The Hospital at the End of the World

This gripping and heartfelt coming-of-age tale from debut novelist Key (The World Wasn’t Ready for You, a story collection) takes place in a near-future America dominated by an AI system created by the Shepherd Organization. Medical student Pok Morning was originally hoping to matriculate at a Shepherd-run school, but his physician father’s dying wish was that he learn medicine the traditional way. He heads instead to the Hippocrates school in New Orleans, last bastion of human-based healthcare, hoping to learn more about his father’s mysterious death. Soon, however, his entanglement with the CEO of the Shepherd Organization and knowledge of a secret AI rumored to be stored at Hippocrates gives way to a larger crisis when the government declares the hospital “a clear and present danger to society.” Though the level of coincidence inherent in some late plot reveals strains credulity, the worldbuilding fascinates and Pok is a wonderfully believable protagonist acting from both good intentions and naive suppositions. Key should win plenty of new fans with this. Agent: Adam Eaglin, Cheney Agency. (Feb.)