What is real? The Outside by Ada Hoffman explores this question in a story that is often beautiful and haunting.

The main character is a scientist and not very good with gods. Yasira Shien invents a new type of reactor, andshe has a bad feeling about turning it on; feelings in tune with ‘Outside’.

Outside enters her life, and in order to fight the heretic invasion, she must work with the gods. The person manifesting the Outside is Yasira’s mentor from grad school.  Yasira may be the only one who can find and stop her mentor from unraveling reality.

The story isn’t scary, but I found the way it was written often haunting. There was an ache and a need underlying the story, and I kept reading to find out more about Yasira’s universe and outside. The characters and plot were easy to fall into, and there was much to discover and learn. The characters were often in conflict, and yet each had endearing qualities. I wondered if they could all succeed, so kept turning the pages. Returning to the world Hoffman created each day was such a treat.

The setting was fantastic and the descriptions of ‘Outside’ were marvelous. I would definitely ready more by this author. I highly recommend this book.

Humanity’s super-intelligent AI Gods brutally punish breaches in reality, as one young scientist discovers, in this intense and brilliant space opera.

Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy – if she’ll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld’s fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.