World Running Down

Protagonist Valentine is a cupcake too good for this world – and way too good for dystopian Utah, where the story takes place. World Running Down, the first traditionally published foray by Al Hess, weaves together the experiences of Valentine’s search for gender-affirming care with the dawning sentience of android sex workers. Along the way, Valentine falls in love with a special kind of AI (that in turn falls in love with its meat-body).

For my personal book tastes, there was a huge gap between the dystopian setting (Valentine starts out fighting salt pirates with a lightning gun) and the cozy romance arc of the relationship (with its idyllic resolutions to all storylines, which I’m trying not to spoil too much). I spent the first 15% of the book way too anxious for Valentine because he needs better friends and he’s going to die in the desert. I spent the last 15% of the book wondering how I stepped into a different, lower-stakes book that forgives the privileged of Salt Lake City.

While this book is soft sci-fi, I’d recommend it for romance-first readers. Especially fans of cozy, low-conflict romance who don’t mind (or even enjoy) genre-blending books. Readers who enjoyed Travis Baldree’s Legends and Lattes should also consider picking it up (after checking the content warnings). While Legends and Lattes is truly cozy, World Running Down includes descriptions of body dysmorphia, transphobia, implied sexual violence, kidnapping, and other challenging themes.