The Fever King

When Noam Alvaro is stricken with a virus that gives him magical powers, he knows as soon as the government takes him that he’ll use his powers for immigration justice. In the United States’ distant future, the kingdoms of Atlantia and Carolinia are at war, with refugees from Atlantia pouring into Carolinia daily, and anti-immigration sentiment rises. To make matters worse, a highly contagious virus kills ninety percent of those it infects and gives the other 10 percent random powers.

Noam’s iteration of the virus gives him technopathy, meaning he can hack technology with his mind. He goes to live with others like him, and his stalwart morality fails him as he learns more about the government’s inner workings and meets two morally ambiguous characters, Dara and Leherer, who show him another way.

This LGBTQ-friendly novel includes solid social justice themes, dystopia, and magic all in one intriguing debut. Readers will need to be patient, as the story takes a while to get off the ground. It’s a good start for what promises to be an interesting saga. Occasionally the underlying themes surface loudly, threatening to slow down an already crawling story. However, the author manages to maintain a fair balance of world-building, storytelling, and political motifs.