Gamechanger by L.X. Beckett

Who or what is Luxe Pox? A rogue AI, an elderly eco terrorist, or a figment or your imagination?

The 22nd Century is wack. Yeah, but I think the 21st century would be perceived as pretty messed up by my great-great grandparents! A world of total transparency: every interaction and conversation is logged by drone, camera, or computer. A place where a new generation has finally taken the steps to revert the global climate change: protein cubes, strict reproduction rules, and new tech that achieves balanced oxygen and carbon levels. But the biggest change is the capital that people earn through social media and volunteer actions.

Gamechanger at its heart is a mystery of one entity that has cracked the code and become a thorn in the side of society’s new regs. The novel is an exploration of the relative near-future. It is scary, exciting, and a look through your fingers as you cover your eyes.

The worldbuilding is tremendous. Immersive and mindbending, but somehow totally realistic. To be honest though, it took me awhile to read this one. It was hard at times to get back into the future speak. It’s not a world that is easy to slip in and out of just because there is so many vocab words to pick up. That is not saying it’s not worth the effort, because it is.

In reading, I kept thinking, is this the world that my great grandchildren will be living in? Life-extension technology enables people to live 120 years+ and a brand of labor that is so different from the one that I am used to… this is great science fiction: a vision that strikes a cord, that pushed me intellectually.

4 out of 5 stars

Thank you to Edelweiss, Tor Books, and the author for an advanced copy for review.