The Dark Side of Dreams by Marjorie Kaye Noble

A techno-fantasy thriller with a cautionary dystopian core, The Dark Side of Dreams by Marjorie Kaye Noble is a highly inventive work of science fiction that gives a potential peek at the future of virtual reality.

When Mira Patel discovers the digital copy of her infamous grandfather’s mind, she uploads him into an after-death program, Shemathra’s Realm, where the deceased transition into a virtual-reality eternity. However, all is not well in the afterlife: entire cities are disappearing, residents are being edged out of paradise, and the suffocating grip of post-life capitalism is being challenged by the ominous rise of a wolf-worshipping cult of collectivists. Mira sets out to unravel this mind-bending mystery from the inside, but every move she makes risks bringing down the wrath of a technocratic monster who aims to delete her grandfather from digital existence.

Noble’s narrative voice is fully immersive, plunging readers into a remarkably developed after-death universe, an elaborate 23rd-century vernacular, and the racing stream of Mira’s inner monologue. That said, the prose is also overloaded with declarative exposition, which bluntly explains character motivations, origins, or the implications of even basic interactions, robbing readers of the chance to draw their own conclusions, and undercutting the story’s innate suspense.

While the story could use an additional edit to offer more balance between action and exposition, the creative depth and addictive intrigue of Noble’s sci-fi vision are undeniable, making this an original and thought-stirring work of dystopian sci-fi.