but it’s hardly a mystery or a thriller. It’s more like a quiet character study of people who wouldn’t be main characters or even named at all in most books, living through a more conventional dramatic story. This is both a strength and a weakness, as the book manages to be unique and intimate but lacks the excitement or forward momentum of the story it’s intentionally sidelining.

Our ostensible protagonist is Enita, an older woman who has been Sainted (effectively allowed to live off the societal benefit her innovative ancestors provided to the city), yet spends her days growing artificial body parts and performing surgeries for free. She’s a solitary person, only speaking to her ex/best friend/rival Helen and to Nix, the name she’s given to her house’s AI assistant. The relationship between Enita and Helen is complex and interesting; they still deeply love each other even as they are pushed away by each other’s prickliness and specificities. But the heart of the novel actually lies with Nix, the AI assistant. Enita has grown an artificial body for Nix, who is slowly becoming more and more human, grappling with the nuances of losing their interconnected plurality. Much of the book is from Nix’s perspective, who sees their own transformation as an extension of their initial purpose: to aid Enita in whatever she requires. Her relationship to Enita is just as complicated and prickly as Enita and Helen’s. Nix is in many ways Enita’s child, made to learn from her, help her, and ultimately replace her, but Nix was also Enita’s grandfather’s house system, and therefore raised her too. I found myself most emotionally engaged when reading about Nix’s interiority, about how they were intrigued by their new human form but also grieving the loss of a way of being we’ll never fully understand.

It would go into spoilers to talk too much about one of the book’s central thesis, but I’ll tread carefully. Nix is not the only character grappling with purpose, even as they have a clear one and humanity doesn’t. Elena and Helen, as Sainted, live easy lives of comfort gifted to them by their ancestor’s contributions, while many around them work themselves to the bone or literally give of their bodies to pay off their “societal debt.” Looking at the world around them, they understand that if things are to change for the better, it might mean they will have to suffer in turn. As someone lucky enough to live a pretty comfortable life in the imperial core, it definitely hits close to home and is surely intended to. What is our purpose living this kind of life? Would others be justified in wanting a world where my lifestyle couldn’t exist?

In the end, despite this big central question, I don’t know if the book had the depth of ideas I wished it would have. Much of traditional science fiction sacrifices characters on the altar of the idea, the prediction, the invention, the spark of creative change called the novum in sci-fi studies. The rest focuses on plot and adventure with the trapping of sci-fi. We Lived on the Horizon tries to inhabit a different position – a character study – but doesn’t quite grapple with ideas in a new way, and only halfheartedly tries its hand at a plot. It’s still worth reading, especially as a provocation to those of us living Sainted lives, and I’d be eager to see what Swyler does next.

We Lived on the Horizon is set to publish on January 14, 2025.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.