Numbercaste by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne.
While I loved The Salvage Crew and admire Wijeratne’s writing skills (he’s an excellent and skilled writer), Numbercaste didn’t quite work for me. The novel flows like a dream and is expertly plotted. I appreciate the author’s smooth, immersive style and how he never jerks me out of the story.
Set in a near-future world where social media and data analytics determine a person’s worth, Numbercaste explores what happens when a tech company gains unchecked power. It’s a fascinating and all-too-plausible premise, but it was too realistic for me. I should have known from the blurb this wasn’t my kind of story, but my appreciation for The Salvage Crew convinced me to give it a shot. That book, set in space with a strong mystery element, was much more my speed.
That said, if you enjoy dystopian sci-fi with sharp social commentary, you’ll likely find Numbercaste an engaging and thought-provoking read. My review is purely based on personal preference rather than any flaw in the book itself, and I’ll be reading more books by this author.
