What do you think?
Rate this book
We Lived on the Horizon
A novel about a bio-prosthetic surgeon and her personal AI as they are drawn into a catastrophic war.
The city of Bulwark is aptly a walled city built to protect and preserve the people who managed to survive a series of great cataclysms, Bulwark was founded on a system where sacrifice is rewarded by the AI that runs the city. Over generations, an elite class has evolved from the descendants of those who gave up the most to found mankind’s last stronghold, called the Sainted.
Saint Enita Malovis, long accustomed to luxury, feels the end of her life and decades of work as a bio-prosthetist approaching. The lone practitioner of her art, Enita is determined to preserve her legacy and decides to create a physical being, called Nix, filled with her knowledge and experience. In the midst of her project, a fellow Sainted is brutally murdered and the city AI inexplicably erases the event from its data. Soon, Enita and Nix are drawn into the growing war that could change everything between Bulwark’s hidden underclass and the programs that impose and maintain order.
A complex, imaginative, and unforgettable novel, We Lived on the Horizon grapples with concepts as varied as the human desire for utopia, body horror, and what the future holds for humanity and machine alike.
The city of Bulwark is aptly a walled city built to protect and preserve the people who managed to survive a series of great cataclysms, Bulwark was founded on a system where sacrifice is rewarded by the AI that runs the city. Over generations, an elite class has evolved from the descendants of those who gave up the most to found mankind’s last stronghold, called the Sainted.
Saint Enita Malovis, long accustomed to luxury, feels the end of her life and decades of work as a bio-prosthetist approaching. The lone practitioner of her art, Enita is determined to preserve her legacy and decides to create a physical being, called Nix, filled with her knowledge and experience. In the midst of her project, a fellow Sainted is brutally murdered and the city AI inexplicably erases the event from its data. Soon, Enita and Nix are drawn into the growing war that could change everything between Bulwark’s hidden underclass and the programs that impose and maintain order.
A complex, imaginative, and unforgettable novel, We Lived on the Horizon grapples with concepts as varied as the human desire for utopia, body horror, and what the future holds for humanity and machine alike.
333 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 14, 2025
177 people are currently reading
10495 people want to read
About the author
Erika Swyler
5 books915 followersErika Swyler is the bestselling author of Light From Other Stars, and The Book of Speculation. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in Catapult, Literary Hub, VIDA, The New York Times, and elsewhere.
Erika lives on Long Island, NY, with her husband and a petulant rabbit. She writes, bakes, is a casual runner, and has very strong feelings about typewriters.
Erika lives on Long Island, NY, with her husband and a petulant rabbit. She writes, bakes, is a casual runner, and has very strong feelings about typewriters.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews
January 17, 2025
I think there is a really great novella hiding in here.
I’m conflicted about this one. There are good points about it. The characters were a highlight for me. I cared about what happened to them even though I’m not sure they’ll end up being the most memorable. The world building was interesting (with the caveat that I don’t know that it was always explained very well or fully thought out, I had questions about things I felt like I never got concrete answers to.) The writing has moments.
But ultimately I found it to be somewhat repetitive and kind of frustrating in places. There were parts I had to reread to make sense of. I consistently felt like I was playing with a half a deck, times when I wasn’t quite clear on character motivations/actions.
I think maybe the most frustrating aspect though, was this deeply philosophical book, sort of glazed over what I thought was the most interesting/relevant discussion. What does a person owe society? What do those with more owe society? What happens to those who can’t contribute as much as they’d like? What does inherited debt look like and what are those impacts?
We left these questions half examined to look at what it means to inherit one body versus many, or how AI becomes a person and what that transition looks like. And I found that sort of exhausting because it just wasn’t something I cared all that much about. There’s a lot of “pinging” and commentary on the color of code that didn’t make any sense because it wasn’t ever explained.
So… yeah. I think I could have overlooked some of these things in a novella because I enjoyed the futuristic world and characters, but in a full length book the flaws started to grate.
I’m conflicted about this one. There are good points about it. The characters were a highlight for me. I cared about what happened to them even though I’m not sure they’ll end up being the most memorable. The world building was interesting (with the caveat that I don’t know that it was always explained very well or fully thought out, I had questions about things I felt like I never got concrete answers to.) The writing has moments.
But ultimately I found it to be somewhat repetitive and kind of frustrating in places. There were parts I had to reread to make sense of. I consistently felt like I was playing with a half a deck, times when I wasn’t quite clear on character motivations/actions.
I think maybe the most frustrating aspect though, was this deeply philosophical book, sort of glazed over what I thought was the most interesting/relevant discussion. What does a person owe society? What do those with more owe society? What happens to those who can’t contribute as much as they’d like? What does inherited debt look like and what are those impacts?
We left these questions half examined to look at what it means to inherit one body versus many, or how AI becomes a person and what that transition looks like. And I found that sort of exhausting because it just wasn’t something I cared all that much about. There’s a lot of “pinging” and commentary on the color of code that didn’t make any sense because it wasn’t ever explained.
