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Proliferation
Population centers have been leveled and society has regressed to a pre-industrialized state. An advanced city rises from the ashes, enabling the rebirth of more such cities, each one subtly different, the result of an experiment in finding the best machine-governed utopia. Sovereign forces mobilize to exploit their power, and others, to contain them.
At the heart of this struggle is an unlikely pair; a dejected anthropologist whose life’s work has finally become useful, and a snarky pirate forced to serve a monastic cult. To survive, they must not only navigate escalating conflict, but also understand the broader implications of the rising machine cities for all of humanity.
* A stand-alone novel in the same world as DETONATION *
At the heart of this struggle is an unlikely pair; a dejected anthropologist whose life’s work has finally become useful, and a snarky pirate forced to serve a monastic cult. To survive, they must not only navigate escalating conflict, but also understand the broader implications of the rising machine cities for all of humanity.
* A stand-alone novel in the same world as DETONATION *
436 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2021
56 people are currently reading
1112 people want to read
About the author
Erik A. Otto
10 books93 followersErik A. Otto is a former healthcare industry executive, now turned science fiction author. His works include A Toxic Ambition, Detonation, Proliferation, Falcon Fire, and the Tale of Infidels series. Detonation has been named to Kirkus Reviews Best Books of 2018, and is a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for 2018. More information about his novels can be found at the following link:
https://www.erik-a-otto.com/eaonovels/
Erik's works of fiction expose the impact of cultural and technological themes on society in a number of futuristic and otherworldly settings. He focuses on delivering intricate plotting, engaging characters and action-driven story telling to immerse the reader in thought-provoking events and circumstances.
In addition to writing, Erik is currently serving as the Managing Director of Ethagi Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting the safe and ethical use of artificial general intelligence technologies. He lives in Victoria, BC, with his wife and two children.
https://www.erik-a-otto.com/eaonovels/
Erik's works of fiction expose the impact of cultural and technological themes on society in a number of futuristic and otherworldly settings. He focuses on delivering intricate plotting, engaging characters and action-driven story telling to immerse the reader in thought-provoking events and circumstances.
In addition to writing, Erik is currently serving as the Managing Director of Ethagi Inc., an organization dedicated to promoting the safe and ethical use of artificial general intelligence technologies. He lives in Victoria, BC, with his wife and two children.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 27, 2021
A deft combination of compelling characters and adventure with increasingly relevant philosophical questions about artificial intelligence's potential impact on society woven into the mix. Highly entertaining and thought-provoking!
February 8, 2025
I am one of the judges of team Space Girls for the SPSFC4 contest. This review is my personal opinion. Officially, it is still in the running for the contest, pending any official team announcements.
Status: Yes
Read: 100%
I am immensely impressed with this book so far. Within the scouting phase with several strong quartfinalist contenders in my team, there has been 2 books that have really surprised me so far. One of the two happens to be this book.
Solid and very polished prose, engaging characters and a mystery unfurling that is teetering into a mixture between political backstabbing meets weirdness, there's plenty of different genres working together. Putting these elements together entails huge writing risks. And behold! It works here, it really freaking works.
Having post-apocalyptic stories entering Dark Ages is a common worldbuilding trope in Sci Fi novels. Plenty of books go for the gunslinger action with female sex slave aspect. But not this book. We have a mixture of fractured city-states much like Italy or Germany before attaining formal statehood that somewhat keep to themselves.
Some city states are in the most literal of senses anti technology luddites that make the medieval dark ages tropes seem tame in comparison. Others tolerate ancient tech without truly understanding it. While I would have wanted to learn if the luddite Existentialists allow printing presses to make books (the book hints they do under the condition books aren't printed using electricity), most of the degree of technology conservation in this book is well explained. Wind sail ships are once again back in vogue and Japanese military fleets wielding katanas are a common sight.
I enjoyed how the book peppers the political machinations of General Hatsuo without overburdening the reader. My favorite character by leagues is Lexie, a spunky female pirate armed with a dangerous weapon that might just keep her alive: critical thinking and good street smarts. She knows she is in a sticky situation being tossed around by a group of strange Brotherhood (?) of Spies/Priests/Councilmen colloquially known as Gungivite Observers.
