Ariel Djanikian's debut novel, The Office of Mercy, takes place in a dystopian future ruled by high-tech settlements dotting a wilderness of tribal groups. The lucky few born inside these hermetically sealed bastions lead tailored lives reminiscent of Brave New World. Natasha Wiley, resident of settlement America-Five, wants for neither sustenance nor purpose: she works in her settlement's Office of Mercy, tracking Tribes with a sea of sensors as they migrate through the reforested ruins of the old world, then dealing with them through mass murders euphemistically referred to as "sweeps."
The settlement's founding Ethical Code, which places the elimination of suffering above all else, is the core of Djanikian's tale. Human life under the specter of death, even of natural causes and old age, is considered a form of suffering; tribes in the wild face violence and inevitable death, thus the Ethical Code necessitates their mercy killing. This meticulous slaughter of men, women and children requires a mental Wall to suppress empathy, a sort of Nineteen Eighty-Four–style doublethink. Natasha's Wall is sorely tested when her supervisor (and love interest), Jeffrey, conscripts her for a mission to the Outside.
Djanikian's philosophical concepts are intriguing, though at times overbearing. She truly shines by plunging her characters into existential crises as they question and finally confront the foundations on which their lives are built. Fans of sci-fi and speculative fiction will enjoy this adventurous exploration of human nature. --Tobias Mutter, freelance reviewer