The Expert System's Champion by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Publisher – Tor

Published – Out Now

Price – £9.99 paperback £2.06 Kindle eBook

It's been ten years since Handry was wrenched away from his family and friends, forced to wander a world he no longer understood. But with the help of the Ancients, he has cobbled together a life, of sorts, for himself and his fellow outcasts.

Wandering from village to village, welcoming the folk that the townships abandon, fighting the monsters the villagers cannot—or dare not—his ever-growing band of misfits has become the stuff of legend, a story told by parents to keep unruly children in line.

But there is something new and dangerous in the world, and the beasts of the land are acting against their nature, destroying the towns they once left in peace.

And for the first time in memory, the Ancients have no wisdom to offer...

One of the joys of science fiction is the what if. Writers can play with the laws of physics and biology and create new combinations that creates new wonders, challenges, and terrors. In Adrian Tchaikovsky’s novella The Expert System’s Brother (reviewed here) we came to a world where it’s deceptively middle ages style setting was actually hiding a har more futuristic past that was forgotten. Now in the sequel The Expert System’s Champion we revisit the world, and a truly memorable adversary awaits to be battled.

We return to the story of the central character (and narrator) Hendry. We saw him exiled from his people and via a process known as the Severence he was effectively cut off from the ecosystem – treated by a criminal by his people, finds most of the natural food now inedible but  Hendry found a settlement of others like him and uncovered that the entire planet had been seeded by a highly advanced group of colonists but through the centuries knowledge was lost and although AI hosts regularly take over key people in the village to protect the people the wider knowledge of why this group existed has been lost. But over ten years Hendry’s own community has found their place – working with villages on tasks no one else can do – clear land; building and Hendry almost senses that with some more tie the world may be ready to review the truth. But on a simple job Hendry’s team are alarmed that there seems to be a border dispute that requires attention. The multi-limbed Brackers are in conflict with humans and when Hendry investigates he finds an even more unusual threat has decided to move in. One with ties to the planet’s past and is very much focused on making things fit it’s view of what perfection can be in the future.

If you enjoyed The Expert System’s Brother I think you’ll enjoy this even more. For new readers a recap is quickly provided, and the fun of the novella is exploring what else this world has to offer/threaten Hendry and co. Tchaikovsky skilfully has three groups initially in conflict Hendry’s severed splinter group; the traditional villages and then the humanoid yet alien Brackers. What appears to be going to be a tale of groups learning to live one another though is overturned by something very very alien. I won’t spoil the surprise but the foe in this novel is something you’ll recognise but in giant form and given a distinctly SF twist that connects it to the history of the lost colony. This is a story with a puzzle and the pieces very neatly cross together.

One new element to the mix is that village AI have determined Hendry’s group may be a threat and produce a champion named Amorket who proves a worthy foe to Hendry and allows for body horror with a human being suffused with quite unusual bio weapons. Prepare for battles both of trust and against some truly powerful and disturbing creatures.  Impressively I also got very the sense that since the first story we are finally seeing in what has been a stagnant society change on many levels finally accelerated and I would be intrigued to see where future adventures in this world takes us.

I’ve been circumspect in my review as you may gather because the joy for the reader s putting all these elements together to find out the cause of all this trouble and it should make you go ewww at least once. The reveal is very firmly unforgettable.  A chewy science fiction tale I think many of you will enjoy.