We get to spend sufficient time among their isolationist community to learn how Gungivites keep their society in working order where the more knowledgeable you are about the world, the more dangerous the missions to run their country. Kind of like the mission separation system seen in the Naruto anime. Genin get the easy peasy stuff. Low risk to life & limb in exchange for a stable living. Chuunin get the standard fare of danger. The highest ranked Jonin would certainly be the Observer social caste. They make the biggest administrative decisions, know the most about dangerous topics and have the highest societal expectations (including birthing children).
In a nutshell, I was fascinated with the secret lives of Nillias and his Observer peer/superior Olint and really want to learn more about them. Such as what is with those fruit basements.
The second POV Dryden might not be equally interesting worldbuildingwise, but the book handles very well the repercussions of his prior mistakes. Character flaws that continue haunting him and are making him make wrong decisions that could steer the plot later on.
There's lots of things going on within the first 30% of the book. World has been fleshed out, characters with interesting backstories well known and oh... we have BIIIIIG domesticated cats. Like, isn't that the coolest thing ever? Okay, so Mr. Purralot that looks like a Serval or maybe Mountain Lion might kill you by mistake. I still think having a nice and big wild cat as your life companion to be a cool extra.
---
Update: I have finished this book, and wow, I loved it. Some of the odd things happening at first in the book such as the enthusiasm from the Sanuwans to allow hostile foreign armies to storm Haplopol makes perfect sense later in the story.
We finally discover Nillias's pet cat is some type of mountain lion named Aleron and I continue to love his character every step of the way even though he's the most dour nutjob guy ever. Lexie is still awesome and Dryden finally starts being more proactive.
Alayna is a fascinating supporting character. We usually don't get mothers in fiction that are so emotionally detached from the rigors of motherhood. Even though I could never quite connect to her as a reader because she shields her emotions as a defense mechanism, she is well written and a breath of fresh air. Tarn is hilarious with his brutish shenanigans.
I would like to say more about the story, but everything is a spoiler. From the looks of it, there isn't a sequel (a bummer, because there's tons of loose ends waiting to be solved). Even so, some chapters in this book really hit me with the tropes I love the most in Sci-Fi books. Even though I know I really shouldn't be buying more physical books because I don't have space, I feel I am going to want to reread my favorite book passages for many years to come. So yup, I am going to need a copy of this book in paperback.
Status: Yes
Read: 100%
I am immensely impressed with this book so far. Within the scouting phase with several strong quartfinalist contenders in my team, there has been 2 books that have really surprised me so far. One of the two happens to be this book.
Solid and very polished prose, engaging characters and a mystery unfurling that is teetering into a mixture between political backstabbing meets weirdness, there's plenty of different genres working together. Putting these elements together entails huge writing risks. And behold! It works here, it really freaking works.
Having post-apocalyptic stories entering Dark Ages is a common worldbuilding trope in Sci Fi novels. Plenty of books go for the gunslinger action with female sex slave aspect. But not this book. We have a mixture of fractured city-states much like Italy or Germany before attaining formal statehood that somewhat keep to themselves.
Some city states are in the most literal of senses anti technology luddites that make the medieval dark ages tropes seem tame in comparison. Others tolerate ancient tech without truly understanding it. While I would have wanted to learn if the luddite Existentialists allow printing presses to make books (the book hints they do under the condition books aren't printed using electricity), most of the degree of technology conservation in this book is well explained. Wind sail ships are once again back in vogue and Japanese military fleets wielding katanas are a common sight.
I enjoyed how the book peppers the political machinations of General Hatsuo without overburdening the reader. My favorite character by leagues is Lexie, a spunky female pirate armed with a dangerous weapon that might just keep her alive: critical thinking and good street smarts. She knows she is in a sticky situation being tossed around by a group of strange Brotherhood (?) of Spies/Priests/Councilmen colloquially known as Gungivite Observers.
