Dreaming Under an Electric Moon by Kris Powers

Dreaming Under an Electric Moon by Kris Powers is an imaginative and ingenious piece of science fiction that merges future technology with the pulsing energy of a mystery.

In a dystopic world where the virtual universe constantly crosses over into real life, those who are hungry for power have new, terrifying means to achieve their aims by infiltrating people’s minds. Rose is a mind hacker who is a prisoner in the Southern States of America, accused of having murdered a child by pushing him off a balcony. Two FBI agents sent by the Western States of America sense that something is amiss with this story, and maybe her mind really has been hacked to do someone else’s bidding. In this world of AI mind-reading and an expansive virtual universe, anything is possible.

As evidenced by the title, the novel is a firmly self-aware nod to Philip K. Dick, but Powers has his own unique voice, as well as a vision of a possible future, especially as current technology opens up so many disturbing possibilities, which Powers probes with insight. The prose may be more spare than necessary, sometimes feeling like a young adult novel in its narrative scope, but the scope of the plot itself and Powers’ immense world-building make up for what may be missing in exposition.

Both adventurous and reflective, with an innovative take on the future that feels strangely plausible, even in its more far-out incarnations, Dreaming Under an Electric Moon is an exciting debut.