So… yeah. I think I could have overlooked some of these things in a novella because I enjoyed the futuristic world and characters, but in a full length book the flaws started to grate.
September 19, 2024
ARC for review. To be published January 14, 2025.
This book is the latest from the author of the very popular THE BOOK OF SPECULATION. This is odd. While reading it I thought I was liking it quite a bit, but now, hardly any time later, I cannot remember one single thing about it and even looking at my notes doesn’t help. I’m honestly looking at jottings in my own handwriting thinking, “wow, I read this? And wrote all this about it?” Because it is gone. Totally gone. So, it’ was obviously not at all memorable for me.
Bulwark is a walled city created to protect people to survive any number of horrible events. AI runs the city, “Bulwark was an entity, a thinking, living thing.” Sacrifice is rewarded. There’s an elite class which has evolved from descendants of those who gave up the most long ago; they are called the Sainted.
OK. This is coming back to me now.
Saint Enita Malovis of the House Saint Malovis is a bio-prosthetist, but few citizens choose to use her services. She feels the end of her life approaching and she wants to preserve her legacy so she creates a physical being, Nix, whom she fills with her knowledge and experience. While she is working on Nix another Saint is murdered and for some reason Bulwark Azi erases the incident from its data. Why? Anita and Nix get drawn into the mystery.
Nix is not totally made from scratch; he began as the voice/AI system of Enita’s home, and he first belonged to Enita’s grandfather. As he is first formed he remains attached to the house, but is then able to move freely.
As mentioned, almost none of Bulwark’s citizens want Enita’s prosthetics; when needed they make use of Body Martyrs, citizens who make organ donations. These people have their life debts dramatically reduced (the Saints have untold numbers of life credits), and some Body Martyrs even have life debts forgiven. However, the Body Martyrs are truly altruistic and are generally identified in childhood.
Enita and Nix come into contact with a Body Martyr, Neron. Soon it becomes clear that the murder of a Saint isn’t the biggest problem in Bulwark. Enita, Nix, Neron and Enita’s best friend and former lover have to decide how to best protect themselves against what is to come.
So, yeah, now I remember. This is not the type of book that I would normally read, but I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed the discussions of AI. Sometimes the book was from Enita’s POV in the third person, but sometimes it was third person omniscient, when commenting on society, which was occasionally jarring, when it switched.
I enjoyed the book, but, as mentioned, it took me a minute to get sucked back into its orbit. Others will like it much more, I suspect.
This book is the latest from the author of the very popular THE BOOK OF SPECULATION. This is odd. While reading it I thought I was liking it quite a bit, but now, hardly any time later, I cannot remember one single thing about it and even looking at my notes doesn’t help. I’m honestly looking at jottings in my own handwriting thinking, “wow, I read this? And wrote all this about it?” Because it is gone. Totally gone. So, it’ was obviously not at all memorable for me.
Bulwark is a walled city created to protect people to survive any number of horrible events. AI runs the city, “Bulwark was an entity, a thinking, living thing.” Sacrifice is rewarded. There’s an elite class which has evolved from descendants of those who gave up the most long ago; they are called the Sainted.
OK. This is coming back to me now.
Saint Enita Malovis of the House Saint Malovis is a bio-prosthetist, but few citizens choose to use her services. She feels the end of her life approaching and she wants to preserve her legacy so she creates a physical being, Nix, whom she fills with her knowledge and experience. While she is working on Nix another Saint is murdered and for some reason Bulwark Azi erases the incident from its data. Why? Anita and Nix get drawn into the mystery.
Nix is not totally made from scratch; he began as the voice/AI system of Enita’s home, and he first belonged to Enita’s grandfather. As he is first formed he remains attached to the house, but is then able to move freely.
As mentioned, almost none of Bulwark’s citizens want Enita’s prosthetics; when needed they make use of Body Martyrs, citizens who make organ donations. These people have their life debts dramatically reduced (the Saints have untold numbers of life credits), and some Body Martyrs even have life debts forgiven. However, the Body Martyrs are truly altruistic and are generally identified in childhood.
Enita and Nix come into contact with a Body Martyr, Neron. Soon it becomes clear that the murder of a Saint isn’t the biggest problem in Bulwark. Enita, Nix, Neron and Enita’s best friend and former lover have to decide how to best protect themselves against what is to come.
So, yeah, now I remember. This is not the type of book that I would normally read, but I was intrigued by the premise and I enjoyed the discussions of AI. Sometimes the book was from Enita’s POV in the third person, but sometimes it was third person omniscient, when commenting on society, which was occasionally jarring, when it switched.
I enjoyed the book, but, as mentioned, it took me a minute to get sucked back into its orbit. Others will like it much more, I suspect.
