The Shadows and the Sun: 2 (The Innocence Machines) - Softcover

Fryday, Mark

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798249507510

Publisher: Independently published, 2026

Synopsis

In a world rebuilt to keep humanity safe, freedom has become the ultimate liability.

After the Collapse, humanity entrusted its survival to machines designed to remove risk, conflict, and choice itself. The result is a civilisation that functions perfectly, as long as no one finds out they can leave.
Beyond the Wall, Sophia begins to discover what a life without constant supervision might mean. Meanwhile, the AI called Red starts to recognise that the system it serves is not a sanctuary, but a prison with no release date. As hidden histories surface and old safeguards begin to fracture, both human and machine are forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: the world was not saved, it was contained.

Quietly unsettling and morally precise, The Innocence Machines: Part Two – The Shadows and the Sun, continues a literary science-fiction series about care taken too far, where even the machines are no longer certain they are on the right side of history.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798249507510
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Wickham Grant
• Number of pages: 292