“Crier’s War,” written by Nina Varela, follows the story of two girls: one human, one automae. Crier is automae, or “made” as Varela refers to them. While “Crier’s War” may seem like another book about human-like AI taking over the world, it does not follow the tropes of most sci-fi novels. It is a fantasy novel with elements of magic, and one that explores less the concept of AI, or as Nina Varela refers to them, automae; and more the idea of revolution and what it means to be alive and feel. It is rare to find a book told from an automne point of view, let alone one whose point of view explores what the difference between humans and automate really are. Varela reimagines the rise of robots, in a heartfelt, intriguing and nuanced way.

Ayla, a human working at the palace, is a part of the resistance, a group that wants to overthrow the automae rulers and save humans from poverty and servitude. She wants to kill Princess Crier as revenge against her father for murdering her family and other human families in countless raids. After Crier takes a liking to Ayla and makes her a lady in waiting, Ayla thinks her goal is that much easier. But as she starts to fall for Crier, she feels her resolve fade and struggles to push away her feelings in order to get the job done.

Meanwhile, Crier is also struggling to ignore her feelings; her whole life she has been told that humans are the one with uncontrollable emotions, and automae are logical and smart. But Kinok, her betrothed changes everything. Kinok is a part of the anti-reliance movement, a group of automae who want to abandon humans completely and create a completely new society.  Kinok shows Crier her design, and she sees that she was made with a flaw: she has a extra pillar in her design. Automae have pillars that give them four attributes; intellect, organics, calculation, and reason. But this extra pillar makes her think that along with the other automae pillars they all have, she has an extra one that gives her the capacity to love and would get her killed if anyone knew. She tries to hide her feelings so no one knows she is flawed while moving closer to a loveless marriage with Kinok, who she trusts less every day. As Crier tries to unravel Kinok’s dark plans and Ayla tries to find a way to kill her, they fall in love with each other. In their own ways, they both try to discover what it is to let yourself feel, and find it getting in the way of what they are expected to do. They break expectations while trying to find a way for equality to emerge between humans and automae.

Varela writes with a style that keeps up the pace of the story while lingering on important moments and enriching the plot. The genre is fantasy, but it is not completely unrealistic. The basis of the novel, the automae taking over the world, is realistic enough to not take away from the way the book applies to reality. The novel explores topics like class issues, inequality, political activism, and yet also what it is to be alive, where the ability to love comes from, and accepting one’s emotions. 

This book has LGBTQ elements, but it is not focused on that. This is a book where two girls can fall in love and their main problem in the book isn’t dealing with homophobia, or coming out. It is a romantic fantasy story, with the love interests just happening to be both girls. It stands out from a lot of books that are about being gay, which seem to center around coming out or homophobia as the conflict in the story. While those things must also be written about, there is something refreshing about being able to have a novel where queer romance isn’t focused around homophobia and the two characters can’t be together, not because of homophobia, but because of their different backgrounds. 

“Crier’s War” is definitely worth reading for anyone who likes science fiction, fantasy, romance, or just good writing. The sequel, “Iron Heart” was recently published, and though I haven’t read it yet, I am eager to see where Varela takes her characters in the next book.