We get to spend sufficient time among their isolationist community to learn how Gungivites keep their society in working order where the more knowledgeable you are about the world, the more dangerous the missions to run their country. Kind of like the mission separation system seen in the Naruto anime. Genin get the easy peasy stuff. Low risk to life & limb in exchange for a stable living. Chuunin get the standard fare of danger. The highest ranked Jonin would certainly be the Observer social caste. They make the biggest administrative decisions, know the most about dangerous topics and have the highest societal expectations (including birthing children).
In a nutshell, I was fascinated with the secret lives of Nillias and his Observer peer/superior Olint and really want to learn more about them. Such as what is with those fruit basements.
The second POV Dryden might not be equally interesting worldbuildingwise, but the book handles very well the repercussions of his prior mistakes. Character flaws that continue haunting him and are making him make wrong decisions that could steer the plot later on.
There's lots of things going on within the first 30% of the book. World has been fleshed out, characters with interesting backstories well known and oh... we have BIIIIIG domesticated cats. Like, isn't that the coolest thing ever? Okay, so Mr. Purralot that looks like a Serval or maybe Mountain Lion might kill you by mistake. I still think having a nice and big wild cat as your life companion to be a cool extra.
---
Update: I have finished this book, and wow, I loved it. Some of the odd things happening at first in the book such as the enthusiasm from the Sanuwans to allow hostile foreign armies to storm Haplopol makes perfect sense later in the story.
We finally discover Nillias's pet cat is some type of mountain lion named Aleron and I continue to love his character every step of the way even though he's the most dour nutjob guy ever. Lexie is still awesome and Dryden finally starts being more proactive.
Alayna is a fascinating supporting character. We usually don't get mothers in fiction that are so emotionally detached from the rigors of motherhood. Even though I could never quite connect to her as a reader because she shields her emotions as a defense mechanism, she is well written and a breath of fresh air. Tarn is hilarious with his brutish shenanigans.
I would like to say more about the story, but everything is a spoiler. From the looks of it, there isn't a sequel (a bummer, because there's tons of loose ends waiting to be solved). Even so, some chapters in this book really hit me with the tropes I love the most in Sci-Fi books. Even though I know I really shouldn't be buying more physical books because I don't have space, I feel I am going to want to reread my favorite book passages for many years to come. So yup, I am going to need a copy of this book in paperback.
August 18, 2021
A tedious read where everyone asks questions that others don’t answer, sometimes as many as 12 questions on a page.
Everyone is supposed to be mysterious but instead come across as irritating and juvenile
The reason the superior beings kill makes no sense, they ways are those of the ignorant and uneducated.
And Lexie must be 12, because she certainly doesn’t act like and adult nor does anyone else in the book.
Everyone is supposed to be mysterious but instead come across as irritating and juvenile
The reason the superior beings kill makes no sense, they ways are those of the ignorant and uneducated.
And Lexie must be 12, because she certainly doesn’t act like and adult nor does anyone else in the book.
Read
May 6, 2025[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I read this book as a judge for the fourth annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, murder, death, kidnapping, confinement, drug use, vomit, alcohol, addiction, grief, child abuse, child neglect, self harm
--
Taking place in the Pacific Northwest where a catastrophic event has driven society back to a pre-industrialised way of life, albeit with some technological advancements still a part of it, the awakening of one of the long dormant machine/AI run ICSM cities sets into motion a fight for its domination by the various groups that inhabit the area.
Erik A Otto’s prose is easy to follow and captures the physical settings and atmosphere of the story well. I was immediately reeled in by the concept of awakening machine/AI cities however, I’ve got to say I struggled with staying engaged with the story overall and I think this came down to not getting on with the narrators for the most part.
It is a very busy story with many different factions involved, thus there is a big cast of characters of varying importance where two dominate most of the narration and other perspectives drop in later on. The two leads are Dryden, an anthropologist who is commandeered for the mission to secure the awakened Haplopol and Lexie, an ex pirate who gets abducted by a cult which is hellbent on its own objectives with regards to the cities.
Lexie’s chapters just about kept me engaged but Dryden’s not so much. To begin with for both perspectives there was just a lot more talking around what was happening over the protagonists being actively involved. Dryden especially seemed to hardly have any real agency and other than info-dumping his knowledge of the ICSM cities he always seemed on the periphery of all of the political tensions that were ensuing.
