THE MUNICIPALISTS by Seth Fried – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Municipalists by Seth Fried
Published by Penguin Books on March 19 2019
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 272
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Full of humor, action, mystery and suspense, this story surprised me with its unexpectedly satisfying emotional depth.

I know I’ve stumbled onto a talented writer when a story’s themes are carried out from beginning to end, and that’s exactly what Seth Fried has done in The Municipalists. The two main characters, an odd couple consisting of a lonely office worker and a smartass, wise cracking AI named OWEN, are what make this story so much fun. Fried injects all sorts of wry humor into his story, as Henry and OWEN are thrown together and must figure out how to get along, despite their differences. And beneath all the humor is a touching portrayal of a very lonely man with a tragic past and his attempts to connect with people, even though he’s not very good at it.

Henry Thompson lives in the city of Suitland and works for the United States Municipal Survey, a government agency that focuses on city improvements, traffic control and how to make life better for the millions of Americans who live in large cities. He sincerely loves his job, to the extent that his personal life suffers because of it. Mostly friendless, dry and humorless, Henry cheerfully goes through life, concerned only with improving commute times or finding funds to support cultural events.

Until one day at work, a building-wide power outage sets off a chain of events that will force Henry out of his comfort zone. News comes in that the agency branch in the city of Metropolis has been destroyed, and the director of that branch, a maverick named Terrance Kirklin, has gone missing. Despite his reluctance to leave his home office, Garrett insists on sending Henry to Metropolis in order to find Kirklin. Accompanying him is a most unusual companion, a 3D projection of the agency’s supercomputer, an AI named OWEN. Henry and OWEN arrive in Metropolis and immediately find themselves in a boatload of trouble. Someone knows they’re looking for Kirklin, and after Henry is viciously attacked, it’s clear that Kirklin doesn’t want to be found.

At the same time, an eighteen-year-old social media star named Sarah Laury also disappears. Are the rumors that Kirklin may have kidnapped Laury true? Who is trying to kill Henry? With OWEN’s help, Henry uncovers a conspiracy of the worst kind: someone is trying to sabotage his beloved company, and they won’t stop until the city of Metropolis has been destroyed.

One of my favorite things about this book is the relationship between Henry and OWEN. I love that Fried did something unexpected by giving OWEN all the personality and making Henry a dull, workaholic. It isn’t until Henry’s spent a lot of time with OWEN that his personality starts to shine through. I kept forgetting that OWEN was actually a walking computer, because he felt so human at times. OWEN loves to “drink” and carries a flask around wherever he goes, and he even tempts Henry into getting drunk more than once. Of course, a computer can’t really drink, but the author convinces us that he’s “drunk” with a mathematical explanation, which was pretty cool!

For me, the mystery behind the attacks on Metropolis wasn’t the most interesting part of the story, although, don’t get me wrong, I had a blast following the antics of Henry and OWEN when they get to Metropolis and start looking for Kirklin. I was more interested in Fried’s fascinating, futuristic world, a world that doesn’t seem much different from our own, until you notice the constant hum of drones, or the fact that a supercomputer is walking the streets, wielding projections of weapons and sending the city into a panic. I also loved the special tie clip that Henry is forced to wear so that OWEN’s physical projection will work. It solves the problem of “how is OWEN able to walk around?” by housing the technology for the 3D projection. I also loved that when Henry’s had enough of OWEN, he simply takes off the tie clip and hides it in a drawer!

The story goes off the rails a bit at times, and I found myself rolling my eyes at some of the more ludicrous action scenes. OWEN himself contributes to a lot of the silliness. For example, because he’s a computer, he’s able to change his appearance at will, and he uses that ability to turn into all sorts of crazy things like a giant killer clown or a rampaging bear. While funny, those scenes weren’t my favorite parts of the story, even though OWEN makes Henry’s life much more interesting. I also thought the storyline with Sarah Laury was one of the weaker parts of The Municipalists. Laury had the potential to be a stronger character, but she felt oddly flat to me, despite her interesting backstory and all the drama surrounding her disappearance.

But what I did love about this story were the little emotional touches that Fried added. We learn early on that Henry’s parents were killed in a train accident when he was a young boy, and that experience has colored his life in many ways. Not only was he raised in the foster system after they died, but he’s obsessed with model trains. Henry spends his days as an adult in search of the rare model train that belonged to his father, which broke my heart. Fried also explores the meaning of friendship. OWEN is Henry’s first real friend, but he does plenty of soul-searching about whether he can even be friends with a computer, even after all their adventures together. OWEN is bigger than life and his personality dominates this story, but Henry is the character I sympathized with, the one I rooted for, and the one who ultimately made me smile.

The ending surprised me, in a good way. The Municipalists has lots of humor and action on the surface, but there’s also plenty of emotion and heart if you look just a bit deeper. I can’t wait to see what Seth Fried does next!

Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.