February 12, 2025
This book of speculative science fiction is set in the future in a walled-in city called Bulwark, which is run by a central artificial intelligence called Parallax. Society has evolved into distinct classes. There are masses of workers and “have nots” at the bottom. A few of them have become altruistic Body Martyrs who donate their organs to others. Those who receive the organs are called Saints, or the Sainted, and they will live longer due to the sacrifices of the Body Martyrs.
The city runs on a type of currency called “life credits,” which can be used to pay debts incurred by using the city’s resources. The Saints are at the top of the hierarchy, and they can leave their life credits to their descendants, which perpetuates the social stratification. They are the privileged few who live in AI-run houses, which are connected to the Parallax centralized network. The storyline follows a doctor (and scientist), Saint Enita, who grows replacement human limbs through biotechnology.
One of my favorite characters is Enita’s AI, which used to run her house. She has used her biotech knowledge to give it a humanoid body. The AI develops greater independence, while still looking out for Enita. Another interesting character is Naren, a Body Martyr who wants to maintain control over her body and make her own decisions, though her friends want to stop her.
It is probably obvious from the preceding paragraphs that there is a great deal of world-building here, and it takes a while for the full picture to come together. But once it does, this is a story that has clear parallels to our current world. Themes include connection, identity, classism, body autonomy, and the role of technology.
So, the world-building and the plot are somewhat complex. The author places the reader in the middle of this world without much explanation beforehand, but eventually, it all comes together. It requires a bit of patience and work on the part of the reader. It is not a book for those looking for nonstop action or those who want a straightforward story. After the puzzle pieces came together, I felt invested in it, and curious to see how the many questions would be resolved. In the end, I found it intellectually satisfying. Highly recommended to fans of speculative fiction.
The city runs on a type of currency called “life credits,” which can be used to pay debts incurred by using the city’s resources. The Saints are at the top of the hierarchy, and they can leave their life credits to their descendants, which perpetuates the social stratification. They are the privileged few who live in AI-run houses, which are connected to the Parallax centralized network. The storyline follows a doctor (and scientist), Saint Enita, who grows replacement human limbs through biotechnology.
One of my favorite characters is Enita’s AI, which used to run her house. She has used her biotech knowledge to give it a humanoid body. The AI develops greater independence, while still looking out for Enita. Another interesting character is Naren, a Body Martyr who wants to maintain control over her body and make her own decisions, though her friends want to stop her.
It is probably obvious from the preceding paragraphs that there is a great deal of world-building here, and it takes a while for the full picture to come together. But once it does, this is a story that has clear parallels to our current world. Themes include connection, identity, classism, body autonomy, and the role of technology.
So, the world-building and the plot are somewhat complex. The author places the reader in the middle of this world without much explanation beforehand, but eventually, it all comes together. It requires a bit of patience and work on the part of the reader. It is not a book for those looking for nonstop action or those who want a straightforward story. After the puzzle pieces came together, I felt invested in it, and curious to see how the many questions would be resolved. In the end, I found it intellectually satisfying. Highly recommended to fans of speculative fiction.
December 1, 2024
In a distant future dominated by relentless storms and drought, the enclosed city of Bulwark shields its citizens within a sanctuary powered by sentient AI. Life in Bulwark revolves around an intricate system of "life-hours," a currency earned through labor to meet each individual's needs. Everyone contributes—except the Sainted. These privileged descendants of families who made immense sacrifices to build Bulwark centuries ago enjoy lives of luxury, sustained by a vast reservoir of inherited life-hours.
Saint Enita, however, refuses to squander her days in indulgence. Taught by her grandfather, she mastered the craft of building bioprosthetics, dedicating her life to mending the broken bodies of the workers who sustain Bulwark in the present. Driven by her passion and a sense of duty, she constructs an entire human body for her house AI, Nix, forging a partner to assist her as she approaches the twilight of her life.
Yet the winds of change are blowing. Revolution simmers beneath the surface, challenging the foundations of a society that clings too tightly to outdated systems. Enita and Nix will face choices that will echo far beyond one lifetime, reshaping the city and its future.
Swyler masterfully delves into themes of bodily autonomy, the complexities of human emotion, and the inevitability of upheaval in societies resistant to change. She examines how practical solutions, born of necessity, can calcify into dogma, even as their relevance fades. Drawing inspiration from the legacies of Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and Margaret Atwood, Swyler's work earns its place alongside these giants of speculative fiction. A highly recommended read.
Saint Enita, however, refuses to squander her days in indulgence. Taught by her grandfather, she mastered the craft of building bioprosthetics, dedicating her life to mending the broken bodies of the workers who sustain Bulwark in the present. Driven by her passion and a sense of duty, she constructs an entire human body for her house AI, Nix, forging a partner to assist her as she approaches the twilight of her life.
Yet the winds of change are blowing. Revolution simmers beneath the surface, challenging the foundations of a society that clings too tightly to outdated systems. Enita and Nix will face choices that will echo far beyond one lifetime, reshaping the city and its future.