I guess with him being an anthropologist, his chapters being more to do with witnessing what others were up to around him without much involvement could be the whole point but as someone who was super intrigued by how the cities worked, especially when a certain reveal about the experiential rooms came about, the fact the you’re never in the thick of the action with them seemed like a missed opportunity to me.
Lexie’s side of the story eventually gained more of a definitive direction to it and had an edge of mystery which kept me curious but it was also not without a handful of question and answer dialogue sessions that info-dumped backstory and reveals. Across the board I often found the characters’ motivations unclear, thus it made most of them feel a little distanced from everything happening.
Not that there wasn’t direct action in the book because there was and it was quite violent and bloody but there were also some actions and remarks made by some of the characters which were quite out of pocket to the point that it felt over the top.
All in all the ideas behind the worldbuilding and the overarching themes to do with humanity, civility and power were promising but unfortunately not being able to get invested in the characters meant I wasn’t able to fully get behind the story either.
**I read this book as a judge for the fourth annual Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC), this review is solely my own and does not reflect the opinions of the whole team**
CW: violence, gun violence, blood, murder, death, kidnapping, confinement, drug use, vomit, alcohol, addiction, grief, child abuse, child neglect, self harm
--
Taking place in the Pacific Northwest where a catastrophic event has driven society back to a pre-industrialised way of life, albeit with some technological advancements still a part of it, the awakening of one of the long dormant machine/AI run ICSM cities sets into motion a fight for its domination by the various groups that inhabit the area.
Erik A Otto’s prose is easy to follow and captures the physical settings and atmosphere of the story well. I was immediately reeled in by the concept of awakening machine/AI cities however, I’ve got to say I struggled with staying engaged with the story overall and I think this came down to not getting on with the narrators for the most part.
It is a very busy story with many different factions involved, thus there is a big cast of characters of varying importance where two dominate most of the narration and other perspectives drop in later on. The two leads are Dryden, an anthropologist who is commandeered for the mission to secure the awakened Haplopol and Lexie, an ex pirate who gets abducted by a cult which is hellbent on its own objectives with regards to the cities.
Lexie’s chapters just about kept me engaged but Dryden’s not so much. To begin with for both perspectives there was just a lot more talking around what was happening over the protagonists being actively involved. Dryden especially seemed to hardly have any real agency and other than info-dumping his knowledge of the ICSM cities he always seemed on the periphery of all of the political tensions that were ensuing.
I guess with him being an anthropologist, his chapters being more to do with witnessing what others were up to around him without much involvement could be the whole point but as someone who was super intrigued by how the cities worked, especially when a certain reveal about the experiential rooms came about, the fact the you’re never in the thick of the action with them seemed like a missed opportunity to me.
Lexie’s side of the story eventually gained more of a definitive direction to it and had an edge of mystery which kept me curious but it was also not without a handful of question and answer dialogue sessions that info-dumped backstory and reveals. Across the board I often found the characters’ motivations unclear, thus it made most of them feel a little distanced from everything happening.
Not that there wasn’t direct action in the book because there was and it was quite violent and bloody but there were also some actions and remarks made by some of the characters which were quite out of pocket to the point that it felt over the top.
All in all the ideas behind the worldbuilding and the overarching themes to do with humanity, civility and power were promising but unfortunately not being able to get invested in the characters meant I wasn’t able to fully get behind the story either.
April 27, 2025
I read Proliferation as part of a judging team for the fourth annual Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC4), where it is a semifinalist.
Proliferation is a book that has a lot going on, with a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest divided between anti-tech environmentalists, roving pirates, mountain clans, Japanese military, and a cultlike group with fascination for lost tech. When one of the legendary AI-run cities rises, there are plenty of factions who are interested, and the two main protagonists—a pirate and an academic—are suborned by powerful groups looking to use the technology or to prevent others from doing it.
The plotting here features three pretty distinct acts, all building to big climaxes before skipping forward to build again in the new, slightly changed world. I often like seeing long-term effects of climactic actions (after all, The Long Price Quartet is an all-time favorite), but I wanted a little bit more falling action, rather than rise, reset, rise.
