Book Review: The Quantum Hemispheres — Book One: The Rise of ARCO By Charlotte Bennett, Manchester, UK

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5)

I bought the paperback edition after reading about the book’s focus on systems, governance, and technological power. Most science fiction tends to lean heavily into fantasy or action, but this felt much closer to contemporary political reality.

What impressed me most is how the novel examines the gradual transfer of influence away from traditional institutions and into infrastructure, logistics, and automated systems. It’s written in a way that feels disturbingly plausible, especially given the increasing role technology already plays in everyday governance and public life.

There’s a very British appreciation in the book for bureaucracy, systems management, and institutional decline, which made the world feel especially authentic to me.

A genuinely intelligent and thought-provoking read.

Charlotte Bennett lectures in political sociology at a university in Manchester and researches institutional change, technology, and social systems. She is an avid reader of speculative fiction focused on political and societal themes.