Sentenced to lethal injection for the murder of his wife, Phillip Rolfe never expects to wake up in a bizarre world forty years later. He’s been cleared of the crime he was convicted for by a machine known as the Mechanical Magistrate. The shock of what happened while he slept only hits Rolfe when he listens to a crackpot science type who seems to be in charge and then goes looking for his family.

I love sci-fi because of the fascinating and curious concepts and worldbuilding that takes place. The Mechanical Magistrate is no exception. Phil wakes in the dark, gritty future of 2070. Humanity made some major boo boos in the past and the future does not look bright. There are some definite nods to current environment, bio-weapons, and global political issues being responsible.

The Mechanical Magistrate is a shorter novella so it had the job of setting up this future dystopian world, but also developing characters and getting the plot going along. It was part adventure as Phil is searching for his remaining family, but also part mystery since Phil is looking for answers to the past when his wife was murdered. And, it is also suspenseful because Phil suspects the guy in charge of it all is a megalomaniac type with his ‘zero tolerance’ policies and birthing mandates.

There is tension and excitement, but at the end there was a great twist. I saw the twist coming, but still enjoyed it all the same.

Alan Bruun was a new to me narrator and I thought he was a good match for The Mechanical Magistrate. He had a good variety and flexibility of voices for the cast so I had no trouble distinguishing characters including females. He worked at a good pace and caught the tone of the story. Production quality was excellent.

All in all, this was a well-developed story and world that left me interested to try more of the author’s work. Those who enjoy futuristic sci-fi and/or dystopian should definitely give this one a go.