That said, the plotting does generally make sense and build toward the major conflict, and the writing is professional and easy to read. I may complain a bit about the dearth of falling action, but my biggest issue here was just a struggle to truly invest in the lead characters. They’re not necessarily poorly drawn, but it takes something above competent crafting to hook the reader in, and Proliferation featured a lot of totally solid story that nevertheless did not hook me.
First impression: 12/20. Full review and SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
Proliferation is a book that has a lot going on, with a post-apocalyptic Pacific Northwest divided between anti-tech environmentalists, roving pirates, mountain clans, Japanese military, and a cultlike group with fascination for lost tech. When one of the legendary AI-run cities rises, there are plenty of factions who are interested, and the two main protagonists—a pirate and an academic—are suborned by powerful groups looking to use the technology or to prevent others from doing it.
The plotting here features three pretty distinct acts, all building to big climaxes before skipping forward to build again in the new, slightly changed world. I often like seeing long-term effects of climactic actions (after all, The Long Price Quartet is an all-time favorite), but I wanted a little bit more falling action, rather than rise, reset, rise.
That said, the plotting does generally make sense and build toward the major conflict, and the writing is professional and easy to read. I may complain a bit about the dearth of falling action, but my biggest issue here was just a struggle to truly invest in the lead characters. They’re not necessarily poorly drawn, but it takes something above competent crafting to hook the reader in, and Proliferation featured a lot of totally solid story that nevertheless did not hook me.
First impression: 12/20. Full review and SPSFC score to come at www.tarvolon.com
January 1, 2025
Read as a judge for SPSFC4 - 100% read and at this stage I'm saying Y to moving it forward. This is my personal opinion and still have to wait on other Judges on my team for their verdicts.
June 14, 2021
I recieved an Advanced Reader copy of this book from LibraryThing and was somewhat skeptical at first. There are many distopian scifi books out there, and many are less than great.
Without revealing anything I would like to state that this book was an absolute pleasure to read. Focusing on a post technology world with many references to current geographical and ethnic societies a beautiful scene was painted in my mind.
The struggle of civilization to remain "civil" seemed the main take away. Power leads to misuse of power, what can be good is many times used for bad, and the inherent dangers in overly complex and intelligent machines.
I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys scifi or just good fiction in general. Full of scheming, conflict, deep problem solving, with enough emotional ties to give it depth and a sense of realism to relate to our current world. I thank the author for the journey.
Without revealing anything I would like to state that this book was an absolute pleasure to read. Focusing on a post technology world with many references to current geographical and ethnic societies a beautiful scene was painted in my mind.
The struggle of civilization to remain "civil" seemed the main take away. Power leads to misuse of power, what can be good is many times used for bad, and the inherent dangers in overly complex and intelligent machines.
I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys scifi or just good fiction in general. Full of scheming, conflict, deep problem solving, with enough emotional ties to give it depth and a sense of realism to relate to our current world. I thank the author for the journey.
May 30, 2021
while the book is far from perfect, I did enjoy reading it. I had not read the previous book set in this world so I feel like there was a lot of world building taken for granted, that said the world building was mostly consistent (although how much was known in relation to the "lost to myth machine cities" and who knew it started to strain my credulity). Still, I liked the characters and enjoyed spending time in this version of a post-apocalyptic world. I wish certain parts didn't feel so rushed and think that ultimately the book would have benefited from being longer.
October 5, 2021
More fantasy than sci-fi
As fantasy goes this was a good read. I am more into hard sci-fi but I did enjoy the characters and story telling. I am just not a fan of blending medieval weaponry with new technology.
As fantasy goes this was a good read. I am more into hard sci-fi but I did enjoy the characters and story telling. I am just not a fan of blending medieval weaponry with new technology.
October 7, 2021
Very good
Very thought read word word word word word word word word word word this app sucks this app suck blaf
Very thought read word word word word word word word word word word this app sucks this app suck blaf
January 11, 2022
I really just don’t get this book and was left confused and disappointed. Lexi was a great character though.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews