Cyber Mage

By: Saad Z. Hossain

Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi

Welcome to Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2089. A city notorious for its extreme population density has found an unexpected way to not just survive a global climate apocalypse, but thrive: pump enough biological nanotech into the neighborhood and all of the bodies together form a self-sustaining, and even temperate, microclimate. Of course, this means that millions of humans have to stay put in order to maintain a livable temperature, and people are getting restless. All of the nanotech has also led to some surprises: certain people no longer need food or water, while others can live without functioning organs.

So the mercenary Djibrel has to carry a machete wherever he goes. Only a swift beheading can ensure the job gets done anymore. Djibrel navigates the crowded streets, humans teeming with genetic mutations, looking for answers about what happened to the Djinn, a magical super race of genies who seem to have disappeared, or merged, with humans for survival.

What Djibrel doesn’t know is that his every move is being tracked by the infamous Cyber Mage—better known to his parents as Murzak, a privileged, snarky teenager who regularly works for a Russian crime syndicate with a band of elite hackers, like his best friend ReGi, who resides in North Africa’s FEZ (Free Economic Zone). Respected and feared online, Murzak is about to embark on one of his biggest challenges: attending high school IRL. But when he discovers a brand new type of AI, operating on a dark web from the abandoned Kingdom of Bahrain that he thought was just an urban myth, Murzak and Djibrel will have to face the unimaginable in an already inconceivable world.

In this laugh-out-loud-funny and totally original new novel, Saad Z. Hossain continues his signature genre mashup of SF and fantasy, challenging and subverting everything previously imagined about our future and climate change. A scathing critique of corporate greed, Hossain shows us how to think beyond the naïve ideas of preening moguls like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk.

©2021 Saad Z. Hossain (P)2022 Scribd Audio

Fun

Cyber Mage picks up a hundred years or so after what transpired in Djinn City. It's its own adventure, with a new cast of characters (with a few carrying over from the previous book), so it isn't necessary to have read the first story to follow what's going on. But, imho, knowing what happened in the past, made Cyber Mage's story richer and more enjoyable.

The story's also told differently than the earlier book. It's still complex and intertwined with a large cast of characters, but it's lighter and funnier and the adventure revolves around a central main character, Murzak.

Virtually? Murzak's The Cyber Mage, a savvy computer genius with a dynamic personality. He's excelled at anything he's tried in cyberspace. (The world's function is dependent on AIs and computerization now.) Whether it's online education, gaming, hacking, equipment, ordinance, satellites, running the dark web or naming his price to big ticket corporations that line up to have him improve their security systems (most of which he's hacked and plundered, with back doors inserted for future access), he's top dog. Respected. Revered. An icon (especially in the gaming world).

Physically? Murzak's a pudgy teenager with limited personal skills. When he falls hard for a girl his age at a family function, he decides the best way to achieve his heart's desire (to impress her) is to enroll himself at her school...against the vehement objections of his cyber friend, fellow gamer, ReGi, that it's a baaad idea.

On Murzak's first day he catches the eye of an upper classman. He's a top athlete, both popular and socially connected, and he's also the scion of a mobster family that the school's administration is afraid of and beholden to for their monetary contributions. So he's pretty much got free rein to do whatever he wants at school with only token corrections for his behavior which translates into 'keep it out of sight' and his sadistic bullying of weaker pupils is ignored.

Bruised and smarting, Murzak searches for a way to win in this situation while he's in cyberspace, when an unusual computer intelligence shows up in his feed. It's naive, reaching out for help to understand itself, unwilling to execute its directive just yet. (Which is to launch and take over everything. AIs. Their networks. Wreaking havoc and destruction while enslaving the city's systems that run life support, commerce, defense, travel, banking, you name it! Conquering the millions of people who's lives depend on it with one blow.) Murzak thinks the first thing it should do is pick a name. How about Kali? He encourages it to go explore, research who the goddess is, decide if it wants Kali for a name and after it's departed, contemplates how to get Kali to modify its objective, doing what _he_ wants, instead.

And don't forget about the Djinn! Lurking just out of sight or occasionally appearing in the city (freaking out anybody that sees them), they're still meddling with each other in a deft game of cat and mouse or waging a campaign of chaos and upheaval with their human pawns or trying to take control of the city in the first stage of their long game of world dominion.

Murzak thinks Djinn sightings are just a myth perpetrated by a defense contractor when the results of their illegal experimentation on the poor escape back into the city's slums, until one shows up to pay him a visit...and it's his great, great, great, great grand uncle?

The narration in Cyber Mage is excellent. Again Fajer Al-Kaisi's performance is a pleasure to listen to with all of the characters vivid, distinct and stepping off the page. His nuanced performance throughout the book captures your empathy and sympathy and compassion for the wide ranging cast and his comedic timing is superb, making for many enjoyable moments of absurdity, wry wit and laugh out loud pleasure.

Well worth the credit.

Well done modern 'cyberpunk' with a south Asian fl

Good for young adults as well as full grown. The beast I'm this genre written recently.