Extropia
Jae Darcy
Pomegranate Seed Press (2026)
ISBN: 979-8996261710
Reviewed by A. Crimin for Reader Views (09/2026)
Take my hand and join me in the year 2164 in Jae Darcy’s Extropia. The world as we know it has been split in two: The Inside, a digital utopia where those who can afford to store their living bodies project their consciousness; and the Outside, what remains of the physical world that the rest of humanity has left behind. The world has been stripped for resources and left to decay, and those who remain on the Outside are not expected to live past fifty. And some must remain on the outside. Who else will grow the food, and who will look after the bodies in deprivation tanks? Who will enforce order? Living on the inside is expensive, the corporations running the world make sure of that.
We get two views of this tense, futuristic Seattle: One from Bache, a former hacker who lost his ability to visit the Inside during a deadly job as a political activist, and Ayven, a blind girl from a hidden Luddite commune in the far mountains. Their worlds collide when Ayven is sent on a dangerous journey to Seattle to beg Bache’s help. The Luddites want a program, a deadly virus he created… Only, Bache can’t journey to the Inside, not with the injury that fried his hardware. Ayven can — only, on the Inside, she discovers that she can see again.
No single faction has all of the answers, and Bache and Ayven must learn to navigate the spaces in between if they want to survive long enough to learn what really matters to them. And there is a lot to survive. Bache’s old programs were stolen and used in a deadly hack to prove that the Inside is not so safe as it seems… Not great, when he’s simply trying to stay out of jail. Meanwhile Ayven is promised to Elijah, the new leader of her closed-off commune, a man who cares nothing for her opinions and only for what she can do for him. Together, can they change society? Or will the virus destroy their futures?
The characters are relatable and real, and the heart of this story. Bache is jaded and hurt, grieving and angry after the job that lost him everything. Despite that, he’s honest and funny and willing to stick his neck out to do what he thinks is right, even at his lowest. Ayven is not defined by her disability; she is courageous and brash, smart and capable. She’s willful to the point of stubbornness, and she doesn’t give up. She comes from a very different upbringing than Bache, which puts her principles to the test when she comes into contact with the world outside of her commune for the first time.
The plot was tight and the pacing had me reading this all in one go. Extropia was mysterious and thrilling in turn, and I greatly enjoyed it. If you’re looking for a dystopian cyberpunk read, one with some thrill, romance, and a rich world, look no further.
At a Glance: Extropia is a dystopian cyberpunk thriller set in a future where the wealthy inhabit a virtual paradise while everyone else struggles in a deteriorating physical world. A disillusioned hacker and a blind young woman from an isolated community become entangled in a dangerous conspiracy involving digital warfare, corporate power, and personal freedom.
Best for Readers Who Enjoy: Dystopian science fiction, cyberpunk thrillers, virtual reality worlds, corporate-controlled societies, hacker protagonists, disability representation, unlikely alliances, technology versus humanity, sci-fi with romance