After
This gripping and exciting book examines the aftermath of an apocalyptic event involving artificial intelligence and humans, called the Flood, in which the world as we know it has ended with not many survivors left. Humans and machines were connected to each other via a link called the Hive that short-circuited, and almost everything has been destroyed.
From the outset, the reader is encouraged to question the dynamic between Jen and Father, who are wandering along a path hoping to find a better place, hunting for food and avoiding gangs of scavengers. They have an unusual relationship: Jen is an independent and clever twelve-year-old girl who seems to make a lot of the decisions for the pair, while Father is quiet, protective and obsessed with a parenting book he has read.
Think of The Terminator, Mad Max and iRobot stories, and you will have an idea of the intention of this fast-paced and action-packed take on what could be a frightening dystopian topic, that is handled in a moving and thought-provoking manner for young readers.
From its gripping first line – ‘Tell me again how the world ended’ – immediately setting the scene, to the final thrilling climax, this book will open young readers’ minds to some big philosophical questions about what it means to be human, whether machines can learn to have feelings and how we treat those who are different to us. Who are the real monsters here, machines or humans?
