The Bit Dance by Tilmer Wright Jr is a riveting science fiction story centered around the life of teen genius, Kayla. She finds herself in an unlikely battle against a former KGB agent who is out to exact revenge, using a cutting edge new toy called eBots that have the ability to transform the world. While Kayla is in the midst of saving the world she must also deal with much more grounded family troubles. Her cold, distant, and unappreciative father remains an imposing figure in her life as she struggles to live up to his seemingly impossible expectations.

The Bit Dance is bursting with curious and stimulating futuristic ideas. All of it seems well within reach because of the superb explanations within the book. eBots are the new cutting edge toy, we can all relate, but the novel explanation of how this toy works elevates this story into the category of hard sci-fi, but the ease with which the information is conveyed keeps this story accessible to passing science fiction fans. The parts about artificial intelligence were especially interesting to me. I remember reading a few articles about how we are on the cusp of sentient technology and the danger it poses to society. I was not expecting this book to be educational, but it was, in the best way possible. I am now more interested in looking up the minutiae of nanotechnology. I don’t know about the technical accuracy of it- as I’m not an expert, but it’s fiction that has a ring of truth. It was believable enough and engaging enough to stroke my curiosity about these teeny tiny, beehive minded robots. This was a creative representation of that nearer-than-we-think possibility. Although it was a little tedious and extra-informative at times, I was appreciative of the detail. The author clearly has immense knowledge in this domain.

The family drama also made it a more compelling and human story. I was rooting for Kayla as she strove to impress her father. The novel does a great job of balancing in this way, Kayla’s a genius but still struggles with family issues like us all. Even beyond that, the story was extremely well thought-out. Although it seemed to be headed in a standard direction, it would suddenly take a complex twist. I enjoyed the somewhat circuitous nature of the story of it all. It did not end up being a classic good vs evil scenario- rather there was complex decision making at play and plenty of grey areas.

The most enjoyable and hair-raising aspect of the story was the believability of it. I think anyone who is thrilled at the prospect of reading about plausible near-future dangers will enjoy this story.

Pages: 387 | ASIN: B0765QLBVZ