Babak Hodjat is a an entrepreneur and inventor specializing in artificial intelligence systems and machine learning. Following on from his more autobiographical debut The Konar and the Apple, THE NARRATOR finds the author using his experience in Silicon Valley companies to craft an intriguing story that pitches his characters into a world where fantasy and reality sometimes blurs. The premise at the center of this short novel is the existence of an app, named The Narration Company (TNC) after the business that created it, which can build a story around its users in which they are the lead player. Augmented by synthesized sound and music, and in later versions utilizing the users own photo and video library, TNC becomes a hugely addictive program that overtakes the lives of some of its many users. That certain heavy users are running TNC twenty four hours a day until such a point that they suddenly stop altogether and never log in again is the mystery that the young coders that make up the cast of THE NARRATOR are struggling to solve.
Though the app at the heart of the novel is (very slightly) futuristic, its impact on its users and wider society is instantly recognizable as a parallel to the effect that today’s social media apps have had on discourse and, to an as yet unquantified extent, on mental health. TNC though is seemingly geared towards individuals rather than creating, and subsequently monetizing, a community of users. For all its sci-fi futurism one of the apps main appeals is that it allows its users to wallow in the cosy hug of nostalgia that is created for them out of their past interests and endeavors. Rob, one of the characters who works for TNC, realizes that the app is the antithesis of astrology. If astrology is “all made up stories to make you feel hopeful and happy about the future” then TNC predicts nothing but the comfort of the past. Some of Hodjat’s characters struggle with the question as to whether an augmented reality, a manufactured life story, could ever better the potential disappointments of a life lived solely in the real world. Hodjat’s experience and knowledge of coding and creating AI programs shines through in the text but while the book illuminates the creative opportunities of AI, the author is ready to impart some words of caution. The science and innovation of TNC is always convincing and the characters’ motivations seem entirely realistic given the corporate world in which the author has placed them. The use of email transcripts and verbatim text messages lends further authenticity to proceedings.
Author Babak Hodjat writes with authority in THE NARRATOR, throwing back the curtain on the innovative coders of Silicon Valley with prose that is clean and coherent and perfectly balanced for his subject matter.
~Kent Lane for IndieReader