Krysa

A compulsively readable alternative history in which a Soviet artificial intelligence takes over the world.

What if Frank Rosenblatt, the father of machine learning, had not died in a boating accident in 1971, but had been picked up by a Soviet nuclear submarine and taken to a secret base to develop artificial intelligence, the Krysa?

Thanks to the Krysa, the Soviet Union has become the leader of the world. However, when the Krysa goes off, civilization collapses. Pavel Dybenko, who caused the disaster, ends up in a remote cabin in Finland, taking with him an atomic-powered doll. Every person Dybenko has ever known is dead. As far as he knows, he is the only one who knows exactly why it all happened.

It is possible that one day someone will find their way to this remote cabin. They’ll find what is left of me here, and you. I’m sure you’ll still have enough power then. Who knows, the finder might have enough wit, patience and luck to dig out of you whatever you have stored in your electronic circuits. I’d really like to hear what kind of story they make up about all this. I am the last and only one who knows how this happened. Now I’ll tell it to you.

Krysa is a reality-bending story about how the world order can depend on small things, but in the end, it tells more about our time than about an alternative reality. It is wildly imaginative, witty, exciting, and clever. Krysa is a picaresque novel with a handful of apocalyptic visions, a dash of lingering nostalgia, and a healthy dose of hearty laughter.