By Satu Sarkas-Bosman
Alma Katsu casts her sharp eye on the modern phenomenon of Influencers and the power of social media in our lives. Dorothy, highly intelligent but a troubled young woman, desires a life far from the bullying and ridicule that clouded her early years. After accepting a job offer from an IT company, Dorothy moves to California and feels sure that this is her chance to be seen and acknowledged. The company concentrates on groundbreaking deepfake technology, hoping to create a new viral sensation and becoming the leader on this field.
Dorothy feels marginalised and not appreciated for all the work she does, creating feelings of resentment against her colleagues. What can she do to be finally recognised and experience the existence she feels she deserves? The answer comes in a form of AI Isabella, gorgeous and gregarious, thanks to Dorothy’s brilliant creative code.
A viral sensation is born creating numerous questions of ‘who is Isabella?’, ‘where does she come from?’ and ‘how can we meet her?’ from its millions of followers, together with financially beneficial offers of collaboration. Dorothy is finally part of something exciting with her creation living the life she herself craves. However, she never accounted for the demands this places upon her; how long can she go on pretending that Isabella really exists? One day, a message arrives from an unknown source simply stating: ‘Looks like you made a friend. She’s beautiful. Don’t keep her all to yourself, now. She could take you far’… This is the start of all things terrifying and unearthly, changing Dorothy’s life beyond her wildest expectations.
Alma Katsu’s storytelling is intelligent, fascinating and perfectly captures the ever-expanding impact of social media. Dorothy, as the protagonist, is deliciously flawed, making your feelings towards her strongly divided. She and Isabella are the absolute central characters, leaving others to accommodate the ever-deepening spiral of Dorothy’s life. This book is a tale of a desperate desire to be noticed, the belief of a right to be ‘someone’ and a warning of the impacts when we allow the virtual world into our lives. Katsu asks us to consider: where does this all end? As we all know, the answer is that we have no idea…
Incarnate by Alma Katsu is released on