Swyler masterfully delves into themes of bodily autonomy, the complexities of human emotion, and the inevitability of upheaval in societies resistant to change. She examines how practical solutions, born of necessity, can calcify into dogma, even as their relevance fades. Drawing inspiration from the legacies of Ursula K. Le Guin, Octavia Butler, and Margaret Atwood, Swyler's work earns its place alongside these giants of speculative fiction. A highly recommended read.
January 13, 2025
Interesting story that got a bit bogged down in details and dialogue.
This was a fascinating story to start but a very slow slog to get going. I loved learning about Elena and her skin-stitch business. Neren's body martyr details were a bit murkier but I slowly did learn what it meant and still shook my head in wonder at the necessity. These 2 felt like solutions to the same problem - only one felt rational and the other not.
Learning about Saints, Nix, Parallax, and Bulwark as a whole felt much slower and laborious. Nix took long stretches of story to inner struggle, wonder about thought and feeling, and then spoke in sweeping deep thoughts and ideas. It slowed the story down and, many times, I felt the message was clear and didn't need Nix to reinforce it again and again with thoughts and discussion.
There's a great story here, one I found fascinating. But it was hard to find it through the slow start. The ending was great.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
This was a fascinating story to start but a very slow slog to get going. I loved learning about Elena and her skin-stitch business. Neren's body martyr details were a bit murkier but I slowly did learn what it meant and still shook my head in wonder at the necessity. These 2 felt like solutions to the same problem - only one felt rational and the other not.
Learning about Saints, Nix, Parallax, and Bulwark as a whole felt much slower and laborious. Nix took long stretches of story to inner struggle, wonder about thought and feeling, and then spoke in sweeping deep thoughts and ideas. It slowed the story down and, many times, I felt the message was clear and didn't need Nix to reinforce it again and again with thoughts and discussion.
There's a great story here, one I found fascinating. But it was hard to find it through the slow start. The ending was great.
A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
May 4, 2025
**Mother-and-Daughters Book Club Read for May, 2025**
*3-3.5 stars. This is an odd novel of speculative fiction set in some future world where humans live in a protective walled city which is run by AI. There is a hierarchy to their society. Some are called the Sainted: they are those whose ancestors helped build this city some 300 years ago, have inherited an enormous amount of credit and live lives of comfort with AI running their households. The rest of the people have to work hard in often dangerous jobs to pay off their debt. Some even voluntarily donate body parts to the Sainted to accrue credit and are known as Body Martyrs. When one of the Sainted is found murdered and food deliveries are interrupted, it becomes apparent that the system is failing.
Swyler has built a unique world here with several memorable characters and brings up some knotty societal, moral and philosophical issues. Sometimes those issues bogged down the flow of the story for me however. I have to admit to feeling confused at times so it was a good to be able to discuss the details of the book with my daughters. For instance: what does the title mean? I was left curious about what brought the world to its current situation where humanity was hiding behind tall walls.
*3-3.5 stars. This is an odd novel of speculative fiction set in some future world where humans live in a protective walled city which is run by AI. There is a hierarchy to their society. Some are called the Sainted: they are those whose ancestors helped build this city some 300 years ago, have inherited an enormous amount of credit and live lives of comfort with AI running their households. The rest of the people have to work hard in often dangerous jobs to pay off their debt. Some even voluntarily donate body parts to the Sainted to accrue credit and are known as Body Martyrs. When one of the Sainted is found murdered and food deliveries are interrupted, it becomes apparent that the system is failing.
Swyler has built a unique world here with several memorable characters and brings up some knotty societal, moral and philosophical issues. Sometimes those issues bogged down the flow of the story for me however. I have to admit to feeling confused at times so it was a good to be able to discuss the details of the book with my daughters. For instance: what does the title mean? I was left curious about what brought the world to its current situation where humanity was hiding behind tall walls.
February 4, 2025
I loved this. It's hard to even pin down the influences -- maybe a bit of Frankenstein, but both the monster and the doctor are sympathetic. The women protagonists are so well done, cranky and heroic with blindspots, good intentions, and terrible outcomes. A thoughtful exploration of power dynamics, social class, and unintended consequences, and also and engaging and readable story, completely original, with great characters and dialogue.
January 23, 2025
1.5 / 5 : I disliked this, but there's something here for someone.
This book largely centers around an artificial intelligence Nix, who begins as the integrated home system of a member of the billionaire class ("Sainted") and transitions into a body built by their Sainted owner. This owner, Enita, is a good billionaire (#notallbillionaires) who builds limbs and organs for transplantation without charging money ("life hours") for the underclass. There are a lot of themes here that should have been interesting. What happens to an incredibly large AI system when confined to a humanoid form and how does the form itself make them more human? What happens to a human when excessively integrated with the large AI system? What would an AI system built to optimize human outcomes do when it understands that, like every great empire before it, the empire is fundamentally untenable?
Unfortunately, those themes are given in the first 100 pages and then continually revisited without further depth many times throughout the rest of the book. The plot is light and the philosophical musings that accompany it don't seem to be getting anywhere. I think this could have been a powerful short novel though.
Points for queer rep, I believe there are more queer characters than not.
This book largely centers around an artificial intelligence Nix, who begins as the integrated home system of a member of the billionaire class ("Sainted") and transitions into a body built by their Sainted owner. This owner, Enita, is a good billionaire (#notallbillionaires) who builds limbs and organs for transplantation without charging money ("life hours") for the underclass. There are a lot of themes here that should have been interesting. What happens to an incredibly large AI system when confined to a humanoid form and how does the form itself make them more human? What happens to a human when excessively integrated with the large AI system? What would an AI system built to optimize human outcomes do when it understands that, like every great empire before it, the empire is fundamentally untenable?
Unfortunately, those themes are given in the first 100 pages and then continually revisited without further depth many times throughout the rest of the book. The plot is light and the philosophical musings that accompany it don't seem to be getting anywhere. I think this could have been a powerful short novel though.
Points for queer rep, I believe there are more queer characters than not.
January 31, 2025
Thank you Atria for the ARC copy of We Lived on the Horizon.
Unfortunately I expected more from this book. It sounded intriguing, but lacked the action. It fell flat for me and I wanted more. I would say it's a great inbetween read.
I also found it hard to keep track of what was going on. I do believe the premise was interesting, but there was more potential.
Unfortunately I expected more from this book. It sounded intriguing, but lacked the action. It fell flat for me and I wanted more. I would say it's a great inbetween read.
I also found it hard to keep track of what was going on. I do believe the premise was interesting, but there was more potential.
December 2, 2024
Erika Swyler first captivated me when I stumbled across a copy of her novel The Book of Speculation. I fell deep in love with her words, her characters, and the world she made me appreciate a tiny bit more. Something you should know about reading Swyler's work is that no two pieces are twins, sisters, or even second cousins twice removed. Heck, I don't even know if they are related to each other. They are all so different. But each book I've read of hers is a world of wonders unseen and unknown before. We Lived on the Horizons is about a city of the future, that's currently on the brink. It has only a few real characters, but they managed to get very deeply under my skin. I found myself pondering themes of identity and humanity, while still being thoroughly entertained. This book will stay with me for a long time. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the review copy. 4.25 stars
December 4, 2024
I really thought I would love this one. The premise and post-apocalyptic world 300 years in the future sounded so promising. But it just didn't some together in a satisfying way for me. Maybe what's left of humanity is surviving inside a walled city. Everything is controlled by artificial intelligence. People are born with or without a debt to society and have to work to pay it back accordingly. Sainted people are descendants of the founders of the city, and receive transplants from body martyrs. Unrest is growing among the working class, and holes are appearing in the code of the computer systems. The world building took almost the entire novel, with the main action happening in the last couple of chapters. There was a lot of character development, but it centered almost entirely on the characters' romantic lives. The character with the biggest story arc was actually an AI system that controls the house of one of the human characters. Nix is transitioning into a body and is losing touch with the "mainframe" of the city. I guess I'm just not ready for "house system as a person" characters.
dnf
April 25, 2025DNF @ page 128. It has an interesting concept, and started as such. However, it lost my attention.
January 19, 2025
A very interesting take on where AI could take us. Definitely recommend for anyone thinking about what the future could look like.
January 11, 2025
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, this really 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 the way it came together.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the advanced readers copy in exchange for a review.
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, this really 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 the way it came together.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing the advanced readers copy in exchange for a review.
February 22, 2025
The Tainted Cup meets The Last Murder at the End of the World! Fully enjoyed while I was reading it but didn’t blow my mind. In my opinion, if you want your mind blown, go for Blood Over Bright Haven by ML Wang ☺️
January 15, 2025
In the walled city of Bulwark, the AI Parallax makes sure its citizens are safe and cared for through the use of smart houses and meritocratic reward. Over time, this life credit system has separated and stiffened into a distinct and unfair class divide. Saint Enita and Saint Helen both try to live up to their ancestors’ wealth—Helen as a historian and Enita as a prosthetic surgeon—rather than simply coast on their privilege. And then, one of the wealthiest Saints of the city is murdered and Enita does the impossible…she gives her house AI a human body, separating them from Parallax and kicking off a revolution.
There’s a lot going on in this book, and the execution is mixed in my opinion. Underneath the info dumps, stilted relationships, and vague world-building, there is an interesting story with flashes of gorgeous prose and insight. I found Enita and Helen flat and unlikeable, which was especially disappointing because we get so few books with older women protagonists. The body martyr’s attempts at autonomy and Nix’s pain of becoming themselves both kept me turning the pages despite this, though. I think this is a book that will find its audience over time.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
There’s a lot going on in this book, and the execution is mixed in my opinion. Underneath the info dumps, stilted relationships, and vague world-building, there is an interesting story with flashes of gorgeous prose and insight. I found Enita and Helen flat and unlikeable, which was especially disappointing because we get so few books with older women protagonists. The body martyr’s attempts at autonomy and Nix’s pain of becoming themselves both kept me turning the pages despite this, though. I think this is a book that will find its audience over time.
Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
February 8, 2025
”If something was told to you enough from the time you were small, you’d believe it. If everything around you held to a single belief, how could you do otherwise?”
We Lived on the Horizon tells the story of a crumbling A.I.-run society through multiple POVs, including Parallax (the A.I. responsible for upholding the status quo); The Stacks (sentient library); Enita (a member of the elite “Sainted” class); House Saint Malovis (Enita’s “house system,” or the A.I. who manages every aspect of her life); Neren (a member of the working class who donates organs to the Sainted in exchange for “life hours”); and Davet (a human who holds some of Parallax’s consciousness, aka this world’s version of a cop).
I’m of two minds about this book. On one hand, the world is brilliantly detailed and the author is clearly talented. It’s immersive. The challenges the characters face are relatable despite how “in world” they are (for example, House Saint Malovis/Nix experiences a shift in consciousness from plural to singular; while Nix’s struggle is unique to this world, the themes of identity and trying to hold onto your true self are universal). On the other hand, there’s so much world to build that worldbuilding is where the book has to spend most of its time. The result is a book set in a thoughtful, well-crafted world that unfortunately is not very exciting to read.
I enjoyed this book for its characters and themes, but would find it difficult to recommend. But I also don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t like it. Instead of recommending or not recommending, please review my notes from the first few chapters. These initial impressions are pretty much the vibe for the whole book. If it sounds like your jam, check it out.
- This is good but it’s so much work
- So dense
- This is like starting a series 5 books in
- Literally this is book 5 and I never read books 1-4
- I always say I want the books I read to be smarter than me, but this book is so MUCH smarter than me that I feel stupid
- DID A ROBOT WRITE THIS
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read We Lived on the Horizon in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.
We Lived on the Horizon tells the story of a crumbling A.I.-run society through multiple POVs, including Parallax (the A.I. responsible for upholding the status quo); The Stacks (sentient library); Enita (a member of the elite “Sainted” class); House Saint Malovis (Enita’s “house system,” or the A.I. who manages every aspect of her life); Neren (a member of the working class who donates organs to the Sainted in exchange for “life hours”); and Davet (a human who holds some of Parallax’s consciousness, aka this world’s version of a cop).
I’m of two minds about this book. On one hand, the world is brilliantly detailed and the author is clearly talented. It’s immersive. The challenges the characters face are relatable despite how “in world” they are (for example, House Saint Malovis/Nix experiences a shift in consciousness from plural to singular; while Nix’s struggle is unique to this world, the themes of identity and trying to hold onto your true self are universal). On the other hand, there’s so much world to build that worldbuilding is where the book has to spend most of its time. The result is a book set in a thoughtful, well-crafted world that unfortunately is not very exciting to read.
I enjoyed this book for its characters and themes, but would find it difficult to recommend. But I also don’t want to give the impression that I didn’t like it. Instead of recommending or not recommending, please review my notes from the first few chapters. These initial impressions are pretty much the vibe for the whole book. If it sounds like your jam, check it out.
- This is good but it’s so much work
- So dense
- This is like starting a series 5 books in
- Literally this is book 5 and I never read books 1-4
- I always say I want the books I read to be smarter than me, but this book is so MUCH smarter than me that I feel stupid
- DID A ROBOT WRITE THIS
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read We Lived on the Horizon in exchange for an honest review! All opinions are my own.
April 12, 2025
I think it’s possible that this could be a really good book, but for me it unfortunately didn’t work out that way at all. It was repetitive and confusing for a lot of it, but the concept and the characters were amazing. I also really liked the world building, but I do think it needed a little bit more explaining for me to truly understand it. Going along with that, I really wish the life debts were explored more, because the philosophical aspects of that would’ve been fascinating. This one probably worked for a lot of people and I wish it did for me, but I just don’t think it did.
March 28, 2025
This started off strong for me and I was super intrigued with stitch-skin and the growing autonomy of Nix. However the conflict felt very much surface level, characters weren’t explored enough, the plot was a bit messy and difficult to follow, and the ending just wasn’t satisfying to wrap the whole story together unfortunately.
January 23, 2025
Skimming other reviews encourages me to write one here myself. First, my main con for this book is that it's too long. Someone here says that this could be a great novella, and while I wouldn't necessarily go that far, there is definitely too much repetition for my taste.
Things I appreciated: while it's a coming of age story of a sort, it's just as much (maybe more) a story of the ending of an era (I started spelling "error"! Ha!), and of the life of an old woman. It's also a reflection on what creates revolutions; how societies that are based on the rhetoric of care still end up oppressing; the idea that machines could take better care of people than people take care of ourselves; what servitude and/or purpose mean; the sometimes confusing and permeable distinction between oneself and others.
I don't agree with the author, I expect, agreement is besides the point here. There is plenty of grist for the mill, lots to consider in this book. So whether I would recommend it or not depends on what you read science fiction for. Also, novels with aging competent women as their protagonists are not a dime a dozen.
Things I appreciated: while it's a coming of age story of a sort, it's just as much (maybe more) a story of the ending of an era (I started spelling "error"! Ha!), and of the life of an old woman. It's also a reflection on what creates revolutions; how societies that are based on the rhetoric of care still end up oppressing; the idea that machines could take better care of people than people take care of ourselves; what servitude and/or purpose mean; the sometimes confusing and permeable distinction between oneself and others.
I don't agree with the author, I expect, agreement is besides the point here. There is plenty of grist for the mill, lots to consider in this book. So whether I would recommend it or not depends on what you read science fiction for. Also, novels with aging competent women as their protagonists are not a dime a dozen.
February 25, 2025
I always love books that discuss humanity and purpose. And I loved how this one portrayed a hierarchy and power system that I have never seen before while also dealing with the discussion of "what do you OWE to the community you live". BUT while those were the themes I was most interested in, those were the themes the author spent the least amount of time with. It was odd because what made me excited to read were pushed to the background and it was horribly repetitive in the parts of the narrative I simply did not need that much time with.
Beautiful writing. I just wish it took a different direction. Same story, just redirecting the lens, if you will.
Beautiful writing. I just wish it took a different direction. Same story, just redirecting the lens, if you will.
dnf
March 3, 2025Listened to almost 3 hours, but this just felt so meandering that my thoughts kept wandering off, too. Only one scene really interested me in all that time, but the momentum was quickly lost as the plot went off on a tangent once again. And now I can't even remember what scene it was that I liked!
DNF The narrative voice was fine and the story sounded so interesting. But this needs more structure, cohesion, and oomph. Leaving unrated because I didn't get to my 100 page mark for allowing myself to rate unfinished books.
Audio Notes: Narrator did a fine job, though.
DNF The narrative voice was fine and the story sounded so interesting. But this needs more structure, cohesion, and oomph. Leaving unrated because I didn't get to my 100 page mark for allowing myself to rate unfinished books.
Audio Notes: Narrator did a fine job, though.
October 25, 2024
This is a great choice if you want mellow intrigue. The story was a bit hard to follow at first, but I eventually figured things out. I personally prefer more intensity and action. This book would be perfect for anyone who wants to know that there’s tension and violence and mutiny happening but wants to watch it from afar, where it’s safer.
January 23, 2025
What an enjoyable read. I knew really nothing about this coming in and I'm pleasantly surprised by the story, the character, and the world Swyler creates. The story unfolded in ways I didn't foresee and the mix of creative SF & the mystery kept me guessing. Definitely worth a read for SF fans and I'll definitely be checking out Swyler's future work.
March 23, 2025
DNF. Made it ~75 % through and just couldn't keep going. interesting premise but got lost in the excessive dialogue and felt like the plot just never picked up speed.
December 23, 2024
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.
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.
January 8, 2025
"Fault in code is fault in purpose. Fault in code must be edited"
We Lived on the Horizon felt like an episode of Black Mirror meets I, Robot meets Avengers Age of Ultron - when society is managed by an AI system that punishes and rewards based on an evolved algorithm to preserve and maintain a perfect society, what could possibly go wrong?
Whatever the definition of high fantasy is for sci-fi, this book is that because it is DEEP. There's a lot to keep track of and wrap your brain around in the world building so it took me a good while to read and comprehend but overall it was a fascinating adventure.
I love books where AI kind of runs with its objective and goes a little overboard in its execution - this definitely had that in spades.
We Lived on the Horizon felt like an episode of Black Mirror meets I, Robot meets Avengers Age of Ultron - when society is managed by an AI system that punishes and rewards based on an evolved algorithm to preserve and maintain a perfect society, what could possibly go wrong?
Whatever the definition of high fantasy is for sci-fi, this book is that because it is DEEP. There's a lot to keep track of and wrap your brain around in the world building so it took me a good while to read and comprehend but overall it was a fascinating adventure.
I love books where AI kind of runs with its objective and goes a little overboard in its execution - this definitely had that in spades.
January 26, 2025
3.75 stars, rounded up.
Thank you to Atria Books and Goodreads for the advance copy of this book.
While I don't typically read fiction with as many sc-fi elements as this novel has, I was relatively comfortable in this world. But a few concepts or visuals that I did not fully understand left me wondering if it was because of my limited exposure or if it was a fault of the writing.
