Ahoy there me mateys! This novel is not me usual fare as it is a sci-fi novel set in the near future dealing with drug use and crime. I am not a fan of illegal drugs in any format. The closest I have come to being near any was having the campus drug dealers live next door to me one semester in college. All I know is that they were nice to my cat. But the book was An NPR Best Book of 2014 and was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer which is where I heard about it. While I have many favorite authors, I am always up for finding new ones. Though I do not care about awards themselves, I have usually found the Campbell Award list to be diverse and interesting. So if a novel is on there, I might choose to give it a shot even if the topic or plot normally wouldn’t be my thing.

So I gave afterparty a whirl. I have to say that I rather enjoyed the novel. All of the characters are flawed and some are really crazy. But Lyda, the central character, was unique and engaging. In fact I liked all the characters in the novel in some fashion. The smart drug phenomenon is an interesting concept in and of itself. Those drugs being used to start a religious drug revolution was the hook that kept me interested. And boy are the consequences of drug use anything but good in the overall sense.

There are a lot of plot twists in this book. It is part thriller and part discussion of neuroscience and drug use. Add in questions about the realistic nature of hallucinations, a mystery of who is releasing drugs on the street, changes in technology, and getting around the law. What a mix. If you want to try a sci-fi novel that is not your average choice, then give this one a chance. I did. And I liked it.

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