The city known as Neom is many things to many beings, human or otherwise. It is a tech wonderland for the rich and beautiful, an urban sprawl along the Red Sea, and a port of call between Earth and the stars.
In the desert, young orphan Elias has joined a caravan, hoping to earn his passage off-world. But the desert is full of mechanical artefacts, some unexplained and some unexploded. Recently, a wry, unnamed robot has unearthed one of the region's biggest mysteries: the vestiges of a golden man.
In Neom, childhood affection is rekindling between loyal shurta-officer Nasir and hardworking flower-seller Mariam. But Nasu, a deadly terrorartist, has come to the city with missing memories and unfinished business. Just one robot can change a city's destiny with a single rose-especially when that robot is in search of lost love.
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The city of Neom in these pages is old.
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(@TachyonPub, 9 November 2022, e-book, 256 pages, #ARC from the publisher)
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I enjoyed Neom a lot. I've read other books by the same author set in the same universe so my enjoyment was pretty much a given. The world of Neom reminds me a lot of the world in Becky Chambers Monk and Robot books. I intend this to be a compliment as I love those books so I enjoyed spending somewhere I could almost recognise. I enjoyed so much about this book; the world-building, the diverse and well fleshed out characters and the plot. This is well worth a read.