WE LIVED ON THE HORIZON turned out to be a sort of coming-of-age story for an AI character, or maybe coming-of-consciousness, which is curious. Some of this is illustrated more like a child learning more adult things than a non-human learning about trying to be human. But how can a human author know how a non-human would feel or perceive in this journey? So the point of view is what creates this oddness.
There are other points of view presented to tell their sides of the story, and this is most often through Enita, but they didn't quite draw me in as much. Perhaps Enita being what is called a Sainted is what keeps a little distance. It seems strange that an AI character would have less distance in the POV.
After settling in with the world portrayed in this novel, I felt the pull to continue reading at each turn. It is a sort of quiet apocalypse story (and a couple of my favorite books also fall into this category). That is not to say that there is no exciting action. But the storytelling has a steady and calm pace to it, and every character seems to be resigned to the progression of events as they come.
I am curious to read more of Erika Swyler's work.
Thank you to Atria Books and Goodreads for the advance copy of this book.
While I don't typically read fiction with as many sc-fi elements as this novel has, I was relatively comfortable in this world. But a few concepts or visuals that I did not fully understand left me wondering if it was because of my limited exposure or if it was a fault of the writing.
WE LIVED ON THE HORIZON turned out to be a sort of coming-of-age story for an AI character, or maybe coming-of-consciousness, which is curious. Some of this is illustrated more like a child learning more adult things than a non-human learning about trying to be human. But how can a human author know how a non-human would feel or perceive in this journey? So the point of view is what creates this oddness.
There are other points of view presented to tell their sides of the story, and this is most often through Enita, but they didn't quite draw me in as much. Perhaps Enita being what is called a Sainted is what keeps a little distance. It seems strange that an AI character would have less distance in the POV.
After settling in with the world portrayed in this novel, I felt the pull to continue reading at each turn. It is a sort of quiet apocalypse story (and a couple of my favorite books also fall into this category). That is not to say that there is no exciting action. But the storytelling has a steady and calm pace to it, and every character seems to be resigned to the progression of events as they come.
I am curious to read more of Erika Swyler's work.
December 22, 2025
Such a GOOD read!! The world building and character development was so well crafted. There are so many subplots and themes that are layered through the main narrative that it constantly keeps you captivated and wanting to know more. As we enter a more AI centered society, this book is perfect for analyzing the problems that come with that. I can't decide if I love or dislike the endings some of the characters have. The endings are concrete but also leave a lot for the reader to assume. I do hope there is a second book because I think there is so much more to explore in this world.
January 15, 2025
Erika Swyler’s We Lived on the Horizon is one of those books that quietly gets under your skin. It’s set in a future where humanity and AI are deeply intertwined, and the story focuses on Saint Enita Malovis, a bio-prosthetist living in the walled city of Bulwark. Enita creates a physical body for her house AI, Nix, hoping they’ll carry on her life’s work. But when a fellow Sainted is mysteriously murdered and the city’s overarching AI, Parallax, erases the records, Enita and Nix are thrown into a mystery that forces them to question everything they thought they knew about their world.
The character development in this book is amazing—especially Nix. Watching them grow from a disembodied AI to something so much more was easily my favorite part of the book. The relationship between Enita and Nix is layered and full of moments that really made me stop and think about what it means to be human (or not).
Swyler also does an incredible job of showing both sides of technological advancement. The world she builds is full of innovation and possibility, but there’s also a darker undercurrent that’s impossible to ignore. It felt balanced in a way that made the story hit harder.
As much as I loved being drawn into this world, the reason it’s not a 5-star read for me is that I struggled to picture some of the settings and scenes. With similar books, I’ve felt like I was standing right there with the characters, but here the world didn’t feel as vivid to me. That said, this is absolutely a story I’ll be thinking about for a long time, especially the themes and the way Nix’s journey unfolds.
If you’re into stories that explore the complexities of humanity, AI, and what the future might look like, I’d highly recommend picking this one up!
The character development in this book is amazing—especially Nix. Watching them grow from a disembodied AI to something so much more was easily my favorite part of the book. The relationship between Enita and Nix is layered and full of moments that really made me stop and think about what it means to be human (or not).
Swyler also does an incredible job of showing both sides of technological advancement. The world she builds is full of innovation and possibility, but there’s also a darker undercurrent that’s impossible to ignore. It felt balanced in a way that made the story hit harder.
As much as I loved being drawn into this world, the reason it’s not a 5-star read for me is that I struggled to picture some of the settings and scenes. With similar books, I’ve felt like I was standing right there with the characters, but here the world didn’t feel as vivid to me. That said, this is absolutely a story I’ll be thinking about for a long time, especially the themes and the way Nix’s journey unfolds.
If you’re into stories that explore the complexities of humanity, AI, and what the future might look like, I’d highly recommend picking this one up!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 228 reviews