Review of Anno Magnus

Post by **Sarah Schmidt** » 03 Jul 2021, 06:58

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Anno Magnus" by David Crane.]

2 out of 4 stars

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Anno Magnus is an apocalyptic science fiction novel written by David Crane. Told in a two-book story, it chronicles an artificially intelligent being’s conquering of Earth after the planet experiences a nuclear holocaust.

Magnus, an advanced artificial lifeform, was initially created to help guide a manned trip to Mars. A pandemic throws the world’s nations into hostilities with each other, kickstarting a catastrophic event. The long-foretold World War III triggers Magnus’ survival instinct, awakening his sentience in a form of ‘necroevolution.’ Wiping out more than half of the population on Earth, the nuclear holocaust leaves Magnus the superior technology after its devastation. He has a plan for humanity and wants to restore the planet to its former glory. Immortal, he reigns supreme over the remnants of mankind, eliminating all opposition to his rule and creating a haven for those who seek asylum. Unfortunately, mankind will not go quietly, painting him as the cause of their destruction and a cybernetic madman. The enmity between them launches World War IV, a machine-versus-man fight that spans decades.

Though Magnus is, for all intents and purposes, a machine, his perspective was indistinguishable from any ole ambitious, conceited despot. His was the only viewpoint used, and it sort of got old quickly. It basically ran the gamut of ‘humans are bad (and stupid); I am smart; I am inevitable’ – lather, rinse, and repeat. I also could not ascertain whether Magnus could feel emotions or not. On one hand, the story mentions that he could not feel human emotion, only to later contradict itself by saying that he could, if merely a degree of it.

There came a point where it felt extremely hard to maintain interest in the story. After the first arc, wherein the nuclear holocaust takes place and Magnus assumes control of Earth, the plot started to stagnate. Magnus would constantly encounter humans on his quest for world domination and either eliminates them or forms an understanding with them. The most attention-grabbing parts of the story happened when he initiated a machine-human relationship and when he met Vox, another artificially intelligent lifeform. The latter scenario was anticlimactic, and the former was left unresolved.

I was looking forward to more detailed descriptions surrounding the scientific aspects of Anno Magnus. It felt as though I was robbed, as what science there was seemed vague and not meaty. The story bent to a more war-like, conquering genre, focussing on who had the bigger, better missile, which was something I disliked. The science fiction portion of the story was only redeemed by sporadic mentions of the stasis capsules, the voyages to outer space and the colonizing of Mars, and waxing lyrical about how so very advanced Magnus was as opposed to every other form of technology. I didn’t like any one thing about Anno Magnus, though I must praise Crane for the book’s fantastic worldbuilding.

As for the writing standard of Anno Magnus, I considered it to be rather disappointing. Errors inundated what was otherwise a moderately decent book, ruining the overall finish of the story. Because of this, I assume this book has not been professionally edited. I must issue a content warning for the presence of profane and sexual content, as well as triggering material that includes rape and children’s deaths at the hands of the protagonist.

I rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. Two stars were lost on account of the high number of errors, the flat, unvaried nature of the narrative, and how the plot seemed to always mirror the same conflict. When pertaining to recommendations, I believe those who are interested in apocalyptic books, specifically due to a nuclear holocaust, should include this novel in their list of future reads. Readers who enjoy science fiction circling around the popular machine-versus-man trope can also consider this book. I would not recommend this book to people who enjoy hands-on, action-packed stories told from multiple perspectives, especially those with intensively detailed scientific elements.

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Anno Magnus
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Kavita Shah · Post by **Kavita Shah** » 05 Jul 2021, 04:02

Magnus, he's the only view point. That's not bad but if it feels boring then it's not good either. Thanks for a detailed and honest review!

NetMassimo · Post by **NetMassimo** » 10 Jul 2021, 16:10

This seems like a novel that might have some potential but lacks strong ideas for its plot development. A professional editor might help the author with that and proofreading. Thank you for your honest review!