Al Hess has done it again!! In Mazarin Blues, Hess presents a world where AI assistants ("navigators") are required by law, and one shady tech company controls the market. When new "Beta navs" with even more personality are gifted to random citizens, it opens a Pandora's box of questions about AI sentience, the extent of corporate greed, and the ability of a person (or AI) to overcome their base nature. There is queer romance aplenty, with one M/M couple and one Nb/Nb relationship. All four love interests are disabled in some way, and it is woven incredibly well into the cyberpunk setting.

My other favorite thing about this world is how queer-normative it is. This is not a world where people care what gender your partner is, and it doesn't even seem to be a world where being non-binary is particularly head-turning. It is still a binary-by-default society, but it is refreshing to not have queerphobia be a part of the conflicts.

However, Hess does still find a way to make the story resonant to those of us who don't live in such a world. Instead of being homophobic/transphobic, this world is afraid of "decoists," which basically covers anyone who wants to dress interesting or decorate their home with things that aren't beige. Through moving the stigma of queerness onto a different trait (that is often closely related to queerness), Hess manages to capture the stress of hiding something important about yourself, without making the reader experience secondhand queerphobia.

Basically, I loved everything about this book and I'm JAZZED that it's one of Hess's few books with a sequel.

CWs Home invasion Panic attacks Mind control/manipulation Suicide (onscreen, but brief) Autopsy description (brief) Domestic violence (backstory)